Title: Leonardo da Vinci Broadening Access to learning, training and employment for Deaf and Disabled People
MÁS-Project
The German Module: Access through Language
Hochschule Magdeburg-Stendal-Alemania
This is the entrance to the Hochschule Magdeburg-Stendal - the university of applied sciences in Magdeburg, whose department of public health and social studies offers a diploma course in sign language interpreting, and this is where the MÁS Leonardo project is located.
Originally, the buildings you can see here were used as army barracks, built at the time of German National Socialism and later used by soviet-russian troups. The buildings were converted and restored in the late nineties, and handed over to the Hochschule Magdeburg-Stendal in 2000.
As you can see, the campus is not yet finished - some more new buildings are built, for example laboratories for some of the technical departments.
The campus is placed on the outskirts of Magdeburg, next to a huge park which formed part of the biannual German Gardening Show that took place in Magdeburg two years ago.
Magdeburg, inicidentally, is the capital of the German federal state of Saxony-Anhalt, which is one of the five federal states formed new in 1990 after the collapse of the German Democratic Republic.
To get to the university campus from Magdeburg train station, one has to travel through Magdeburg by tram for about a quarter of an hour. You pass through the city centre, can see the dome and have to cross the bridge over the river Elbe. By the way: This very same river flows to the North and passes on its way to the North Sea another city where a sign language department - the first one that was founded in Germany - exists at university: The city of Hamburg. But now let's go back to Magdeburg.
The university of applied sciences comprises eight departments and within these a number of different degree programmes in, for instance, mechanical engineering, chemistry, industrial design, technical translation, social work or public health. Sign language interpreting is situated in this building. We will now go in here, to show you the rooms.
This is the floor where most of the classes for students of sign language interpreting take place. As it is quite a small department - only 15 students are registered every winter term - normally no huge auditorium is needed.
But now we think we showed you enough of the environment, the buildings, floors and rooms! You probably are very curious to learn more about US!
This is Sabine Goßner. She works as lecturer for sign language interpreting. Sabine introduces herself and her work. (No transcript of her text.)
We then have two lecturers for sign language, both of them deaf: Falko Neuhäusel and Christoph Heesch. Falko and Christoph introduce themselves. See subtitles.
Two professors teach at this degree programme. Prof. Dr. Regina Leven founded the whole programme in 1997. Together with Falko they had to teach all classes for one year before a second professor, a lecturer for interpreting and a second lecturer for sign language were employed.
The second professor at the programme is Jens Heßmann.
He often doesn't think it necessary to be called "Professor Doctor" - so that's why we won't use this title in his presence…
Jens introduces himself and his work. (No transcript of his text.)
Gudrun introduces herself and her work:
Hello! I am Gudrun Hillert. As you can see I am a bit handicapped at the moment because I have to carry around my baby daughter who was born only recently. I am quite happy that her elder sister already goes to Kindergarden, because if she were here, she'd make everything a mess… I studied deaf education and sign language interpreting and used to work as sign language interpreter at the university of applied sciences in Potsdam, which is about 120 km to the East from here, close to Berlin. I did this job for four years. Since April this year I have been working at the university of applied sciences in Magdeburg as a research fellow for the MÁS-project. Within the German module we - the Magdeburg university of applied sciences - are working together with two partners: The regional deaf association of the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt - you can here see its president, Mr. Kuss - and the federal association of sign language interpreters whose president is Mr. Poehler
We hope that you have gained some impression of who we are so that we can tell you more about the content of the German module.
Christoph will tell you a bit about the situation of deaf people and the new developments in the vocational field:
Until quite recently, deaf people in Germany were disadvantaged with regard to the jobs they could learn and/or get: After leaving a school for the deaf they had gone to for nine or ten years, most of them entered special centres for vocational training of handicapped people where they could learn a job. The choice they had was very limited: They could learn one of about ten to 15 crafts, with nearly no possibility to learn a more qualified let alone academic profession.
Only in the late nineteen eighties the situation started to change very slowly: Since then more and more deaf people have striven for better education and access to a broader range of vocations. Some of them even entered universities. As it was not possible to learn these professions in the traditional special training centres for handicapped people, deaf people went to institutions for hearing, non-handicapped learners. They followed classes either by means of written resources or scripts of class mates, or by means of sign language interpreters. Neither the class-mates who wrote scripts for their deaf fellows nor the sign language interpreters who interpreted classes of vocational training or in academic settings had had some kind of instruction let alone a formal education for the job they were doing. And the deaf users of this kind of support had had no instruction in how to use their interpreters and/or support workers to make the most of their training.
Jens:
In order to change this, to widen the possibilities for access and participation and to improve the quality of training for deaf learners the German module of the MÁS-project is designed to develop and test teaching opportunities for sign language interpreters in educational settings, for support workers (tutor students and note takers) and for deaf users of these support services. As a first step the national provision of deaf people with qualified support work has to be analysed and evaluated and be compared to similar services in the partner countries Britain and Spain. A second step is to develop effective training programmes for sign language interpreters, support workers and deaf users in educational settings. These programmes should use open and distance learning and online teaching and be tested and evaluated during the life-time of the project.
Gudrun is evaluating the work of sign language interpreters and support workers at the university of applied sciences in Magdeburg and in Potsdam within the PotsMods-project.
PotsMods was established to enable a group of 13 deaf and hard-of-hearing students to study social work and social education at the university mainstreamed in classes of hearing, non-handicapped students. Within this project, at the beginning two, later four sign language interpreters were employed at the university to interpret classes for the deaf students. Besides tutor-students were recruited, trained and guided by the project co-ordinator. They also had to take part in sign language classes and courses on deaf culture and the deaf community so as to understand the individuality and background of deaf students.
As you already know, the students of sign language interpreting in Magdeburg interpret classes for their deaf fellow students. The experiences, difficulties and coping strategies of these students are also evaluated so as to use them for the later development of a training programme for sign language interpreters in educational settings.
The Federal Association of Sign Language Interpreters is developing a questionnaire to find out more about the national provision in the field of educational interpreting and support work for deaf learners. It has recruited some of its members to make inquiries in institutions were deaf learners or students learn by means of interpreters and/or support workers.
The regional Deaf Association is developing a questionnaire to find out more about the views and expectations of deaf users of educational interpreting and / or support work. It has recruited some of its members to make inquiries with deaf users.
We had our first national workshop in June where delegates of the three German partners met and discussed the content, accomplishment and aims of the project.
We will have the second workshop in September when the questionnaires for the evaluation of the status quo will be discussed. Hopefully the inquiries can then start in October.
We hope that we can discuss possible and potential contents of training programmes for sign language interpreters, support workers and deaf users at our third workshop in November.
The outcomes of the evaluation of the services at Potsdam and Magdeburg will be published and made available to users and service providers.