Would you hire a deaf teacher?
For a pre-school centre in New Zealand, hiring teachers with different abilities has taught its students to be more sensitive, according to the school’s assistant manager.
The centre currently employs three differently-able staff. The latest addition being a hearing-impaired teacher, Karishma Mohan.
Having Mohan at The Gardens Early Childhood Education has helped its young students pick up sign language.
“We had a child the other day have a full conversation with Karishma just by signing. Within two weeks here, we were noticing children signing,” said the school’s assistant manager, Allison Doddrell.
Besides the children, parents have also mentioned that they were learning signing.
Additionally, Mohan’s presence at the centre has also inspired staff to pick up sign language.
Knowing sign language – being bilingual – “helps kids become more accepting…learning that everyone’s different”, Mohan told stuff.co.nz.
Despite facing many rejections when she was applying for teaching jobs, she shared that her real concern was not about securing a job or teaching children; it was the uncertainty about parents’ reactions.
“I wasn’t sure if the parents would be accepting of me working here,” she said. Mohan found the parents to be “really warm” and keen on learning signing.
She was soon sharing New Zealand Sign Language books with parents to help them “gain a bit of confidence in interacting” with her.
She has been teaching at Gardens for about three months and said that the children know and are accepting that she is deaf.
They were a little hesitant at the start but quickly learnt how to get her attention.
They learn by pointing to objects and asking her to explain it to them. She also tells them stories in sign.
Her challenges of the job are also similar to other teachers.
“Sometimes when a child is upset or emotional, it can be a challenge just getting them to slow down so I can try to figure our what’s wrong. But there’s always a way.”