Learn from deaf Inuits in Nuuk, Greenland, basic conversational skills in that country's official sign language system to expand current American Sign Language classes and deepen students’ understanding of the human spirit’s resiliency.
It was so important for me to pursue this -- this was an opportunity to immerse myself in a completely remote deaf community that had little to no influence coming from the United States and/or American Sign Language. In a pure form, I was able to observe the characteristics of such a remote, isolated community and its impact on their sign language (and consequently, their information) acquisition.
The trip made me even more prouder to be a teacher and an ambassador of information from my travels. I oftentimes get flak from other teachers who think that teaching "sign language" is easy but being an ambassador and able to explain the complexity of this community's challenges has really help validate my profession in the eyes of my colleagues and other educators.
I did not expect to learn about how isolated the Greenlandic Deaf Community is and their desire to move to Denmark. They are trying to learn Denmark Sign Language through their friends so that they can try to get better jobs (Greenland is under Denmark's rule.) It was kind of sad to hear about this because of their lacking confidence in the country's growth and opportunities (some of attributed to global warming but even so, they did seem oblivious to that possibility.)
While in Nuuk, I became a very beginner student of Greenlandic Sign Language. It is nothing similar to ASL so I now understand what my ASL 1 students feel like when they start out my class and I can prepare my lessons where my delivery of concise information is much clearer.
I will be sharing my experiences with parents who come to my school's open house. Furthermore, I am giving a professional development workshop on diversity in the deaf community (district-wide) in November. Part of my presentation will focus on this and the importance of preserving language, community and culture. While America is not considered "isolated," the deaf community often feels they are not only isolated but shunned from mainstream culture.
For starters, I will be sharing my experiences with parents who come to my school's open house. Furthermore, I am giving a professional development workshop on diversity in the deaf community (district-wide) in November. Part of my presentation will focus on this and the importance of preserving language, community and culture. While America is not considered "isolated," the deaf community often feels they are not only isolated but shunned from mainstream culture.
This opportunity was transformative because it made me even more passionate about working with international deaf communities in order to bring more (diverse) information back to my students so that they can understand how communities are differentiated and what impacts them.
Students benefit from a teacher who truly can present such unique experiences and stories that captivates them and motivates them to be active participants in their own local deaf communities.
I would describe this as a dream opportunity that actually became an experience where I acquired the most growth in terms of being a teacher. I was forced to be at "level 1" when it came to communicating with the Greenlandic deaf community -- the experience was raw and I did also share in the feelings of isolation which was something that I spent time attempting to understand.
FUND FOR TEACHERS ©