Teacher Resistance to Oralism in the 1970S: a Case Study of a School for the Deaf

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Teacher Resistance to Oralism in the 1970S: a Case Study of a School for the Deaf Teacher Resistance to Oralism in the 1970s: A Case Study of a School for the Deaf Submitted by Mark Le Roy Fullwood to the University of Exeter As a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy In September 2018 This thesis is available for Library use on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. I certify that all material in this thesis which is not my own work has been identified and that no material has previously been submitted and approved for the award of a degree by this or any other University. Signature: ………………………………………………………….. 1 Abstract The central aim of this research was to investigate teacher resistance in a deaf school, in the South West of England, as they responded to contradictions in their careers during the oral method of deaf education. The most notable contradiction was that the oral methods failed a sizeable portion of deaf students who had no recourse to other methods. Other contradictions revolved around differences between the interpretation of deaf lives from a cultural or medical viewpoint and tensions between the influences of normalisation and the growing acceptance of diversity. Giddens’ (1984) ontological project of structuration is used as a sensitising lens for the study because of its focus on both structures, rules and resources for social actions, and individual agency blended in a recursive relationship. A bricolage of interviews and historical documents are used to create a history of the school outlining the dominant structures in deaf education and the development of the oral method through time, ultimately to the late 1970s when, in this case study, the oral method was augmented with Cued Speech and Sign Supported English. This case study focuses on thirteen teachers who taught mainly through the 1970s, of which eleven participated in semi-structured interviews. Grounded theory is used as a way of collecting and analysing data so that the findings were, in large, inductive. Conformity to the oral method, in most cases, required a state of consciousness that Giddens (1984) called a practical consciousness, where teachers replicated existing patterns of society, including the more durable structures associated with their social positioning, that is their socially legitimated identities. Oppositional behaviours, including resistance, required a discursive consciousness where agents explored other opportunities triggered as a result of contradictions that arose in their lives. Most participants conformed to the oral method but a few employed occasional oppositional behaviours, for example allowing students to sign to those who could not profit from the oral teaching. Three participants resisted the oral method, evidenced by developing Deaf cultural competencies and with that a growing awareness of deaf epistemologies. This epistemic reflexivity led 2 them to value and learn sign language and Deaf culture and develop transformative practices, creating different deaf pedagogies in safe spaces away from the prying eyes of other teachers and the school leadership. From limited discussions with some pupils, who attended the school during the 1960s and 1970s, these behaviours and teaching styles were welcomed and appreciated by the students. 3 Acknowledgements I would like to thank all the participants involved in this research, for their enthusiasm for deaf education and their willingness to share stories about their teaching lives. Some have been breathtakingly honest about events and their feelings and aspirations as Teachers of the Deaf which has made the whole research process a privilege. I would like to thank Lynn Williams who initially inspired me to undertake a PhD. I would also like to thank my supervisors: Martin Levinson for encouraging me to begin this journey, Hannah Anglin-Jaffe for her passion for deaf education, Hazel Lawson and Alexandra Allan for getting me over the line. They have worked tirelessly with me for which I will always be grateful. Last, but not least, I would like to thank my family for their support and belief in me and giving up time that could have been theirs. This is dedicated to Carole who has urged me on with unwavering faith in the project and our children; Holly, Leanne, Kimberley, Tiffany and Emma-Lee. 4 Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................ 2 Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................. 4 Chapter 1: Introduction ...................................................................................................... 10 1.1 Context ..................................................................................................................... 10 1.1.1 Significance of the Study ................................................................................... 10 1.1.2 Primary Research Questions ............................................................................. 12 1.1.3 Background to the Research Project ................................................................. 14 1.1.4 Positioning ......................................................................................................... 17 1.1.5 Theoretical Framework ...................................................................................... 21 1.1.6 Research Design ............................................................................................... 21 1.2 Glossary of Terms .................................................................................................... 22 1.2.1 Deafness ........................................................................................................... 22 1.2.2 The Deaf Community ......................................................................................... 23 1.2.3 Communication Methods and Systems ............................................................. 25 1.3 Thesis Outline .......................................................................................................... 32 Chapter 2 Theoretical Framework ..................................................................................... 35 2.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 35 2.2 Minority Rights.......................................................................................................... 35 2.3 Minority Rights and the Deaf Community ................................................................. 39 2.4 Colonisation of the Deaf ........................................................................................... 41 2.5 Cultural Competence ................................................................................................ 42 2.6 Social Reproduction Theories in Education .............................................................. 43 2.7 Structuration Theory ................................................................................................. 47 2.8 Consciousness ......................................................................................................... 51 5 2.9 Ideology .................................................................................................................... 55 2.10 Teacher Social Positioning ..................................................................................... 57 2.11 Theories of Resistance in Education ...................................................................... 58 2.12 Normalisation and Diversity .................................................................................... 65 Chapter 3 Methodology...................................................................................................... 69 3.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 69 3.1.1 Ontology ............................................................................................................ 71 3.1.2 Epistemology ..................................................................................................... 71 3.1.3 Methodology and Methods ................................................................................ 72 3.1.4 Case study ......................................................................................................... 74 3.1.5 Documents......................................................................................................... 80 3.1.6 Interviews........................................................................................................... 86 3.1.7 Analysing Data ................................................................................................... 93 3.2 Ethical Considerations .............................................................................................. 97 Chapter 4 A History of the Education of the Deaf: Early Years to 1944 ........................... 105 4.1 The Beginnings of Deaf Education in Britain and Europe ....................................... 105 4.2 Education of the Deaf in Britain - Seventeenth Century to 1880 ............................ 111 4.3 Education of the Deaf in Britain - From 1880 to 1944............................................. 133 Chapter 5 Education of the Deaf in Britain with Particular Focus on the Royal School for the Deaf, Exeter - 1945 to 1979 ......................................................................................
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