Center for Education Access and Development (PEN-Philippines CEAD)
Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academics
De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde
Progress Report of PEN-Philippines
Basic Facts
De La Salle
11,000 students
Deaf - College: 160+
Deaf – Pre-college: 60
Graduates since 1991: 300+
Employed: 60%
Faculty/Administration: 60+
Deaf Faculty/Administrators: 30+
- Bachelor Degree in Applied Deaf Studies Major: Multimedia Arts or Entrepreneurship
- Deaf Learners’ Preparatory Program
Education: Self-Contained since 1991
Student Development Opportunities: Self-contained under SDEAS and Mainstreamed in the bigger college
At present, SDEAS is one of the six (6) academic schools of DLS-CSB. The others are Schools of Design and Arts, Hotel, Restaurant Institution and Management, Information Management and Technology, Professional and Continuing Education, and Multidisciplinary Studies.
History.
The Deaf program in DLS-CSB began as a vocational training program in bookkeeping in 1991, evolved into the School of Special Studies (SSS) in 1996, and later into
PEN-International became a very important partner and mentor of the leaders, faculty partners and students of DLS-CSB SDEAS
The impact of this partnership is primarily focused on how it has helped DLS-CSB SDEAS strengthen its identity and capability in providing quality education, and its position as advocate and partner in advancing the rights of Deaf people within and outside DLS-CSB, in various settings involving Deaf people.
As PEN-International marks its 9th year of operation, DLS-CSB PEN
The Situation in DLS-CSB
When PEN-International became our partner in 2002, the understanding of the universal nature and unique aspect of the Filipino Deaf experience was something that we were just beginning to comprehend. The validity of the socio-cultural identity of the Filipino Deaf and the crucial role of their culture and language in their education was something we believed in and were advocating. However application of the concepts as to how it will define the learning strategies truly responsive to the needs of the Deaf were all gray areas to us.
There were many things that we did not understand in terms of learning & teaching the Deaf, as well as advocacy for partnerships and employment. Our model for teaching was the hearing way that we have been used to and our model for Deaf employment is to advocate their deafness.
Consequently, we had great hesitation to test new ways of doing things. Employment opportunities were very limited. Educational opportunities were very few, even in our own institutions we were faced with many barriers.
As for the changes we were advocating within our own institution, these were faced with resistance, doubt and rejection. Assessment of Deaf students’ rights and appropriate interventions recommended were always in the context of how approximate these were to the traditional way of doing things.
But our mandate as a
The Impact of the Partnership
It is in this context that the entry of PEN-International and the partnership that has evolved in the last 8 years that truly helped us gain confidence and knowledge to innovate, advocate for, and implement Learner-Centered ways for the benefit of our Deaf students, our hearing partners in DLS-CSB, as well as partners from the industry, media and education. Such partnership transformed all of us to what we are today.
Basic Framework: The key model to capture our development is the basic model used by PEN International: IMPORT-CAPABILITY BUILDING-EXPORT and SELF-SUFFICIENCY.
Import is often the task of PEN-International with localized/custom-fit import initiatives from SDEAS.
EXPORT initiatives are the transformation outcomes of the
Key Areas
A. Professional Development in the following areas:
- Advocacy
- Employment
- Leadership & Governance
- Interpreting
B. Faculty Development in the following areas:
- Learning and Teaching
- Use of Technology for teaching
- Use of technology in learning output expressed in the form of academic outputs (thesis), portfolio for students’ employment, and advocacy
C. Student Development Areas
1.Application of Learning
2.Leadership
TOWARDS INDIVIDUAL and ORGANIZATIONAL TRANSFORMATION FOR THE BENEFIT OF COMMUNITY and THAT OF OTHERS. The slides will show you the different activities that PEN has helped made possible under the IMPORT for
We have strengthened our capabilities as a leader-advocate within our institution and in the industry. As a result of these we have done our phase 1 of policy changes and directions in our institutions-
2 new centers –
OPD (for partnership and employment) a leader in advocating Deaf Rights in Employment, Media and Youth Entrepreneurship partnerships. This is under the
CEAD (education access and development) is newly created to help set up and create structures, policies and train personnel in CSB and later on in DLSP to make inclusive education for the Deaf possible
Interpreting Policy, Interpreters as Professionals, and Interpreting Education – In our country the professional nature of interpreting is not yet recognized, and in CSB we have given it a professional status equivalent to faculty with academic or industry credentials. Deaf students and faculty have gained more access to LS opportunities through interpreting support in student development, faculty development and any other opportunity available. Educational interpreting training is also being finalized that will involve access of other industry experts to learn the language to become teachers and interpreters. This will give way to more educational opportunities.
Curriculum improvements – creation of Pre-college program for our new students. This has been running since 2006
Faculty Expertise in Deaf Education evolving –
We have a number of Deaf faculty who belong to that young group and are now pursuing their Masters or have received their Masters’ degrees.
They now serve as members of the pool of experts who assist in the preparation of CSB to have a more inclusive education. We are working with the schools for Hotel, Restaurant Institution and management and the Design and Arts for this project.
The student development opportunities and the PEN-Multimedia and Learning/Teaching laboratory venues have helped not only our faculty to be more creative, but our students have developed extensive tools for the academic requirements that are focused on realities of Deaf experiences.
They have developed various tools, got involved in various leadership initiatives in and outside of CSB, and are now using these to further advance the rights of Deaf people who could not avail of the same opportunities {show CDS}
Deaf Graduates are also coming back to help teach in our college.
Future Directions –
CSB – partial to full inclusive education
DLSP schools to create and improve services to Deaf people
SDEAS – to be a model school and resource center to help other
Strengthen partnerships with the other PEN partners. We know we have much to learn from you in your successes in inclusive education and influencing policies in government to be more responsive to Deaf people.
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This paper was presented in the PEN International Forum from September 11-12, 2009 held in Changchun, Hotel, Changchun, China.
