The inclusive paradigm requires that deaf learners are educated in regular schools. In the process of implementing inclusive policies educators often feel that they lack the necessary knowledge and experience to provide effective support for deaf learners. As a result these learners are seldom effectively catered for in regular settings and frequently tend to experience frustration and failure. This research attempted to investigate the nature and manifestations of deafness in primary school learners in order to determine effective strategies to identify and address the diverse needs of deaf learners in the regular schools. A qualitative study was conducted and data was gathered by observations and interviews with three experienced educators. The results of the empirical findings were confirmed with the literature study in order to compile practical guidelines to assist educators to support deaf learners in inclusive education settings in South Africa effectively. / Educational Studies / (M. Ed. (Inclusive Education))

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Deafness is one on the most common types of disability in South Africa with 90% of deaf children being born to hearing parents, many of whom are unprepared for the consequences of deafness. Since deafness is an invisible disability, the severity of its impact upon both the child and the family is often underestimated. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of hearing parents raising deaf children. Thus, the primary research questions were: What are the experiences of hearing parents raising deaf children in South Africa, and how do various ecosystemic variables affect the way they manage their parenting role? This study was informed by the ecological systems theory which is the theoretical framework that underpins this study. The research paradigm shaping this study was pragmatism, while the strategy used was phenomenology. The mixed methods approach was employed, using both qualitative and quantitative approaches concurrently in a triangulation design. The findings emanating from the quantitative data served to complement the findings from the qualitative data. These findings were corroborated in the interpretation stage. The findings, representing the lived experiences of hearing parents raising deaf children, show that although the parenting experiences differ according to the unique circumstances in the family, school and community, there are several commonalities. These include issues associated with the diagnosis and parenting of deaf children. Some of these issues included the challenge of communicating with the deaf child, the financial burden, stigmatization from the general public, strained interpersonal relationships, concern about the child’s future, as well as lack of opportunities for the Deaf to study at tertiary institutions and limited employment opportunities for deaf persons. The findings from both sets of data reveal that, despite the resilience of participants, there is a need for formal support for parents from professionals in the community, as well as informal parental support from the family, friends, and community members, including other hearing parents raising deaf children, and the need for a central location to access information on deafness and related matters. Recommendations were made to address these issues, with a view to facilitating the emotional well-being of hearing parents raising deaf children, and consequently improving the quality of life of the deaf child and the family. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

All Deaf people in South Africa belong to the Deaf Community of South Africa. Within this Deaf Community there is a separate, minority language and cultural group which accepts Sign language, as its first and natural language. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa calls for the acknowledgement of and respect for all minority cultural groups, and recognises the language of the Deaf, that is, Sign language as an official language. This research has attempted to investigate the views of this cultural group and how they want to be perceived by the hearing people, how they want to conduct their lives within the realm of an overarching hearing society and more importantly, the implications of this acquired identity for the education of Deaf learners in South Africa. To document the data on Deaf Culture and the implications for education, the researcher engaged in qualitative research using the questionnaire approach. This instrument was administered to 18 profoundly Deaf adults from various provinces throughout South Africa and representative of the demographic population profile of the Deaf Community of South Africa. The study confirmed an emerging Deaf Culture and concluded that there needs to be redress and change with regard to the curriculum, the educators, the issue of mainstreaming, the status of Sign language and the provision of tertiary education in order for Deaf learners to be educated in the most enabling environment. / Thesis (M.Ed) - University of Natal, Durban, 1998.

In South Africa, education for learners with special needs has historically been provided for within a separate system of specialized education. Over the past few years, following international trends, there have been a few informal initiatives towards integration of learners with special needs into regular schools. This study examines the placement of a hearing impaired pupil at regular primary school in Durban, Kwazulu-Natal. The subject of the study is a hearing impaired child with a severe to profound hearing loss, who was placed by parent choice into a mainstream school in the neighbourhood, from preschool level. The eleven year old subject is a standard three pupil at Bonela Primary School. A case study approach was followed. Data was gathered through semi-structured interviews with the subject, parents, peers and staff at the school. Document analysis was undertaken on school reports, psychological reports, test records and pupil's books. In addition, the researcher used observation in order to capture details concerning the subject's social and academic ability in a natural environment. The results of this study reveal that the hearing impaired pupil made good progress in this regular school setting, despite the fact that there were minimal curriculum adjustments made. The placement experience was inclusive in practice, and proved to be successful in terms of the overall development of the hearing impaired child in this case. Positive attitudes of school personnel and peers, support from teachers, early identification, early intervention, consistent speech therapy, strong parent support, the child's language ability and the subject's personality were key factors contributing to the success of this placement. Findings suggest it is possible to include a child with severe to profound hearing loss in a regular classroom, with minimal support services. The study has implications for current debates in South Africa on the education of Deaf children. The issue of the right of choice of the parent and the Deaf learner is a critical one, and needs to be taken into account by policy makers. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of Natal, Durban, 1996.

M.Ed. / The advances in the education of the learners with hearing-impairment in our schools is inhibited by several factors, for example, lack of trained and dedicated teachers, the lack of full time parent commitment and participation. Communication creates another problem due to the lack of Sign language, books and training manuals, and related teaching aids in the classroom. The major problem experienced in schools for learners with hearing-impairment is that teachers are not trained or skilled in teaching learners suffering from hearingimpairment. Reflecting on the lack of trained teachers Storbeck (1997:3) states that teachers of learners with hearing-impairment in South Africa, are not required to have undergone specialised teacher training to thus qualify for teaching learners with hearing-impairment. In the first instance as a result of involvement and participation in the instruction of hearing-impaired learners, also as principal of a school dealing with hearingimpaired and partially hearing-impaired learners, the researcher has come to realise that these learners experience specific problems. Furthermore, the researcher has also gained further appreciation of the teaching practices and teaching cultures that are in existence at schools for the hearing-impaired learners. In the second instance, lack of qualified teachers seems to be an important aspect of the problem. This distinct lack of qualified teachers in this field of learning and instruction has again placed emphasis on the fact that research in this context is essential and absolutely vital. In the third instance, the Government has appealed for improvement of teaching standards and commitment in general, and in this context it is also applicable to the hearing-impaired learners and the schools serving these learners specifically. As educators, we have to create and initiate some form of action to address the problems of the hearing-impaired learner, thus creating a scenario and opportunity for them to develop and become citizens contributing to future progress and achievements. The problem is that the hearing-impaired learner does not succeed at school. The research questions are: (a) "What kind of problems do hearing-impaired learners encounter at school? and (b) what are the guidelines for teachers to adapt when teaching in the classroom of the hearing-impaired learners?" The aims of the study are: to identify the learning problems encountered by the grade 8 and 9 hearingimpaired learners in the classroom; to provide guidelines to teachers to adapt their teaching in the classroom of the hearing impaired learners.

South Africa has recently made a significant move towards support for deaf learners in inclusive education settings. Educators in inclusive classrooms are considered primary resources for the development of the strengths and competencies of these learners. Successful inclusion of deaf learners often depends on the skills of classroom educators. Nevertheless, educators often have little or no knowledge regarding support for deaf learners in inclusive classrooms. The experiences of deaf learners were investigated in order to understand the unique needs of these learners. The aim of the research was to add bottom-up approaches to the range of curriculum adaptations necessary to support deaf high school learners within inclusive education in South Africa. A mixed methods approach was employed, using both quantitative and qualitative approaches in a triangulation research design. The findings that emanated from the quantitative research served to complement the findings from the qualitative study. The results of the empirical study were supported by the literature review to formulate practical guidelines for assisting educators to accommodate the curriculum in order to support deaf learners. These guidelines might enable educators to respond positively to the needs of deaf learners and ensure that their inclusion in the regular school is successful. / Inclusive Education / D. Ed. (Inclusive Education)

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of Filial Therapy training in increasing teachers of deaf and hard of hearing preschool students': 1) empathic responsiveness with their students; 2) communication of acceptance to their students; 3) allowance of self-direction by their students. A second purpose was to determine the effectiveness of Filial Therapy training in reducing experimental group students': 1) overall behavior problems; 2) internalizing behaviors; and 3) externalizing behavior problems. Filial Therapy is a didactic/dynamic modality used by play therapists to train parents and teachers to be therapeutic agents with their children and students. Teachers are taught primary child-centered play therapy skills for use with their own students in weekly play sessions with their students. Teachers learn to create a special environment that enhances and strengthens the teacher-student emotional bond by means of which both teacher and child are assisted in personal growth and change. The experimental group (N=24) consisted of 12 teachers, who participated in 11 weekly Filial Therapy training sessions (22 total instructional hours) during the fall semester at the preschool of a center for communications disorders, and 12 students chosen by the teachers as their student of focus. Teachers and students met once a week during the training for 30 minute teacher student play sessions in a room specified for this purpose. The non-treatment comparison group received no training during the 11 weeks. Teacher participants completed two written instruments: the Child Behavior Checklist/Caregiver-Teacher Report Form and the Meadow-Kendall Social-Emotional Assessment Inventory for Deaf and Hearing Impaired Students. Teachers who received Filial Therapy training were videotaped during student teacher play sessions. The videotaped sessions were used for pretest and posttest evaluation for the Measurement of Empathy in Adult-Child Interaction. Analysis of covariance revealed the children in the experimental group significantly decreased overall behavior problems. Teachers in the experimental group increased communication of empathy with their students of focus, significantly increased their attitude of acceptance with their students, and significantly increased in their ability to allow the students appropriate self-direction. This study supports Filial Therapy as an effective method of training teachers of deaf and hard of hearing preschool children to be therapeutic agents of change with their students.

Learners who are deaf and who are using the auditory oral approach are currently included in ordinary schools in South Africa. By default, most educators are not adequately trained to include these learners successfully. Transformation and train-ing, specific to the context of inclusive education, is thus undeniable. Therefore, in order to address the development of full-service schools to include learners who are deaf and who are using the auditory oral approach, a literature study on the nature of inclusive education with the focus on full-service schools to include the mentioned learners, took place. A qualitative study was conducted and data was gathered by interviews with six, learners, parents and educators. The findings were corroborated with the literature study with a view to addressing learner and system needs in order to include these learners successfully in a full-service school. Based on the findings, recommendations are made to address the development of full-service schools to include the mentioned learners. / Educational Studies / M. Ed.

South Africa has recently made a significant move towards support for deaf learners in inclusive education settings. Educators in inclusive classrooms are considered primary resources for the development of the strengths and competencies of these learners. Successful inclusion of deaf learners often depends on the skills of classroom educators. Nevertheless, educators often have little or no knowledge regarding support for deaf learners in inclusive classrooms. The experiences of deaf learners were investigated in order to understand the unique needs of these learners. The aim of the research was to add bottom-up approaches to the range of curriculum adaptations necessary to support deaf high school learners within inclusive education in South Africa. A mixed methods approach was employed, using both quantitative and qualitative approaches in a triangulation research design. The findings that emanated from the quantitative research served to complement the findings from the qualitative study. The results of the empirical study were supported by the literature review to formulate practical guidelines for assisting educators to accommodate the curriculum in order to support deaf learners. These guidelines might enable educators to respond positively to the needs of deaf learners and ensure that their inclusion in the regular school is successful. / Inclusive Education / D. Ed. (Inclusive Education)