Removing Barriers and Building Bridges: American Deaf Interns Teaching Chinese Deaf Children

Two deaf American student-teaching M.A. candidates did an internship at a school for the Deaf in China. This was the first such internship ever done in China. Critical procedures for establishing international internships are described; cultural and educational experiences and the accommodations made to guarantee the success of such internships are analyzed, including issues related to communication modality, educational philosophy, expectations for deaf learners, and teaching methods. The views of both interns, and those of two teacher educators, one American and one Chinese, are included.