Supervision on early intervision practices for teachers of the deaf

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to examine the early intervention practices of two teachers working with infants with hearing loss and the supervision provided to these teachers to improve their practices. It was designed as a qualitative case study. Data were collected with intervention session video recordings, evaluation meeting audio recordings, session plans, the reflective journals, teacher evaluation forms and interviews conducted with teachers. The data were analysed with the inductive analysis method. Study findings were presented under four themes; the early intervention process, supervision of this process, teacher views and the views of the supervisor on the supervision process and improvements observed in teacher skills. It was found that teachers shared similar intervention goals, however their implementation and management of the process were different. The supervisor provided corrective and confirmatory feedback to the teachers. It was determined that the positive relationship formed between the teachers and the supervisor was considered important by both parties. Key words: Teachers of the deaf, early intervention, teacher supervision, qualitative research.