ODYSSEY

New Directions to Deaf Education

WE ARE NOW ACCEPTING ARTICLE SUBMISSIONS FOR THE 2023 ISSUE OF ODYSSEY ON THE TOPIC OF “ACCESS AND EQUITY IN DEAF EDUCATION.”

Call for Submissions
2021-2022 ISSUE

Transformative Practices in Instruction, Collaboration, and Administration

View the 2021-2022 issue in its entirety here

This issue of Odyssey, compiled during the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic, focuses on how schools, professionals, and families are working together to transform deaf education across the nation, for both in-person and virtual instruction, to meet the ever-changing needs of today’s students.

Commitment to inclusive practices has become a mainstay of American education in response to rapidly changing demographics. Schools and programs are rising to the challenge of meeting the needs of diverse populations of students who may come from homes and families that vary by race, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, locality, age, level of education, disability, and language use.

The 17 articles, written by a total of 35 professional and parent authors and focusing on an abundance of topics (e.g., virtual Texas Deaf Ed Road Trip for middle schoolers; reframing academic and functional learning in response to the unique needs of each student; challenges of the face mask mandate during the COVID-19 pandemic; a partnership to transform the way students from across ethnic, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds experience literacy instruction while increasing access to dance education; dismantling racial inequities through diverse children’s literature; co-leadership and community involvement at the Clerc Center; social-emotional learning with adolescents; flipped classroom pedagogy in ASL mathematics; the Fostering Joy movement; creating transformative units/teaching self-determination skills; navigating the pandemic as both a professional in deaf education and a parent of deaf, deafdisabled, and OHKODA children with diverse needs; using ASL graphemes with preschool children to develop their English literacy skills; addressing teacher burnout; using music to transform classes for deaf and hard of hearing students with multiple disabilities through Universal Design for Learning; building a deaf school online in Utah; and the power of transformation in deaf education across the nation), are listed below.

We invite you to share your own stories with us on Twitter and Facebook with the hashtags of #ClercCenter and #DeafEd or to reach out to us at Odyssey@gallaudet.edu with your thoughts.

Issues

  • The Great Texas Deaf Ed Road Trip: Middle Schoolers Drive Development of Virtual Learning by Sarah Wainscott and William Wainscott
  • Transformation: Reframing Academic and Functional Learning by Sarah Brandt and Rachel Benjamin
  • Facing Masks: Teaching Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students During a Pandemic by Lauren Trainor
  • Teaching Literacy Through Movement: A Transformative Partnership by Amanda Howerton-Fox, Michelle A. Veyvoda, Hannah Park, and Julia Silvestri
  • Co-Leadership and Community Involvement at the Clerc Center by Marianne Belsky and Nicole Sutliffe
  • Social-Emotional Learning: How Can We Best Support Deaf Adolescents? by Melissa Herzig and Carly Leannah

About the Clerc Center

The Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center at Gallaudet University is a federally funded center with exemplary elementary and secondary education programs for deaf and hard of hearing students and is tasked with developing and disseminating innovative curricula, instructional techniques, and products nationwide while providing information, training, and technical assistance for parents and professionals to meet the needs of deaf and hard of hearing students from birth to age 21.

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800 Florida Avenue, NE Washington, DC 20002 USA

This site was supported by federal funding. Publication of this material shall not imply approval or acceptance by the U.S. Department of Education of the findings, conclusions, or recommendations herein. Gallaudet University is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, hearing status, disability, covered veteran status, marital status, personal appearance, sexual orientation, family responsibilities, matriculation, political affiliation, source of income, place of business or residence, pregnancy, childbirth, or any other unlawful basis.

Copyright © 2023 Clerc Center. All rights reserved.

Seeking Submissions
for the 2023 Issue of Odyssey

THEME: Access and Equity in Deaf Education

The next issue of Odyssey will focus on how deaf and hard of hearing students are being provided with equitable access to education, ensuring they have the resources and services they need to fully participate and succeed in both school and the community—as young children, as students, and, later, as adults.

Often the concept of “access” is defined by experts or regular users of a given system instead of according to the experiences and expectations of exceptional users who engage with the system. Who defines accessibility? The deaf or hard of hearing child or the people surrounding that child? In addition to determining what access means and how it will be provided, accessibility by itself may not be enough. Abundance of experience and ease of use are also important, especially in interactions involving language and socialization. Full and comfortable participation may be the ultimate measure of equitable access.

We want to know how families and educators are providing equitable access and enabling full participation for their deaf and hard of hearing children or students not only through technology but also through programming, activities, and strategies that promote maximum opportunities for learning and interaction:

 

    • Which assistive tools and online technologies have been shown to support academic success and social-emotional development? How can we measure the efficacy of such tools?

 

    • What unique strategies help create inclusive environments and promote an abundance of accessible and interactive language for deaf and hard of hearing children in their families and communities as well as in schools?

 

    • How do we involve deaf and hard of hearing students in determining what access they need? How do we ensure they continue to receive both academic and social-emotional support? 

 

    • What have we learned from our own deaf and hard of hearing children and students, especially about what works best for them? How have we supported their advocacy and self-determination? 

 

The Clerc Center is particularly interested in articles focused on serving students who are deaf or hard of hearing from traditionally underserved groups, including those students who are lower achieving academically, who come from families that speak a language other than English in the home, who are members of diverse racial or cultural groups, who are from rural areas, and/or who are deafdisabled.

Please e-mail your ideas to Odyssey@gallaudet.edu. We will begin accepting submissions on June 13, 2022, and continue until December 2, 2022, or until the magazine reaches capacity. Contact us at any time with questions or to discuss your ideas.

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