Is it OK for an ASL teacher to be Hearing?

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competes2win

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Hey all, This isn't a question about "deaf" education... but rather the education of hearing people in ASL. I figure this is still the right place to put this thread...

I was just wondering what your thoughts are about a Hearing ASL teacher. I'm a hearing college student taking ASL 2 at the moment, my first ASL teacher was deaf but my current one is hearing (husband is a CODA and she has one deaf daughter and a hoh son).

Curious and can't wait to see what you guys have to say.
 
I can give you the similarity of it. My friend, who is the co-ordinator of the AUSLAN (Australian Sign Language) and the teacher's hearing and teaches AUSLAN at some college.
 
As long as the hearing teacher is certified, and has some contact with the Deaf community, I don't see a problem with it. I know hearing signers that sign like natives. Given the fact that her husband is a CODA, and she has deaf children, I'd say her contact with the deaf community is consistent enough to insure that her skills are what they should be. Of course, a Deaf native signer will still be able to teach the language in a way that a hearing signer never will. But that is true with all languages.
 
As was said, she has enough exposure to the Deaf community. While I would personally feel more comfortable with someone who signed ASL as their first language, either a deaf person or a child of deaf parents, I don't see why she shouldn't teach it.
 
Well, in the first place, the teacher, hearing or deaf, need to know their stuff and have the requisite skills to teach.
 
Tousi said:
Well, in the first place, the teacher, hearing or deaf, need to know their stuff and have the requisite skills to teach.
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Truer words were never spoken . . . er . . . signed. Countless basics then "methods and materials" classes are the crux of a teaching degree. You need thorough knowledge and how to pass it on in numerous effective ways. Caring for the student and instilling self-esteem don't mean much unless the requisite skills are there first.
 
I agree with all that has been said. I feel that as long as the hearing teacher is perfectly fine at ASL than she/he should be able to teach it. I just brought this up because my ASL teacher (the hearing one) said that she had actually received negative comments from another teacher who was deaf. He said that she had no right to be teaching ASL.

That said I see benefits of both a hearing and deaf ASL teacher. Of course there are many things good about learning ASL from a 'native' signer of the language. But there is also good things about having a hearing teacher. For instance, most ASL classes have a "silent policy" where the students are not allowed to speak. Well with a deaf teacher like I had last semester this policy was not at all enforced since the students could talk without the teacher even knowing when he wasn't looking. what this amounted to actually was class being easier for me, my fellow students would speak a lot of what the teacher was signing if other students didn't understand... even though it made things easier for me last semester I find that having a hearing teacher is making this ASL 2 class harder, although I am learning even more. It is also nice as a hearing student, to be able to use your voice every once in a while to the teacher to clarify certain things.. of course in a more advanced ASL class this probably wouldn't happen anymore but for beginners like myself it is nice. I guess it's kind of similiar for a deaf/hoh person trying to learn how to use speach from a hearing person... it might sometimes be easier for a deaf person to be there to help translate things and to put things in a way the deaf/hoh person can better understand as he/she is learning.
 
competes2win said:
I agree with all that has been said. I feel that as long as the hearing teacher is perfectly fine at ASL than she/he should be able to teach it. I just brought this up because my ASL teacher (the hearing one) said that she had actually received negative comments from another teacher who was deaf. He said that she had no right to be teaching ASL.

That said I see benefits of both a hearing and deaf ASL teacher. Of course there are many things good about learning ASL from a 'native' signer of the language. But there is also good things about having a hearing teacher. For instance, most ASL classes have a "silent policy" where the students are not allowed to speak. Well with a deaf teacher like I had last semester this policy was not at all enforced since the students could talk without the teacher even knowing when he wasn't looking. what this amounted to actually was class being easier for me, my fellow students would speak a lot of what the teacher was signing if other students didn't understand... even though it made things easier for me last semester I find that having a hearing teacher is making this ASL 2 class harder, although I am learning even more. It is also nice as a hearing student, to be able to use your voice every once in a while to the teacher to clarify certain things.. of course in a more advanced ASL class this probably wouldn't happen anymore but for beginners like myself it is nice. I guess it's kind of similiar for a deaf/hoh person trying to learn how to use speach from a hearing person... it might sometimes be easier for a deaf person to be there to help translate things and to put things in a way the deaf/hoh person can better understand as he/she is learning.
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Too bad you didn't put your own stamp of justice in that class by informing the deaf teacher that other students were vocalizing.
 
Tousi said:
Too bad you didn't put your own stamp of justice in that class by informing the deaf teacher that other students were vocalizing.
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Maybe, true... but at least it wasn't just normal disrespectful talk about anything... true it still is disrespectful but at least those who were talking were actually just helping the other students understand what the teacher was signing.
 
IMO, this question isn't any different from asking about any teacher of any language. yeah, i think a hearing person can teach ASL and like any other teacher of any other language, fluency would be essential.

i think that if the course involved teaching about Deaf Culture, though, there should probably be a deaf teacher. there are way too many misunderstandings that could arise from a dominant culture's teachings. eg. you robably wouldn't have a white person give a proper university lecture about first nations culture because you'd have a eurocentric culture teaching about its "other"; not from the proper point of view. so with a hearing person teaching about deaf culture, although it varies depending on their real understanding of it, there's the whole salvage paradigm to consider... well at this point i'm just rambling on.....
 
I had a Deaf teacher one time (years ago) and he was horrible! He did not take his job seriously. It’s as if he was laughing (on the inside) at his group of paying hearing students- as if it were a joke. Instead of encoraging me to continue forth with my ASL learning he only succeeded in discouraging me. He totally turned me off to ASL and the Deaf culture in general...and you know what they say, first impression last forever. He was not only my first Deaf teacher, but also the very first Deaf person I ever met! And he was awful.

Now my very first ASL class was conducted by a hearing woman. She was absolutely awesome. I did great in her class.

So now I have this complex that Deaf teachers all hate hearies...stupid I know. But it's what that Deaf teacher planted in me during his course. Of course I am wrong (it is only a feeling) about the false notion that Deaf teachers hate hearies; the feeling is not deeply rooted. But that Deaf instructor really did a number on my mind. :pissed:
 
do you have to be white to teach english? of course not


2 teachers, one hearing one deaf.

hearing is coda, deaf was raised oral...does that mean the deaf person has more of a "right" to teach asl? of course not...

hearing status has ZERO bearing on wether one is qualified to teach ASL, fluency is the key.
 
AquaBlue said:
I had a Deaf teacher one time (years ago) and he was horrible! He did not take his job seriously. It’s as if he was laughing (on the inside) at his group of paying hearing students- as if it were a joke. Instead of encoraging me to continue forth with my ASL learning he only succeeded in discouraging me. He totally turned me off to ASL and the Deaf culture in general...and you know what they say, first impression last forever. He was not only my first Deaf teacher, but also the very first Deaf person I ever met! And he was awful.

Now my very first ASL class was conducted by a hearing woman. She was absolutely awesome. I did great in her class.

So now I have this complex that Deaf teachers all hate hearies...stupid I know. But it's what that Deaf teacher planted in me during his course. Of course I am wrong (it is only a feeling) about the false notion that Deaf teachers hate hearies; the feeling is not deeply rooted. But that Deaf instructor really did a number on my mind. :pissed:
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Try not to look at it from the vantage point of hearing status. The teacher you referred to was simply a poor teacher. It had nothing to do with the fact that he was deaf. Had he been hearing, he would have been just as poor a teacher.
 
jillio said:
Try not to look at it from the vantage point of hearing status. The teacher you referred to was simply a poor teacher. It had nothing to do with the fact that he was deaf. Had he been hearing, he would have been just as poor a teacher.
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If there is a god in the sky (doubt it) may He never grace me with such a horrible teacher again- hearie or Deaf/HOH.-:pissed:
 
AquaBlue said:
If there is a god in the sky (doubt it) may He never grace me with such a horrible teacher again- hearie or Deaf/HOH.-:pissed:
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Hey, nobody is perfect with teaching the ASL language. Jillio is right that no matter who is teaching whether they are hearing, Deaf, or HOH. It is all accounts of how to teach properly. I try to teach the hearing students in the small college and I don't think I am that good a teacher but they are interest in learning to sign. So I gave my job as a teacher to help them understand ASL and also discuss about Deaf culture and Deaf communities. Some of them are not that interest while other students are interest. It is not a sign language class. It is more of a general class like Math, English, Study Skills, Computer Lab Studies and ASL. I only give them fifteen minutes between class times. My teacher love it and she learns a lot from me. :cool2:
 
Asking if the teacher should be hearing is like discrimination.

If you want to ask if an ASL teacher should be hearing, then the hearing people should be able to ask... "Is it okay for a deaf person to work?"
 
It's ok for you to be an ASL teacher. I had an ASL hearing teacher in my school, and it was an interesting. It would be nice if a teacher uses English Sign Language. It is just my preference.
 
competes2win said:
I agree with all that has been said. I feel that as long as the hearing teacher is perfectly fine at ASL than she/he should be able to teach it. I just brought this up because my ASL teacher (the hearing one) said that she had actually received negative comments from another teacher who was deaf. He said that she had no right to be teaching ASL.

That said I see benefits of both a hearing and deaf ASL teacher. Of course there are many things good about learning ASL from a 'native' signer of the language. But there is also good things about having a hearing teacher. For instance, most ASL classes have a "silent policy" where the students are not allowed to speak. Well with a deaf teacher like I had last semester this policy was not at all enforced since the students could talk without the teacher even knowing when he wasn't looking. what this amounted to actually was class being easier for me, my fellow students would speak a lot of what the teacher was signing if other students didn't understand... even though it made things easier for me last semester I find that having a hearing teacher is making this ASL 2 class harder, although I am learning even more. It is also nice as a hearing student, to be able to use your voice every once in a while to the teacher to clarify certain things.. of course in a more advanced ASL class this probably wouldn't happen anymore but for beginners like myself it is nice. I guess it's kind of similiar for a deaf/hoh person trying to learn how to use speach from a hearing person... it might sometimes be easier for a deaf person to be there to help translate things and to put things in a way the deaf/hoh person can better understand as he/she is learning.
Click to expand...

I don't mind if the ASL teacher is hearing or not as long as the teacher is very very good at ASL. I was going to ask you which teacher you learned more from - hearing or deaf and you already answer my question. I hadn't realized the need to hear in order to enforce the silence.

I used to teach my former boss some signs and I found that I need to turn off my voice if I want him to learn good. I did that and he finally understood the deaf guy who doesn't speak at all.
 
AquaBlue said:
I had a Deaf teacher one time (years ago) and he was horrible! He did not take his job seriously. It’s as if he was laughing (on the inside) at his group of paying hearing students- as if it were a joke. Instead of encoraging me to continue forth with my ASL learning he only succeeded in discouraging me. He totally turned me off to ASL and the Deaf culture in general...and you know what they say, first impression last forever. He was not only my first Deaf teacher, but also the very first Deaf person I ever met! And he was awful.

Now my very first ASL class was conducted by a hearing woman. She was absolutely awesome. I did great in her class.

So now I have this complex that Deaf teachers all hate hearies...stupid I know. But it's what that Deaf teacher planted in me during his course. Of course I am wrong (it is only a feeling) about the false notion that Deaf teachers hate hearies; the feeling is not deeply rooted. But that Deaf instructor really did a number on my mind. :pissed:
Click to expand...


I know an ASL teacher who volunteers teaching ASL. At least, you persisted in learning ASL... You impress me.

Why don't you hang out with other Deafies to get rid of that complex of yours? Please!!
 
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