Itinerant Teachers of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and Their Students in Australia: some state comparisons

Abstract

To survey the work of itinerant teachers of the deaf and hard of hearing in Australia a mail survey of most of those teachers in four Australian states was conducted. The survey sought information about the professional and personal demographics and work characteristics of the teachers and their roles in working with integrated deaf and hard of hearing students. Teachers also reported on the characteristics and level of inclusion of a “sample student” randomly chosen from their caseloads. Information about the distribution of these students' characteristics and the types of services delivered in each state indicated that there were few differences among the states. It was found that Australian itinerant teachers generally reported that they were satisfied with their work and the placement of deaf and hard of hearing students in regular classes. The teachers generally used a “pull-out/ direct tutorial” mode of working rather than one of “consultation only” with regular teachers and reported that schools and teachers were generally cooperative and understanding of the needs of deaf and hard of hearing students. The students in most cases were well integrated socially and academically in their regular classes.