1st L (Yr 7 Entry) 9-10
Communicating

Identity - Elaboration 10

- using a vlog journal entry to discuss how having peers who share the same language provides a social bond and builds confidence

- identifying characteristics of deaf people’s visual awareness, such as good observation of body language and heightened alertness to hazards in the environment while walking/driving and signing

- comparing strategies used by deaf and hearing adults to negotiate physical environments, for example, different behaviours at a bank of lifts, identifying how deaf people draw on additional perceptual resources in ways hearing people are unaware of

- exploring technologies used by deaf people to communicate visually, such as videoconferencing apps, to support social networks and to strengthen a sense of individual or shared identity

- investigating ways in which a sense of confidence in relation to identity influences awareness and a capacity for advocacy for Deaf rights, for example in relation to issues such as the provision of interpreters or captioning

- discussing how their sense of identity may shift according to context and situation, and how as people mature they learn to manage ‘multiple identities’ in relation to different elements of experience, such as background ethnicity and culture and Deaf identity culture

- identifying strategies used by deaf people to negotiate the hearing world, such as travelling with paper and pen or smart phone to take notes

- using the concept of Deafhood to map and communicate their own journeys of identity development, for example, their identification with particular Deaf role models, and considering the role identity plays in contributing to individual, peer group and community health and wellbeing

- engaging with deaf visitors from different groups and backgrounds about their experiences in the Deaf community, for example by interviewing the visitors and recording their responses

- using drawings, photos or presentations to describe characteristic features of Deaf spaces beyond the classroom, such as removal of visual obstacles to signed communication, circles or semicircles for meeting and learning spaces, open-plan areas, lighting and window placement to maximise visual access to information

- documenting and discussing places of importance to the Deaf community, such as Deaf schools, and understanding the value of these based on stories by elders and excursions to sites of significance

- responding to elders' guidance on how cultural values, beliefs and traditions are connected through shared life experience and visual ways of being, and how they are demonstrated in community behaviour and interactions with the wider community

- describing ways in which they can take responsibility for increasing others’ awareness of their communication and learning preferences, for example in the classroom and with extended family

- exploring the concept of ‘Deaf gain’ and identifying examples of how wider society may ‘gain’ from the Deaf community, for example, benefits of captioning for other sectors of the broader community, such as elderly people or newly arrived migrants

- discussing their sense of responsibility for each other as members of the Deaf community, and the need to support younger deaf individuals in the community