Guidelines for teachers working with learners with a hearing-impairment

M.Ed.The advances in the education of the learners with hearing-impairment in our schools is inhibited by several factors, for example, lack of trained and dedicated teachers, the lack of full time parent commitment and participation. Communication creates another problem due to the lack of Sign language, books and training manuals, and related teaching aids in the classroom. The major problem experienced in schools for learners with hearing-impairment is that teachers are not trained or skilled in teaching learners suffering from hearingimpairment. Reflecting on the lack of trained teachers Storbeck (1997:3) states that teachers of learners with hearing-impairment in South Africa, are not required to have undergone specialised teacher training to thus qualify for teaching learners with hearing-impairment. In the first instance as a result of involvement and participation in the instruction of hearing-impaired learners, also as principal of a school dealing with hearingimpaired and partially hearing-impaired learners, the researcher has come to realise that these learners experience specific problems. Furthermore, the researcher has also gained further appreciation of the teaching practices and teaching cultures that are in existence at schools for the hearing-impaired learners. In the second instance, lack of qualified teachers seems to be an important aspect of the problem. This distinct lack of qualified teachers in this field of learning and instruction has again placed emphasis on the fact that research in this context is essential and absolutely vital. In the third instance, the Government has appealed for improvement of teaching standards and commitment in general, and in this context it is also applicable to the hearing-impaired learners and the schools serving these learners specifically. As educators, we have to create and initiate some form of action to address the problems of the hearing-impaired learner, thus creating a scenario and opportunity for them to develop and become citizens contributing to future progress and achievements. The problem is that the hearing-impaired learner does not succeed at school. The research questions are: (a) "What kind of problems do hearing-impaired learners encounter at school? and (b) what are the guidelines for teachers to adapt when teaching in the classroom of the hearing-impaired learners?" The aims of the study are: to identify the learning problems encountered by the grade 8 and 9 hearingimpaired learners in the classroom; to provide guidelines to teachers to adapt their teaching in the classroom of the hearing impaired learners