Supporting students who are deaf and hard of hearing in regular schools: influences on the support activities provided by itinerant teachers

The study reported in this thesis investigated the influences on the choice of support activities by a total population of 14 itinerant teachers who work with 59 students who are deaf and hard of hearing in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). The support activities of the itinerant teachers were surveyed and compared with student files that documented the learning and development needs of their individual students, without exclusions. It was found that direct teaching formed the majority of the support activities, which were primarily focused on the students’ assessed and documented needs in regard to the development of skills in language, listening, and literacy. The teachers generally used combinations of explicit skill-based teaching, and teaching that integrated listening, speech, and language goals with the class curriculum and with the interests of their students. The provision of conversation was strongly supported by the itinerant teachers, as was the need for consultation and collaboration with the class teachers. Interviews and written comments were used to explore influences, other than student needs, on the support activities. Those influences included a strong collegial team structure, the availability of a program to teach auditory skills, and the requirements for consultation and reviews from legislation and schools. Individual education plans and summative tests were not found to be significant influences, but there was a consistent use of informal language progress monitoring to inform teaching activities. The findings were consistent across (a) a variety of school settings, including students with varied communication needs and those with additional disabilities, and (b) across a range of itinerant teachers who came from a variety of backgrounds. The results support the critical role of itinerant teachers in supporting language development by both explicit teaching and indirect activities.