Development of Pan-European Competencies for Teachers of the Deaf Through Partnership

Partnership is an EU-funded project, whose purpose is to combat the exclusion of deaf and hearing impaired children and young people by developing competencies for Teachers of the Deaf applicable in a pan-European context. The objectives are: to evidence the need for the establishment of professional competencies across member states; and to construct a set of core competencies for the training of Teachers of the Deaf applicable in a pan-European context. In order to achieve these objectives we will: a) establish a community of best practice between national accredited organisations across EU member states, b) exchange best practice and transfer knowledge through a series of study visits, comparative research and dissemination seminars.

The target group that the project aims to reach are the teachers of the deaf who support children and young people in mainstream schools, initially in the six partner member states.

The work of partners in several member states indicates that one of the root causes of exclusion is the absence of core competencies for the training of Teachers of the Deaf.  The Partnership intends to develop competencies eventually working towards the establishment of a European standard, the application of which will contribute to raising the levels of inclusion and attainment of children and young people.

Project members

• Graham Groves (Project Leader), Sensory Inclusion Service, Telford & Wrekin Council, UK;
• Marie Alexander, Institute of Linguistics, University of Malta;
  
• Paul Simpson, President of FEAPDA the Fédération Européene des Associations de Professeurs de Déficients Auditifs (The European Federation of Associations of Teachers of the Deaf) ;
  
• Gottfried Diller, Dean of the Paedagogik Paedagogische Hochschule, University of Heidelberg, Germany;
• Guido Lichert, lecturer at the Katholieke Universitiet in Leuven, Brussels;
• Ivan Tucker, Mary Hare Training Services in association with Oxford Brookes University, UK;
• Sylwia Knott, Centrum Kształcenia Ustawicznego w Sopocie (Centre for Continuing Education in Sopot), Warsaw, Poland.