What the Bleep?

So.. most of you know that I'm going for my masters in Deaf Ed. 23 months down with 1 month to go and that month couldn't come and go any faster than I'd like it to. I'm down to my last two requirements for the worthless degree I'm about to get (and by the way, I have already received my certification, yippee!!!). A huge Comp project and of course, the Comp Exam, which is due in about two weeks. If I haven't told you yet about the Comp project, you'll find out about it now.

Basically, the Comp project is a super-long paper (I'm up to 15 pages so far and I'm NOT even halfway done) detailing what I will do during certain points of my first year as a teacher. Prior to the start of school, first week of school, end of the first 6 weeks, end of the semester, beginning of the 2ND semester, early spring (ARD preparations) and end of the year. I have to painstakingly explain what I will do in which situation at these points of the year and why. Fine, I get the point of the project - but as I struggle to complete it each day, I get more and more frustrated. Why? Get ready because I'm about to give an eyeful.

In every aspect of the paper, I'm required to recite how I plan to incorporate speech, language and audition skills in my lessons along with the other normal stuff like seating, IEP goals for individual students, blah blah blah. I have to talk about how I plan to evaluate the students, determine whether they're improving and how I plan to incorporate new ideas into new lessons based on the students' success. Language I can understand but speech and audition!?

I had an interview last week with a school district that I'm not too crazy about. I had an interview with them back in November as a long-term teacher... needless to say, I didn't get the job. However, this time around, I was much more prepared for the interview because I had a very good idea of what type of questions they would be asking me. Regardless of my teaching philosophy and my personal experience, I answered the questions according to what I knew they wanted to hear. Never mind my beliefs - I was willing to say whatever BS possible to get the job. I'll find out Friday whether I got it or not. I highly doubt it, though.

Now, as I'm completing the Comp project, I'm looking back at the interview and thinking about what they asked me. The more I work on the project and the more I think about the interview, the more I get agitated and angry over their philosophies. It just seems to me that Deaf Education programs are being overrun by hearing people who know crap about Deaf people. In two years of my education and my interviews, I've seen that these people are more concerned about the Deaf kids that has the potential of speaking and hearing. Never mind those who are mute and profoundly deaf with no possibility of hearing a sound. Who needs them, right?

I may be profoundly deaf now but I'm certainly not mute. I may not have grown up profoundly deaf but these "insignificant" profoundly deaf and mute people are my parents and friends. It really bothers me that people put more of a focus on deaf children who may be able to achieve much more than those who cannot hear or speak. What the hell? Who are they to decide early in the children's life who and who may not be successful based on how much skill they have in hearing and speaking?

In every lesson, I'm required to think and talk about how I can accommodate those who can speak and hear. I have to talk about how I plan to improve these skills and incorporate them in everything I do. What about the others? What about using your time to think about what visual aids you can use to provide better education for those who cannot hear and speak?

Ultimately, I know that if and when I become a teacher, what I do in my classroom is up to me. However, I do have to follow laws and abide by the IEP goals, district rules and of course, the program rules. I've told myself that I could always put up with stupid people for a while until I found a position at a district that I could appreciate. However, the more I think about it, the more I wonder... am I willing to compromise my beliefs and the children's education because the program coordinators think they know what they're doing? Don't get me wrong - I have no formal experience under my belt so I am not in any position to say I'm better than they are... but I AM a deaf person, I DO have deaf parents and I ALSO have a deaf child.

I teach GED to deaf adults that are struggling really bad (and I mean, bad) in English and Reading. The funny thing is - 3 of the 5 adults grew up in oral schools. My heart goes out to them - and I just keep thinking.... if people cared about them in the beginning and provided them education in their natural language along with visual aids (frankly, ANYTHING that could take advantage of their eyes rather than their ears), would they be at the same place they are today?