NAATD Teacher of the Deaf Competencies
A current major focus for the National Association of Australian Teachers of the Deaf is to determine and promote minimum competencies for the training of persons involved in the provision of education to children and students who are deaf and hearing impaired. The Competencies for Teachers of the Deaf document was launched in 2005 and reviewed in 2009.
The competencies have been developed across a number of strands:
- Curriculum, Teaching and Learning
- Communication, Language and Literacy
- Educational audiology
- Professionalism
This document has four main purposes with four associated audiences:
- The National Association of Australian Teachers of the Deaf has defined these Competencies as required for eligibility for full membership of the association.
- It is hoped that universities that provide of graduate and post-graduate programs focusing on the training of teachers involved in the education of deaf and hearing impaired children, will use the Competencies to develop and evaluate their coursework.
- These Competencies are guidelines for employing authorities to follow in the employment of teachers. These Competencies are the minimum Competencies that the association believes are required by teachers who are employed to work as Teachers of the Deaf.
Practising Teachers of the Deaf should use these Competencies for self-evaluation or peer evaluation of current teaching performance and student learning. They may use them as guidelines to identify and drive their professional development activities.
The National Association of Australian Teachers of the Deaf (NAATD) places a high value on teacher practicum experiences as part of their Teacher of the Deaf training. Membership to the NAATD will require graduates to have completed twenty (20) days of teacher practicum experience as part of their training program in a range of educational settings. There is an additional requirement that ten (10) days of practicum experience be in one consecutive block.
This requirement will be applied to all Teachers of the Deaf seeking membership with a graduation date of 2013 or after.
Download Competencies for Teachers of the Deaf