Deaf Education in

South AfricaClaudine StorbeckFulbright ScholarUniversity of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

South Africa - Facts

• Southern tip of Africa• 9 Provinces• Size – > than France,

Italy & Germany combined

• 35° south latitude (CT = distance from equator as Sydney and Los Angeles)

• Leading producer of gold, platinum, chromium and much of world’s diamond market

South Africa – The people

• 45 Million people• > 20 ethnic groups• 11 Official Languages• Predominantly

Christian• National Anthem has 5

languages

Africans78%

Whites10%

Coloureds9%

Asians3%

South African - Politics• South African Democracy is born in

1994• South Africa's national anthem

Nksi sikelel' iAfrikaMaluphakanyisw' uphondo lwayo,

Yizwa imithandazo yethu,Nkosi sikelela, thina lusapho

lwayo. Morena boloka setjhaba sa heso,

O fedise dintwa la matshwenyeho,

O se boloke, O se boloke setjhaba sa heso,

Setjhaba sa South Afrika - South Afrika.

Uit die blou van onse hemel,Uit die diepte van ons see,Oor ons ewige gebergtes,

Waar die kranse antwoord gee, Sounds the call to come together,

And united we shall stand,Let us live and strive for

freedom,In South Africa our land.

South African History

• Brief Timeline

Early Times

Colonisa- tion from Europe

Slavery abolished

Union Of SA

Apartheid State

Bannings & unrest

Tumultuous early 90’s

Decade of Democracy

1400 1652 1834 1910 1948-59 1960-89 1990-93 1994-2004

Various black peoples settle in South Africa

Hugenote Settlers arriveImporting Slaves from East Indies & Madagasc

.

Slavery abolished and The Great Trek

Union founded, after which the ANC is founded

Apartheid initiated in various forms

SA leaves commonwealth-republic, ANC armed struggle

ANC unbanned, Mandela released, armed struggle suspended,UN lifts sanctions

ANCwins 1st non-racial elections,Mandela 1st president of democracy, TRC, New Constitution, Thabo Mbeki, AU

South African Laws• 1996 - South African Constitution

• promote, & create conditions for the development & use of ... sign language

• 1996 - South African Schools Act• South African Schools Act, 1996

Chapter 2.6 No 4A recognised Sign Language has the status of an officiallanguage for purposes of learning at a public school.

• 1997 – Integrated National Disability Strategy

• 1997 - Language in Education Act• 2001 – White Paper 6

• Building an Inclusive Education System

Education in South Africa

Mainstream Education• Recently adopted an

Outcomes Based Education system (OBE)

→ Curriculum 2005

• Inclusion – broad philosophy as a reaction against apartheid and oppressive education

• Education for all• Equal Education for all• + Human rights

approach says – equal outcomes for all

Deaf Education• Teachers battle to

implement Outcomes Based Education system (OBE)

→ Curriculum 2005

• Inclusion: there is a false assumption that inclusion is bad or that all schools will close down

South African Deaf Community

1st school

The great debate begins

1st Deaf Clubs

National Association

SASL dictionaries

Deaf Leadership Conference

New directions

1863 1881 1923/4 1928/9 1980+92 1995 1998 2004

1st school for the Deaf in Cape Town, started by Irish nuns

Oralism formally adopted in SA due to the Milan conference

.

The 1st two Deaf Clubs initiated in Cape Town and Pretoria respectively

1st conference for workers in deafness, which was the precursor to the birth of the National Council for the Deaf

1980 “Talking to the Deaf” published and in 1990 the “South African Sign Language Dictionary” (6 volumes and hotly contested)

SANCD becomes DEAFSA (which is allowed membership of WFD), 1st Deaf director of DEAFSA elected

1st International Conference on Deaf Education

1st National DEAFSA Indaba

DEAFSA relaunches with new vibrant logo1st Deaf women elected as the Chair of DEAFSA

Deaf Education in South Africa

• 1.6 million Deaf people in SA

• 200 – 300 000 users of SASL

• 43 Schools for the Deaf• Religious roots• Historically racially

established• Residential schools • Language policies vary• 1/3 functionally

illiterate• 70% unemployed

How do we challenge the status quo…?

• Train Teachers of the Deaf (not yet compulsory)• Honours and Advanced Certificate level• Teachers reflect our population

Preparing our Teachers …

• Content Knowledge• Skills• Challenge their

philosophy, their paradigm …

• We acknowledge plural identities

• Deaf• hearing• Racial• Language• Gender• Religious• other

Research

• Train Deaf researchers to do research into SASL• Provide opportunities for training, sharing, growing• Empower

Community Service

Community Service – Deaf Baby programme

• Yet…. despite all we are doing as a Country and as a Deaf Community

• Decade of democracy leading to true transformation

• Policies and legislation are in place• Inclusive philosophy prevails• Lobbying has gone well

……. it seems as if we are not doing enough

Asking the unasked

questions …..

What are the issues of concern?

• Why such high levels of illiteracy?• Why are most Deaf learners vocationally/skills

oriented?• Why do we allow our kids to be chanelled so

soon• Why is the distribution of success (h vs D) so

different?• Why are educational outcomes so different

(content and level)• Why is employment still a problem?

Why aren’t progressive policies implemented

• Perhaps we have not thought through the implications…?

• Perhaps we have not thought through the strategies (short, medium and long term)

• Perhaps we don’t have the resources and need an interim plan

• Perhaps we are just not implementing them…?

What does it mean to be a good teacher of the Deaf?

• Teacher efficacy• Communication skills• Effective and appropriate discourse• The correct knowledge, skills & attitudes

The unasked questions …

• Is Sign Language enough…?• Is Deaf Culture enough…?• Is Bilingualism enough…?• Why reject inclusion in favour of the status

quo?• Do we need a new theory…?• Is there a Deaf Pedagogy…?

What needs to be done…?

• We need to start asking more questions (both re-asking the old and asking new/ unasked questions)

• We need to reflect (and be BOLD)• We need to challenge the status quo

(current theories, practices• We should truly aim for equality/