Young People at Secondary School
This study, funded by the RNID, was designed to find out whether there were any particular issues at secondary level which might affect the successful integration of implanted young people into mainstream schools.
Questionnaires were distributed widely to services across the UK and made available on the Ear Foundation website with a link from the BATOD website.
Further in depth telephone interviews were carried out with some of these teachers, followed by interviews with pupils and parents, including some who had chosen to send their child to a special school for deaf children at secondary level after having educated their child in a mainstream primary school.
We asked teachers of the deaf about the main challenges in school. These were considered to be the pupils’ language levels, together with the way in which class teachers interacted with them. Some commented that improved speech intelligibility provided by cochlear implantation may mask the true language abilities of these young people and lead to unrealistic expectations on the part of classroom teachers.
50% of the pupils taught by these teachers were considered to be dependent on their cochlear implant. Many pupils had a high ;level of support from learning support workers or communication support workers.
Many teachers did not feel that the support needs of implanted pupils differed significantly from that provided for pupils with hearing aids.
Teachers reported that key factors in the successful use of cochlear implants at secondary level were the quality of the support provided, together with the perceived benefit of the system to the young person. Peer pressure was also a factor.
The difficulties of listening to and understanding many different teachers in a variety of acoustic environments also featured quite strongly.
We also asked some of the pupils themselves about what they saw as the issues. They were all in mainstream schools and were happy to be there.
However many have difficulties with group discussion and interaction in lessons and prefer a more direct and structured approach. They mostly appreciate in class support (as long as it is not too intrusive) and the use of whiteboards and written notes/support materials.
The parents of young people in mainstream secondary schools were generally quite satisfied. Some felt that support from teachers of the deaf in non-resourced schools was not as good as it might have been and relied much more on their relationship with the support worker.
Parents who had chosen to change approach at secondary and opt for special school were clear about their reasons for doing so. They wanted direct teaching from a qualified teacher of the deaf in good acoustic conditions with opportunities for their child to mix with other hearing impaired pupils. These were young people with well established oral language skills who were considered successful cochlear implant users. However they felt that their child would not be able to achieve their full potential within the state mainstream provision.
The RNID are currently publishing a booklet based on this project