“It Takes a Community of Colleagues to Maintain Balance”

“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. H Johnson

Presentation Outline • My Story • Problems • Solutions….posters & brochures that are at each table • Results • Collaborative Opportunities • …the unspoken rule of “dinner speakers” + a request for assistance… H Johnson

My Story • “…the lucky encounter” • “…teaching d/hh students in Memphis, TN” • “…degree two and counting” • “…the BIG ego” • “…a search for information” • “…22 years and counting” • “…the ‘epiphany’ of ’91” H Johnson

Problems • The major problem of deafness is… • …not too little hearing, but too much interpersonal and informational isolation. H Johnson

…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. H Johnson

…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. H Johnson

…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. H Johnson

…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 H Johnson

Solutions • The needed solution would have to: • reduce isolation • reduce the “realities divide” • increase support & recognition • increase motivation and use • +… H Johnson

…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. • +… H Johnson

…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… H Johnson

…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. H Johnson

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 H Johnson

…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 H Johnson

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

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

Collaborative Opportunities • OK….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… H Johnson

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) H Johnson

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. H Johnson

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

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 H Johnson

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

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 H Johnson

“It Takes a Community of Colleagues to Maintain Balance”