Deaf education in Scotland and Wales: Lessons from the Scottish and Welsh approaches

Wilks, Rob; O'Neill, Rachel

Abstract

Sign language recognition has the potential to achieve transformative equality (Wilks, 2020) in relation to the everyday experiences of deaf people. The importance of recognising minority languages is well documented (Meulder, Murray and McKee, 2019; Muhlke, 2000). There has been insufficient research about the impact of sign language recognition on deaf children, their families, and schools.

In Scotland, the BSL (Scotland) Act was passed in 2015, while in Wales the new school curriculum includes BSL.

Our first report, The impact of the British Sign Language (Scotland) Act 2015 on deaf education (O’Neill & Wilks, 2021) contributed to the Scottish Government’s review of the first national BSL plan. The follow-up report: Deaf Education in Scotland and Wales: Attitudes to British Sign Language in deaf education compared to Gaelic and Welsh (Wilks & O’Neill, 2022), compares the impact of BSL legislation and curriculum change on deaf young people’s education in Scotland and Wales, and explores the different approaches to minority language revitalisation in education systems.

• Presentation Conference Type: Presentation / Talk
• Conference Name: BSL Conference
• Start Date: Mar 17, 2023
• End Date: Mar 17, 2023
• Deposit Date: Jan 9, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 10, 2024
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/11598575