1. What is common between
bilingual education and inclusive
education in the light of the
UN Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities?
Bildungskongress 2013 – ÖGLB
Vienna, July 12-13, 2013
Dr Markku Jokinen
Executive director, Finnish Association of the Deaf
President of the European Union of the Deaf
Honorary President of the World Federation of the Deaf

2. *Looking and fighting for a status and a place of bilingual
education among different discourses, theoretical and
practical frameworks, contexts, terminologies, approaches,
disciplines, methodologies etc.
●
Medicine, audiology, phoniatrics, pedaudiology, speechlanguage pathology, rehabilitation/habilitation, general
education, special education, bilingual education,
multilingualism, pedagogy, didactics, psychology,
developmental psychology, psycho-pedagogy, defectology,
surdopedagogy, linguistics, psycholinguistics,
sociolinguistics, sociology, language of sociology, Sign
Language linguistics, anthropology, Deaf Studies, minority
studies and many many more…
*And human rights framework?
*Where are we?

3. *International human rights
instruments and standards
provide a broad framework
for the protection of
fundamental human rights
and freedoms of all human
beings.

4. *Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
(CRPD)?
– How the CRPD sees a group of deaf people?
– What elements of Deaf Culture are found in
CRPD?
– Idea of inclusive education and its relationship
to bilingual education?
– Reasonable accommodation and
accessibility?
*Relationship between inclusive and bilingual
education?
*Several questions…

5. *New challenges to
merge/combine
previously used
constructs and
concepts with human
rights language…

6. *Austria ratified
both the
convention and
the protocol
July 9, 2008.

7. General articles
- purpose, definitions, principles, obligations, equality, nondiscrimination
Women and
children with
disabilities
(6 and 7)
Situations of
risk +
humanitarian
emergencies
(11)
Civil and
political
rights
Economic,
social and
cultural
rights
IMPLEMENTATION
MONITORING
:
Awarenessraising (8)
and
Accessibility
(9)

8. *Non-discrimination
because of language and
linguistic rights mentioned in many items of the
convention starting from the preamble
*Sign
language mentioned 7 times in 5 different
articles:
Article 2:
Definition
Article 9:
Accessibility
Article 21: Freedom of expression and opinion, and
access to information
Article 24: Education
Article 30: Participation in cultural life,
recreation leisure and sport
*Most important articles for deaf
people

9. *“Language” includes spoken and signed
languages and other forms of non spoken
languages. (Article 2)
*States Parties shall take appropriate
measures to provide professional sign
language interpreters (Article 9)
*Accepting and facilitating the use of sign
languages in official interactions +
recognizing and promoting the use of sign
languages. (Article 21)
*Summary of the main
articles

10. *Facilitating the learning of sign
language and the promotion of the
linguistic identity of the deaf
community (Article 24)
*States Parties shall take appropriate
measures to employ teachers,
including teachers with disabilities,
who are qualified in sign language.
(Article 24)
*Recognition and support of their
specific cultural and linguistic identity,
including sign languages and deaf
culture. (Article 30)

11. CULTURE
DEAF
COMMUNITY
LANGUAGE
IDENTITY

12. CRP
D
Group of
deaf people
As a part of
disability
movement
As a linguistic
and cultural
group

13. *Article 24 requires that States “shall ensure an inclusive
education system at all levels.”
*However, no definition of inclusive education in the
CRPD
*Inclusion requires:
–
–
–
–
–
Accessibility
Universal design
Non-discriminatory
Meeting students’ needs
Reasonable accommodation – often mistakenly assumed this
is same as inclusive education
*Inclusion is likely to be obtainable if learning
environments fulfill all these factors for each student.
*Inclusive education?
Richler & Jokinen, 2012

14. Learning environment
- accessible (physical, social, linguistic, cultural)
- designed for the students (curriculum,
-
- learning materials, school settings)
non-discriminatory (disability, gender,
- language, ethnicity)
- reasonable accommodation
- individual support
Student’s needs

15. *Where?
–
–
–
–
–
–
Physical environment
Transportation
Information
Communication
●
Information and communication technologies
Facilities (indoor and outdoor)
Services
●
Electronic
●
Emergency
*Accessibility (Article 9)?

16. *How?
–
–
–
–
–
–
Standards + guidelines
Training for stakeholders
Professional sign language interpreter service, other
assistants
Other forms of assistance
Signage in Braille + easy to read and understand
format
Accessible information and communication
technologies and systems
●
Design, development, production and distribution (early
stage -> minimum cost)
*Accessibility

17. *Sign language is a fully accessible language
–
-> “to facilitate their
participation
full and equal
in education and as members of the
community” (Article 24)
*This requires following:
–
–
–
–
–
–
sign language as a language of instruction
sign language as a school subject
bilingual learning materials including elements of deaf
culture
qualified teachers and students using sign language
deaf adult cultural models and peer support
development of legislation
*Needs of deaf learners?

18. *3. States Parties shall enable persons with disabilities to learn
life and social development skills to facilitate their full and
equal participation in education and as members of the
community. To this end, States Parties shall take appropriate
measures, including:
–
–
(b) Facilitating the learning of sign language and the
promotion of the linguistic identity of the deaf community;
(c) Ensuring that the education of persons, and in particular
children, who are blind, deaf or deafblind, is delivered in the
most appropriate languages and modes and means of
communication for the individual, and in environments
which maximize academic and social development.
*4. In order to help ensure the realization of this right, States
Parties shall take appropriate measures to employ teachers,
including teachers with disabilities, who are qualified in sign
language and/or Braille

19. FULL AND EQUAL PARTICIPATION
Life and
social
development
skills
FACILITATING
LEARNING OF
SIGN LANGUAGE
PROMOTING
IDENTITY
MOST APPROPRIATE
LANGUAGES
TEACHERS
QUALIFIED IN
SIGN LANGUAGE
ENVIRONMENTS
MAXIMIZING
ACADEMIC + SOCIAL
DEVELOPMENT

20. *“… the education of persons, and in particular
children, who are blind, deaf or deafblind, is
delivered in the most appropriate languages
and modes and means of communication for
the individual, and in environments which
maximize academic and social development.
*for deaf learners this means bilingual or
multilingual learning environment (bilingual
teachers and learning materials, students and
school who know sign language etc.)
*Needs of deaf learners?

21. *Monolingual learning in
an inaccessible language
and in an inaccessible
learning environment does
not maximize academic and
social development + does
not guarantee full
participation!

22. *
*
*
No. The ideal is for students to be able to choose –
a school for the deaf, a bilingual school, a regular
school with sign language interpretation services.
The choice is based on the student’s needs.
In the development context it is important to
guarantee that investments are made in building up
the learning environments for students who are
deaf, blind or deafblind.
For the deaf student this means starting for example
with developing language policy and planning
strategy for the national sign language (attitude,
status, acquisition and corpus planning), preparing
and training teachers for bilingual education and
developing bilingual learning materials.
* Does the CRPD say that children that are
must go in special education settings?
(Richler & Jokinen, 2012)

23. *Deaf children are:
part of human diversity
– entitled to respect for their evolving
capacities and respect for their right to
preserve their identities
*These principles shall include in all
spheres of education of deaf children:
school legislation, curriculum, learning
materials, teacher teaching, school
subjects and school practices
–

24. full and equal participation
respect
of diversity
inclusion
accessibility
Inclusive
education
maximizing
academic and social
development
universal
design
reasonable
acommodation
individual support

25. full and equal participation
respect
of diversity
inclusion
accessibility
Bilingual
education
maximizing
academic and social
development
universal
design
reasonable
acommodation
individual support

26. Full
and equal
participation
Accessibility
Universal
design
Trained
professionals
Inclusive
education
Reasonable
accommodation
Identity
development
and support
Individual
support

27. *Learning environment
–
physical, social and attitudinal
*Language and communication
*Curriculum
*Qualification of teachers, assistants and staff
*Learning material
*School timetable
*School meals
*Student support team
*Health care
*Evaluation
*Needs of a student

28. *
Full
partici
pation
Learning
environment
Language and
communication
Curriculum
Teachers and
staff
Learning
material
School
timetable
School meals
Student support
team
Health care
Evaluation
Matrix/check list of inclusive education
Accessibility
Universal
design
Reasonable
Individual Identity
accommodation support
development
and support

29. *
Full
participation
Learning
environment
Language and
communication
Curriculum
Teachers and staff
Learning
material
School timetable
School meals
Student support
team
Health care
Evaluation
Matrix/check list of inclusive education
Design of learning Student’s needs:
- reasonable
environment:
- accessibility
accommodation
- universal design - individual support
Empowerment

30. *2050?
Perspectives of
international
experts

31. *With full recognition and understanding of how sign
language works we can be sure that barriers will
crumble.
*No more grief or fear among parents if sign language is
part of universal design. Sign language can be passed on
easily across generations once it is considered essential
part of humanities (human ecology for language, culture
and literature).
*Diversity of sign language will be respected and
preserved when effective resources and networking
efforts ensure support for indigenous sls becoming strong
national sls.
*With better telecommunication technology we can even
expand deaf community into a global village.
*Professor Ted Supalla, USA

32. *No more schools, no concept of a teacher
*Education will be more global:
●
●
deaf people in all parts of the world can
learn together using a universal design
accessible to all -> learning collectives
where we teach each other instead of
schools
No more education without sign language!
*Dr Tom Humphries,
USA

33. *"My wish for the future is that the Deaf Community
by 2050 is still a vital and vivid community open
not only to any Deaf person but also to Hard-ofhearing persons that want to share its basic values
as encoded in its language, its culture and in its
caring for the members world wide.
*By then, the fight for Human Rights for the Deaf has
won a complete victory. What is left from these
struggles is the driving force behind them: respect
and consideration towards other human beings."
*Professor Kristina Svartholm,
Sweden