Deaf Education (Teacher of the Deaf Qualification)

MA Deaf Education comprises four core modules delivered across two years, and a dissertation. Your first module will be either Deafness and Development or Educational Audiology, depending on when you commence your studies.

If you are working towards the Teacher of the Deaf (ToD) award, you will also build a portfolio of professional skills throughout the two years. This applied aspect of the programme allows you to acquire and demonstrate the mandatory teaching, communication and audiological skills required of a ToD.

Central to the programme is an understanding of the establishment of language fluency and effective communication as a basis for cognitive, social and emotional development. It recognises of the plural and diverse linguistic contexts of deaf children’s lives and that maximising engagement with curriculum must be the educational priority for all deaf learners.

Individual auditory potential must be carefully evaluated and regularly reappraised in relation to the communicative and educational demands of the many different contexts in which children learn so that advances in personal and assistive hearing technologies, combined with the thinking on optimal acoustic environment management, can be put into practice.

Through consideration of the roles of spoken and signed languages and increasingly sophisticated hearing technologies in deaf children’s lives and education, you will develop a broad language base and the skills to respond flexibly to deaf children’s dynamic and changing communication needs.

Course structure

These are typical modules/components studied and may change from time to time. Read more in our Terms and conditions.

Modules Year 1

Compulsory modules

• Educational Audiology 30 credits
• Learning and Teaching in Deaf Education 30 credits

Optional modules

Please note - Students studying for the Teacher of the Deaf award will study the Professional Skills: Learning, Teaching and Audiology module in both Year 1 and Year 2, but credits (15 credits in total) will not be awarded until Year 2.

• Professional Skills: Learning, Teaching and Audiology (required for Teacher of the Deaf award)

Year 2

Compulsory modules

• Deafness and Development 30 credits
• Policy and Practice in Deaf Education 30 credits

Optional modules

• Professional Skills: Learning, Teaching and Audiology (required for Teacher of the Deaf award) 15 credits
• Dissertation in Deaf Education (required for Masters level awards) 60 credits

For more information on typical modules, read Deaf Education (Teacher of the Deaf Qualification) MA in the course catalogue

Learning and teaching

Each core module comprises a study day or a short residential in Leeds, followed by twelve online taught sessions, two online tutorials and a regional tutorial. Bespoke online meetings, phone, email and Skype support is also available from tutors.

We expect you to commit the equivalent of a study day per week to this programme -- to be negotiated with your employer at the application stage. Some practical requirements of the programme are difficult to fulfil without this allocated time. We also ask you to identify someone in your school or service who will act as a mentor for you throughout the training.

Assessment

We assess the four core modules and dissertation through written assignments. The Professional Skills Portfolio is practically assessed and includes a minimum of a four-week supervised teaching placement.