Cross-cultural attitudes toward deaf culture in a multi- and singular cultural society : a survey of residential school based teachers for the deaf who are deaf and hearing

During the past few years, Deaf culture has emerged as an important philosophy that could lead to a radical restructuring of Deaf education methods. The purpose of this study was to determine attitudes concerning Deaf culture from teachers of residential based schools for the Deaf who are Deaf and Hearing.Prior to initiating direct contact with the teachers, the superintendents or principals of the selected residential schools were contacted via mail, and their permission secured. In the United States, 279 teachers (69 teachers who are Deaf, 210 teachers who are Hearing) from seven midwest residential based schools for the Deaf and in South Korea 310 teachers (26 teachers who are Deaf, 284 teachers who are Hearing) from all eleven residential based schools for the Deaf participated.Two-factor ANOVA procedures with repeated measures on one factor were utilized to analyze the teachers' attitudes toward Deaf culture in America and South Korea from a 30-question survey using a five-point Likert scale.This study concluded that: (a) Deaf culture was a subculture in mainstream society whether it was a multi- or singular cultural society--although attitudes toward Deaf culture were accepted more negatively in a singular society than those in a multi-cultural society; (b) Deaf culture was accepted by teachers of schools for the Deaf who are Deaf more readily than those who are Hearing in both multi- or singular cultural societies; and (c) there was no significant correlation between attitudes of teachers who were employed at different levels of instruction, such as elementary and middle or secondary school.Department of Special EducationThesis (D. Ed.