To add to the response about employment. In most circumstances a Deaf
person would have an understanding Access to Work(ATW) Advisor who would
agree to fund an Interpreter/Communicator to support the Deaf person in
making their English at work accessible and appropriate to their job.
Whether this is voice-over for a presentation, understanding and writing
reports etc.
This is not to say that all Spelling and written work should not be
assessed. Any technical jargon, words or phrases should be used
correctly be it finger-spelling, writing or any format. If they are not
then I would say that competency in that subject hasn't been reached.
Any support mechanism be it person or technical can not be held
responsible for technical jargon. The individual student must be able to
recognise if a technical word is correct and is being used correctly
i.e. in then right context. Such as cite (quote) or sight (to see) or
site (location)
Yours
Ann
Ann Crocker-Smith | DDS (Deaf and Disabled Support) Programme Manager |
Deaf Education and Learning Support| City Lit
T: 020 7492 2722 | F: 020 7492 2743 | Minicom: 020 7492 2746 |
Mobile/SMS: 07781 478651 (office) | www.citylit.ac.uk
-----Original Message-----
From: Turner, Paddy [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 27 March 2009 13:18
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Deaf Student
Hi Claire,
This is the line of argument I am using at the moment - too early for me
to say whether it is proving successful except that I haven't had a
tutor able to disagree with me effectively........yet. (The time will
come)
In my view, including literacy as a specified competence discriminates
against most dyslexic and BSL-using deaf students (and others I know)
and as such should not therefore be included as a competence in a
blanket way. In the same way as we would argue that a requirement to
hear something or speak something should not be included. What I am
saying is, that the inclusion of this competence criteria needs to be
justified rather than it's exclusion being justified on behalf of an
individual student.
I simply ask the question: "Why is this an essential criteria?"
In what way is competence in literacy in itself a demonstration of
ability in the subject area being studied? In most cases, is it not the
means by which the student is demonstrating her/his ability, knowledge,
understanding? So why penalise the student for not being able to do this
very well, if there are ways in which the student can demonstrate it
that do not include writing, or if you can still assess their abilities
even where the written word is grammatically incorrect?
When faced with these questions, most tutors fall back on notions of
what it means to be a graduate (academic standards) and employer
expectations, but that kind of depends who the employer is, what the job
is and how well employers set their person specifications and should not
interfere with our responsibilities to be fair to the students at HE
level.
Naturally, there will be subjects, modules etc that are justified in
including these criteria and I have no problem with that.
There you go Claire - a starter for 10.....the more debate on this the
better as it will help us all inform our ability to engage with academic
staff on these issues. This is a very important area towards building a
more inclusive HE assessment framework not just for disabled students
but for all.
Cheers
Paddy
-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion list for disabled students and their support staff.
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Claire Shanks
Sent: 27 March 2009 12:07
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Deaf Student
We have a Deaf student who has requested that she is not marked on her
spelling, grammar and punctuation in all her assessed work. We are
currently trialling a sticker scheme for students with SpLD but this is
not to disregard lapses in spelling, etc it is to inform tutors that
they need to provide more formative feedback to those students who use
the stickers on their assessed work. This is likely to be rolled out
next academic year to include those who are Deaf or hearing impaired.
We have produced guidance for academic departments on 'Accessible
Assessments' to ensure that where appropriate, departments consider
making provisions for reasonable adjustment in curriculum design.
However, it is expected that literacy will remain a specified competence
for any assessed coursework but not, except in unusual circumstances,
for unseen exams. It is assumed that most students will have the time
for drafting and re-drafting work and utilising the range of support
mechanisms available to them, e.g. Language Support Tutor, proof reader.
I would be very interested to hear other people's views on this. Also,
it would be appreciated if anyone would be willing to share any policy
documents as an example of good practice.
Thank you for your help with this query.
With best wishes
Claire
--
************************************************************************
***************************
Claire Shanks
Disability Coordinator
Disability & Dyslexia Support Service
The Hillsborough Centre
Alfred Denny Building
Western Bank
Sheffield
S10 2TN
Tel: 0114 222 1371 (Internal: 21371)
Fax: 0114 222 1373
Email: [log in to unmask]
http://www.shef.ac.uk/disability/
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