Collaboration

Collaboration is really important for families and the schools their children attend. Collaboration means more than just meeting with the parents it means meeting with the family. As teachers we have to learn about our students through thier interactions in class, but also those from home. A child may behave differently at school as they do at home. The collaboration has to begin on both ends. When having a Deaf parent and hearing children what would be the first way to collaborate with the parent?


As a teacher I would first learn about the parent through thier children. At the beginning of the year, I would send out an newsletter, that provides information about the classroom and the school. I would have the parents send back a contact card to provide any information about them or thier families I should know. For example this information could be something like thier child will walk home with thier older brother.  I would also ask the student to do An About Me poster. Hopefully this poster would include any information about thier parents and thier family.


The beginning of the year is crucial to begin collaborating with familiHaves, because you can learn information from families, rather than previous teachers. Previous teachers might have a bias opinion and shape your opinion.  The text book always emphasied communication and trying to understand and accomodate the families rather than just the parent. One aspect that stood out to me was the siblings affect. A sibling might feel burden or embarrassed about thier other siblings disability and the parents might not be aware.  School proffesonals could collaborate with the siblings during the school day to relieve some of this stress. They could provide classess for mediation or understanding between families  and siblings.  Having a Deaf parent and one hearing child and a deaf child may cause stress or a feeling of being left out because they are the only one who can hear. It could also give a feeling of being the care taker instead of the child.

Having Deaf parents and siblings and being the only Hearing Child would be difficult to deal with. How do you think school personnel and other resources can help a hearing child with deaf parents and siblings?