Hearing-impaired students in post-secondary education in Victoria, Australia: some teacher beliefs regarding student entry skills and student support services

Master of EducationOpportunities in Australia for post-secondary study by hearing-impaired individuals appear to be increasing. To prepare students adequately, educators require information regarding those skills hearing-impaired students will need on entry to post-secondary study, and the type and extent of the services required to support them in that study. A questionnaire was constructed to record the beliefs on those matters of teachers of hearing-impaired post-secondary students, and respondents were sought in every post-secondary educational institution in Victoria, Australia. From the results of the survey, lists were constructed of necessary student entry skills and student support services. A number of differences were observed between the beliefs of teachers in the different types of post-secondary institutions. Teacher beliefs regarding student entry skills were recorded for both normally-hearing and hearing-impaired students. Few differences between the entry skill needs of the two groups of students were observed