We are glad to inform that an employee of BON was a guest within a study visit in the Centre for Deaf Studies at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland. Study visit was connected with realization of tasks related to learning about innovative teaching methods, creative solutions and examples of good practice in teaching of Deaf. The participants of the study visit were: Małgorzata Mickiewicz, referent for the education of Deaf and Hard of Hearing, BON at UWM and Aleksandra Gorska, assistant professor of English Philology at UWM. We encourage you to read Małgorzata Mickiewicz’s account of the study visit:
The visit was organized at the invitation of prof. Lorraine Leeson who was our caretaker during our stay. Prof. Lorraine Leeson is an expert on Irish Sign Language (ISL) specialized interpreters and gives lectures and training courses at the Centre for Deaf Studies. The formed cooperation is therefore an invaluable contribution to our work at BON.
Study visit gave us opportunity for direct consultations with prof. Lorraine Leeson and her team at the Centre for Deaf Studies at Trinity College Dublin: Dr John Bosco Conama, Mr. Patrick A. Matthews, Ms. Carmel Grehan, Ms. Teresa Lynch and Ms. Sarah Sheridan. This team is involved in research of Deaf education, linguistics, culture and the social and psychological aspects of the Deaf environment. Currently, the studies at the Centre for Deaf Studies last 4 years and focus on three specializations: ISL interpreters, Deaf education and linguistics.
During the stay in the Centre for Deaf Studies at Trinity College Dublin we partook in the meetings with variety of institutions and universities, where we had an opportunity to share our experiences on Deaf education issues.
Knowledge acquired during the lectures and exercises is important supplement to our information base. We had as well an opportunity to get acquainted with the details of their activities and methods of teaching they use at the Centre. These are extremely useful not only in our work, but also in the broader initiatives implemented in higher education in Europe.
The results of this visit may enable the implementation of these good practices at our University.
Moreover, during the visit we received the necessary materials and literature related to our activities. Through direct consultation with prof. Lorraine Leeson and other staff at the Centre for Deaf Studies we had also the opportunity to refine of work tools.
To summarize, the visit to the Centre for Deaf Studies at Trinity College Dublin was a significant value-added in our work.
The possibility of direct cooperation and consultation with representatives of the Deaf environment is an important complement and support for our activities. I would like to thank the Centre for Deaf Studies at Trinity College Dublin and their team for hosting us and making this visit happen.