Hi all

 

I am reviewing the attendance/progress etc. and future plans of some of the students I support/advise and was struck once again by how good the attendance records for students with a hearing impairment (the only category I have looked at so far) are compared to other students without disabilities.

 

The numbers are obviously very small and so a comparison using an average would be a bit skewed, but I still think it is an interesting area in these times when the government has to use every means possible to get students to attend college (I work in a large FE college).

 

I will never forget when I first started this job (5 years ago) a deaf student saying to me that she couldn’t understand why some of the other students mucked around in class, didn’t get on with their work and sometimes didn’t attend classes. She said she loved coming to college and was here to learn and she wanted to learn as much as possible. Now I recognise the fact that her hearing problem affected her interaction with the other students and perhaps she had to concentrate more to hear what was being said or maybe she feared missing vital information that others might not pass on to her – but I really got the feeling she valued the opportunity to learn and she wanted to gain all she possible could from attending lessons. I suppose it could be that the more determined/committed students with hearing problems actually get to college?

 

But since then I have heard similar comments from other students with hearing impairments, nearly all of whom had very good attendance records. I am not saying that those without a hearing problem are all poor attendees who don’t value what is on offer etc. I just thought the apparent pattern was interesting.

 

Has anyone else noticed this or have a viewpoint? Or is it just a coincidence rather than a pattern I have identified?

 

Kind regards, Paul Smyth (DO – Richmond College)