PROJECT:
Investing in health: basis for a benchmarking study on the Spanish d/Deaf education
Main project research members:
Irma Mª Muñoz Baell. Faculty of Education. University of Alicante.
Carlos Álvarez-Dardet Díaz Department of Public Health. University of Alicante.
Mª Teresa Ruiz Cantero Department of Public Health. University of Alicante.
Emilio Ferreiro Lago CNSE Foundation for the Suppression of Communication Barriers.
Eva Aroca Fernández CNSE Foundation for the Suppression of Communication Barriers.
Developed by:
Department of Public Health. University of Alicante, Research Unit Linguistics Applied to Sign Languages University of Alicante and Spanish National Confederation of Deaf People (CNSE)
Funding:
Spanish Medical Research Council, Ministry of Health. (Project No. PI021068), Office of the Vice President for Research, Development and Innovation and Office of the Vice President for Students University of Alicante.
In collaboration with:
CNSE Foundation for the Suppression of Communication Barriers, Observatory of Public Policies and Health (OPPS), Faculty of Education (University of Alicante), Federation of Deaf People of the Valencian Region, and Sign Language Online Library(Online Miguel de Cervantes Library) of the university of Alicante
Initiation of the research project: year 1999
Abstract:
Creating environments which ensure that everyone can attain and maintain their full individual health potential during their whole lives - as a basis for equity in health - is the fundamental principle of the HEALTH21. "Health for all in the 21st century" policy of the World Health Organization. Further improvement in a child's access to education, more particularly of disadvantaged groups is called for by the WHO as a basic strategy to achieve this objective, since education is an important determinant of health and a very strong predictor of making healthy choices, which in turn sustains social and economic development between and within countries.
Disabled people are among the most vulnerable groups prioritised by the HFA policy. Although they are often thought of as a homogenous group, some disabilities - such as deafness - are not as directly visible as others. As a result, d/Deaf people are at greater risk for health since they all too often go unnoticed and become very difficult to study. As a consequence, d/Deaf people can be seen as a highly vulnerable group within the WHO's prioritized groups in its HFA policy, and therefore require special attention.
Far from contributing towards ensuring higher levels of social integration and health of Deaf people, oralist education not only increases communication barriers and disempowerment but also jeopardises Deaf people's rights to use their first and preferred language. As an alternative proposal, Deaf Bilingual-Bicultural education (DBibi) has been inexorably imposing itself with the support of UNESCO, the World Federation of the Deaf and the EU since the beginning of the eighties. Spain, however, lags well behind the rest of the OECD countries in adopting this new educational approach.
The present study aims at providing strategic data towards a change from a strong oralist tradition, deeply rooted in the Spanish educational context, towards a DBiBi model. A two-rounded Delphi study was carried out in order to identify international megatrends in the current Deaf bilingual education movement. Experts participating in the Delphi study were selected after consultation with international organisations involved in d/Deaf education and a review of the current literature. The resulting data were used as a basis for a situation analysis at a national and local level. It consisted of a SWOT study by means of a focus group comprising 18 Deaf and hearing educators from 9 Spanish d/Deaf bilingual schools. In order to do this, a questionnaire was distributed to a total of 517 different d/Deaf education stakeholders so that schools with Sign Language/Oral Language bilingual programmes could be identified.
Study phases:
Phase I
Identification of schools with bilingual experiences for Deaf children in Spain and analysis of causes and agents for change towards the bilingual approach.
Phase II
Identification of the main forces/issues which, in the international context, have promoted or hindered the change towards the current Deaf bilingual education movement.
Phase III
Identification of the main forces/issues which, in Spain, have promoted or hindered the change towards the current Deaf bilingual education movement.
Analysis of the role played by d/Deaf people in the planning and decision-making process within the bilingual initiatives and the potential creation or improvement of support networks.
Research documents in Spanish Sign Language (LSE):
Individual SWOT Analysis Questionnaire - Deaf participants 
Developed by CNSE Foundation for the Suppression of Communication Barriers
Final Report for selected sites - participants in the Workshop 'Towards a Benchmarking Standard in Spanish d/Deaf education' (Alicante, September, 2005)
Developed by CNSE Foundation for the Suppression of Communication Barriers and Sign Language Online Library (Online Miguel de Cervantes Library) of the university of Alicante.
Preliminary results:
Muñoz-Baell IM, Ruiz MT. Empowering the deaf. Let the deaf be deaf. J Epidemiol Community Health 2000;54(1):40-4.
Muñoz-Baell, IM. Investing in health: basis for a benchmarking study on the Spanish Deaf education. Ciencia y Excelencia 2008; 1, 96.
Muñoz-Baell IM, Alvarez-Dardet C, Ruiz MT, Ortiz R, Esteban ML, Ferreiro E. Preventing disability through understanding international megatrends in Deaf bilingual education. J Epidemiol Community Health 2008;62(2):131-7.
Muñoz-Baell IM, Alvarez-Dardet C, Ruiz MT, Ferreiro-Lago E, Aroca-Fernandez E. Setting the stage for school health-promoting programmes for Deaf children in Spain. Health Promot Int 2008;23(4):311-27.
Muñoz Baell IM. Invirtiendo en salud: bases para un estudio benchmarking de la educación de los/as niños/as sordos/as en España. Alicante. Institutional Repository of the University of Alicante; 2009. p. 427.
Muñoz-Baell IM, Alvarez-Dardet C, Ruiz MT, Ferreiro-Lago E, Aroca-Fernandez E. Understanding Deaf bilingual education from the inside: A SWOT analysis. International Journal of Inclusive Education. In press 2010.