Removing Barriers and Building Bridges: American Deaf Interns Teaching Chinese Deaf Children

• Published in: American annals of the deaf (Washington, D.C. 1886) Vol. 144; no. 3; pp. 281 - 288
• Main Authors: Martin, David S., Hussey, Leslie, Sicoli, Debbie, Sheng, Zhang Ning
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC Conference of Educational Administrators of Schools and Programs for the Deaf 01.07.1999; Gallaudet University Press; American Annals of the Deaf
• Subjects: Adult; American sign language; Biological and medical sciences; Children; Children & youth; China; Chinese culture; Chinese languages; Cultural Differences; Culture; Deaf education; Deafness; Ear, auditive nerve, cochleovestibular tract, facial nerve: diseases, semeiology; Education; Education, Graduate; Female; Foreign Countries; Graduate Students; Graduate Study; Higher Education; Humans; International Cooperation; International Education; International Educational Exchange; Internship and Residency; Internship Programs; Internships; Language; Language Acquisition; Medical sciences; Non tumoral diseases; Otorhinolaryngology. Stomatology; Philosophy; Physical Education; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Sign Language; Sign languages; Special education; Special Schools; Student Teachers; Student teaching; Study Abroad; Teacher Education; Teacher Educators; Teachers; Teaching; Teaching methods; Teaching. Deontology. Ethics. Legislation; United States; China; United States; Human; American; Interaction; Auditory disorder; ENT disease; Chinese; Child; Public health; Teaching; Hearing loss
• ISSN: 0002-726X; 1543-0375; 1543-0375
• DOI: 10.1353/aad.2012.0181

Two deaf American student-teaching M.A. candidates did an internship at a school for the Deaf in China. This was the first such internship ever done in China. Critical procedures for establishing international internships are described; cultural and educational experiences and the accommodations made to guarantee the success of such internships are analyzed, including issues related to communication modality, educational philosophy, expectations for deaf learners, and teaching methods. The views of both interns, and those of two teacher educators, one American and one Chinese, are included.