Eight in ten teachers across England believe a module on deaf awareness should be included in Initial Teacher Training (ITT), a new survey from the National Deaf Children’s Society reveals. 
 
A poll of 5,700 primary and secondary school teachers found younger teachers were particularly in favour, with nine in ten teachers in their 20s wanting new teachers to have deaf awareness training. 

Only 3% of the teachers surveyed were opposed to the training, which would provide teachers with a basic understanding of how to support deaf children and know how, and when, to get specialist support to teach a deaf child. 

Deaf pupils face a lack of deaf awareness in education. This was particularly clear during the pandemic where face masks, and a lack of subtitles when home learning, presented serious challenges to their learning and socialisation.

The Government in England is currently reviewing how disabled children are supported in schools as part of its Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Review. 
 
The National Deaf Children’s Society is urging the Government to use this opportunity to develop a plan to provide effective, long-term specialist support. The charity wants to see deaf awareness be part of initial and ongoing training for teachers and SENCOs.

Without this crucial step, the charity says teachers will continue to experience gaping holes in their training and struggle to support the deaf children in their class, who may fall even further behind as a result. 

The SEND Review acknowledges that teachers lack confidence in teaching children with SEND and states the DfE has already “begun to deliver a transformed professional development pathway for teachers, with high-quality training at every step of their career.”  

However, no steps have been taken to incorporate deaf awareness into teacher training. It has not been included in the core framework for training providers, nor the mandatory minimum entitlement for all trainee teachers. 

The figures shine a light on concerns around a lack of support for deaf children in the key early development years and beyond.  

One in five teachers surveyed said they still do not get the information they need to teach deaf children effectively. This view is shared by almost a third of teachers with less than five-years teaching experience. 

More than half of all teachers will teach a deaf child during their careers. Yet more than two thirds of teachers say they are not confident they can do so.1
Deaf children are just as capable as hearing children, yet deaf children achieve less than their hearing classmates at every stage of school, including an entire grade lower at GCSE on average, because they do not get the right support. 

There are currently around 33,000 deaf children in schools across England, with the vast majority (84%) in mainstream schools.

The National Deaf Children’s Society is also calling for investment in more Teachers of the Deaf, whose numbers have been slashed by 17% in a decade, as well as provision of specialist education services to enable classroom teachers in mainstream schools to fully support deaf pupils. 

Without this investment, the charity says there could be a long-term, devastating effect on deaf children’s education, with future generations also left to struggle. 

Mike Hobday, Director of Policy and Campaigns at the National Deaf Children’s Society, said: 
 
“The overwhelming view of teachers across England is that deaf awareness needs to be included in all Initial Teacher Training.

“An even greater proportion of recently qualified teachers believe there are gaps in their training which prevent them from teaching deaf pupils effectively. 
 
“Unless this changes, with a depressing predictability many deaf young people will continue to achieve less than their hearing classmates at every stage of school.
 
“Teachers are currently teaching deaf children with a hand tied behind their back. The SEND Review provides a once in a generation opportunity to adapt initial and ongoing training for teachers and SENCOs, so it truly considers deaf pupils’ needs. We urge the Government to grasp this chance to equip them with all the tools they need to teach deaf children with confidence.”