The development of inclusive practices as a result of the process of integrating deaf/hard of hearing students

Abstract

In recent years there has been a significant debate regarding the ways in which different educational systems throughout the world could develop more inclusive practices in their schools. Based on the notion that the education of children considered as having special needs should be considered as part of a wider process of school development, in this study, we investigated the implications of the integration of deaf and hard of hearing students (D/HH) in relation to the practices used by teachers. Using qualitative data from a secondary school in Cyprus, we formed two assertions which are supported by examples that embraced inclusive practices: (a) the presence of D/HH students obliged teachers to differentiate their teaching and what innovations were used in the class with D/HH pupils were also used afterwards in the classes with all students with success; and (b) the presence of D/HH students in the school led teachers to develop collaborations between themselves, a fact that facilitated the learning not only of the D/HH students, but also of all the children. The integration of D/HH students led teachers to the development of more inclusive practices, which in turn had an impact on all students of the school.