teacher's training pack 23/8/07 09:14 Page 1

Contents
Introduction

Professional Standards for Teachers

Core • Post Threshold • Advanced Skills Teacher • Excellent Teacher

Introduction to deafness
The ear • Sound • Degrees of deafness • Types of deafness
The impact of deafness

Technology
Hearing aids • Cochlear implants • Radio aids • BAHA, Loop systems and
soundfield systems • Hints and tips for working with audiological equipment

Communication approaches
Oral • British Sign Language, Sign Supported English, Signed English, Fingerspelling
Sign Bilingual, Total Communication

The classroom
Classroom layout • Planning (differentiation, working with visual aids, pre and
post tutoring, group work, homework, examinations)

Wider life of the school (social and emotional)

Peer groups • Deaf role models, clubs, lunchtime and the playground
Access to school information

Working with professionals

Teacher of deaf children • Teaching assistant • Communication support worker
Deaf role models • Other agencies • Working with parents, good practice

Resources (contained in pocket at back of the pack)

The ear • Blank audiogram • Audiogram with sound pictures • Quiz sheet •
Hearing aids • Cochlear implants • Radio aids • Other hearing aids • Hearing aids
checklist • Fingerspelling sheet • ‘How would you make these classrooms more
listener friendly?’
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Introduction
Training pack for mainstream teachers

Welcome to the National Deaf Children’s Society training pack for teachers. This
training pack is a development in the Deaf Friendly Schools series and links to
the previous four Deaf Friendly publications, Deaf Friendly Schools, Deaf
Friendly Teaching, Deaf Friendly Nurseries and Pre-schools and Deaf Friendly
Schools Pledge

The aim of this training pack is to develop mainstream teachers and other
staff’s understanding of deafness, and provides tools and techniques to ensure
teachers are equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to fully include
deaf pupils in school life.

The pack is made up of six main sections, which are:

Introduction to deafness
Technology
Communication approaches
The classroom
Wider life of the school
Working with professionals

These sections provide the necessary information to help teachers become

more confident in including deaf children in school. Each section contains basic
information that teachers should know. The trainer can expand on this where
appropriate. There are links to the resources and suggested activities included
in the pack, and also links to further resources if needed. Some activities were
included to help make the training more interactive and to reinforce some of the
information in the pack.

The training is to be delivered by a teacher of deaf children or a specialist

teacher in the school who has reliable knowledge or experience of deafness.
The training pack is not written as a prescribed text to be fully adhered to
but suggests key areas, knowledge and activities that could be delivered to
teachers and other staff to provide them with the skills to become more
confident in including deaf pupils. This pack has been designed to allow for
this expertise to be used, and for the trainer to tailor the training to meet the
specific needs of the audience it is being delivered to.

Each section of the pack can be delivered separate from the others, enabling the
training to meet the specific needs of the group of teachers it is being delivered
to. For example, the training pack can be delivered as a course, or individual
sections can be used when they are felt to be needed in the school, in no
specific order.
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The pack also contains a general quiz, which could be used as a starting point
to the training and all necessary visual resources to accompany the suggested
activities in the training.

The training pack encompasses the three main principles of inclusion which
are:

1) setting suitable learning challenges

2) responding to pupils’ diverse needs
3) overcoming potential barriers to learning and assessment for individuals and
groups of pupils.

This pack aims to help teachers ensure that they fulfil these criteria, and create
a deaf aware learning environment for all pupils in the school.

This pack is supported by the True Colours Trust.

We would like to thank the following for their help in developing this packs:

Nottinghamshire Inclusion Support Service

Jubilee Primary School, Lambeth
Wandsworth Service for Hearing-Impaired Children
Stockport Service for Hearing Impaired Children
Holgate School, Nottinghamshire
Gunthorpe C of E Primary School, Nottinghamshire
Summerside School, Barnet