“it takes a community of colleagues to maintain balance”

May 3, 2002 H Johnson 1

“It Takes a Community of Colleagues to Maintain

Balance”

Harold A. Johnson

Co-Director of the Deaf Ed. Catalyst Grant & Professor/Kent State Univ. – Deaf Ed. Teacher

Prep. Program.


Presentation OutlineMy Story ProblemsSolutions….posters & brochures that

are at each tableResultsCollaborative Opportunities…the unspoken rule of “dinner

speakers” + a request for assistance…


My Story

1. “…the lucky encounter”

2. “…teaching d/hh students in Memphis, TN”

3. “…degree two and counting”

4. “…the BIG ego”

5. “…a search for information”

6. “…22 years and counting”

7. “…the ‘epiphany’ of ’91”


ProblemsThe major problem of deafness is…

…not too little hearing, but too much interpersonal and informational isolation.


…problems (cont.) The major problem of Deaf Education

teacher preparation is… …not a lack of innovation, but rather the

presence of a “realities divide” between what college professors teach within their courses and how their K-12 colleagues teach d/hh students within their classrooms.


…problems (cont.) The major problem of Deaf Education

teachers is… …not a lack of effort or experience, but

rather the lack of… instructional support; curricular consistency; resources: time: pertinent professional development

opportunities; community of colleagues; & recognition.


…problems (cont.) The major problem of d/hh students is…

… not an inability to learn, but rather a lack of motivation to learn and the lack of need to use (outside of the classroom) what they are expected to learn.


…problems (cont.) Summary of problems:

Deafness… too much interpersonal and informational isolation

Teacher Prep… too much of a “realities divide” in how teachers are

prepared and how they teach

Teachers… too little support, resources, time, prof. dev. opt. &

recognition

d/hh Students… too little motivation to learn & and too little need to use

what they are expected to learn


SolutionsThe needed solution would have to:

reduce isolation reduce the “realities divide” increase support & recognition increase motivation and use

+…


…solutions (cont.)…since we are increasingly spread out

(i.e., vs. concentrated in schools for the deaf or large centralized public school programs for d/hh students), the “solution” would have to be equally applicable for individuals in rural, suburban and urban settings.

+…


…solutions (cont.)…the “solution” would have to be easy

to use, efficient and free….or at least as close to free as possible.

WOW…not too much to ask for!Surprisingly, the “solution” is not only

“doable”, it is also available now…


…solutions (cont.) Solution: Deaf Ed. Web site (www.deafed.net)

Isolation: …use the Internet to establish an online community.

“Realities Divide:” …use the instructional needs, problems and expertise's

of existing teachers to enhance the preparation of preservice teachers .

Support & Recognition: …use the course requirements (e.g., research papers,

inst. units, portfolios, etc.) of preservice teachers to meet the needs and document the expertise’s of existing teachers.

Motivation & Use: …use Internet based technologies (e.g., e-mail, instant

messaging, video conferencing) to link K-12 d/hh students with postsecondary D/deaf adults, preservice teachers and one another.


Results Deaf Ed. Web site (www.deafed.net)

Isolation: since 2/1/2000, 5,900+ individuals (i.e., parents,

teachers, support personnel, college faculty, preservice teachers, d/Deaf adults, etc.) have become registered members of this community.

….anyone in the audience that is a registered user of the Deaf Ed. Web site?

…point of information, thus far over $200,000 has been invested in the development, design, maintenance and ongoing development of the Deaf Ed. Web site


…results (cont.) Deaf Ed. Web site (www.deafed.net)

“Realities Divide:” during the course of the last two years…

145 faculty members from 58 Deaf Ed. teacher prep. pro. in *32 states have made 462 “Choices” to:

enhance their own teaching via technology; use technology to tie the work of over 2,500 preservice

teachers to the instructional needs and contexts of existing teachers and parents of d/hh students;

*Note: 15 states (Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming), the Territory of Guam and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, do not offer a deaf education teacher preparation program within their geographic boundaries



Support & Recognition: during the course of the past year…

the major Deafness related organizations (i.e., AGBell, ASDC, CAID, CEASD, CED & NAD) have worked to provide their members with “personnel researchers” and “instructional developers” via the “Cyber Mentor” activity

the first “Best of the Web” competition resulted in the Web based:

publication of 36 informational and instructional products for the field of Deaf Ed.

recognition of the preservice teachers that produced the products and their teachers

portfolios are now being developed that reflect the knowledge and expertise’s of experienced teachers of d/hh students.

the development of online course modules, course enhancements and complete courses has been initiated



Motivation & Use: during the course of the last six months…

a pilot study of the use of Web based (i.e, vs. ISDN) video conferencing technologies has been carried out

the pilot study is examining the use of the video technology to:

facilitate collaboration among professionals; use “Master” teachers of d/hh students as “Clinical

Faculty” for the nation’s Deaf Ed. teacher prep. pro.; & facilitate inst. activities between Deaf Ed. teachers and

their students. …time for a “show & tell?”

discussions are now underway with the PEPNet leaders to use Web based video technologies to link junior and senior high school d/hh students with successful d/Deaf postsecondary individuals as a way to both motivate and assist the d/hh students career exploration and preparation.


Collaborative OpportunitiesOK….since all “politics are local” and all

learning is personnel, what can all of this mean for YOU? by going to www.deafed.net and becoming

a registered user (no cost here…just a bit of information) YOU can…


Collaborative Opt… Deaf Ed. Web site (www.deafed.net)

YOU can… search for, read & post deaf ed. related:

state, regional and national calendar of events Web links instructional strategies & technologies curricular materials documents jobs (…over 500 posted thus far) professional development opportunities scholarship & teacher prep. pro. information

OR…you can simply use “My Deafed” for an update of what has been added to the Web site since your last visit that matches your stated interest (…as noted during the registration process)


Collaborative Opt…Deaf Ed. Web site (www.deafed.net)

YOU can… ask questions and read responses from a

growing number of “Topical Teams of Experts” on such topics as: Bi/Bi; Oral/Oral; MH d/hh stu.; Inst. Strategies; Critical Thinking; and Early Intervention …with more Topical Teams being added each month.

participate in a “grass roots” effort by the National Agenda to reform Deaf Education by providing comments to their proposed goals and activities.



YOU can… become a “Cyber Mentor” …in which case you would be

asked to exchange weekly e-mail messages with a specific Deaf Ed. preservice teacher +…a UNIQUE gift!

within these e-mail messages YOU will be asked to… share your Deaf Ed. related experiences, resources

and strategies ask the preservice teacher to gather info. for you respond to questions from the preservice teacher

within these e-mail messages the preservice teacher will… share what they are learning within their courses seek out information and resources that you request ask you questions re. Deaf Ed.

…the purpose of these e-mail exchanges is to “ground” the preservice teacher’s preparation in a wide range of realities, while at the same time provide support and recognition to existing individuals in Deaf Ed.


Collaborative Opt…Deaf Ed. Web site (www.deafed.net)

Soon, YOU will be able to… use a single search engine to gather

information from the world’s best Deaf Ed. Web sites.

request online learning opportunities for your K-12 d/hh students.

request assistance in gathering curricular information concerning a particular instructional unit that you want to teach



an offer to ESSP …if you like, the Web site can also provide:

a bulletin board for the organization a listserv for the organization an opt. to share calendar information an opt. to post job openings an opt. to note the search for deafness related jobs an opt. to publish documents on the Web an opt. to share the best Web sites an opt. to participate in collaborative grant proposals an opt. to …..


Thank you very much for this opportunity to share and

dream with you.

….If you would like a copy of this presentation, simply go to www.deafed.net and

search for: “Harold Johnson” and ESSP

“it takes a community of colleagues to maintain balance”

Documents

motivation use

h johnsonresultsdeaf

major problem of dhh

lack of motivation

lack of need

lack of innovation

lack of effort

little need