Signs of Equity: Access to Teacher Education for Deaf Students in the Republic of Ireland

In today's education system in the Republic of Ireland (hereafter referred to as Ireland), deaf people are de facto excluded from primary level initial teacher education (PITE) and entry into the primary teaching profession. This is largely because of a requirement that entrants to PITE demonstrate a high level of competency in the Irish language (Gaeilge), a subject from which deaf children are often exempt while in school (). As a result, there is an almost complete absence of deaf individuals teaching in primary schools for the deaf. This situation is particularly unsatisfactory given the need for linguistic modeling for deaf children acquiring sign language (Hall 2017), especially since at least 90 percent of them will have hearing parents who are unlikely to have prior experience in sign language (Mitchell and Karchmer 2004). Furthermore, the social benefits of having deaf adult role models for deaf children (Johnstone and Corce 2010) are not gleaned in a system where there is no avenue for deaf adults to work in the field. This paper outlines the situation in Ireland, examining, in particular, the policy barrier for entry to PITE and the implications of this barrier for the deaf education system.