Parents' and teachers' views on deaf children's literacy at home: do they agree?

Abstract

AbstractThis paper compares the views of parents and teachers of the deaf on deaf children's literacy at home. We made DVD recordings of 12 young deaf children (aged 3–5) sharing books with their parents at home. Six families used British Sign Language (BSL) as their main means of communication and for interacting around books, and six used spoken language. Each dyad shared one book of their choice and they all shared Where's My Teddy? (Alborough, 2002), which was a book chosen by the researchers. One month later, the parents were shown the recording and asked for their views on it and on their child's literacy development. The teacher of the deaf working with each family was shown the same recording and asked similar questions. Results revealed that the parents and teachers of the deaf held some views in common, but focused on different aspects of literacy development. Implications for practice include developing a shared understanding of the routes to literacy that individual deaf children will follow. ...