In 2016 the 150th anniversary of Deaf education in Estonia was celebrated. In honour of that the Estonian Deaf Union organised a thematical conference “Deaf education on the crossroads” (“Kurtide haridus teelahkmel“).
A summary and presentations of the conference can be found on the following website: http://www.ead.ee/380012
The European Federation of Associations of Teachers of the Deaf (FEAPDA) is an organization, which was founded in 1969 and brings together associations of teachers of the Deaf from all over Europe. The aim of FEAPDA is to represent and support teachers by sharing good practice through personal contacts and cooperation. To achieve this, after every two years FEAPDA organizes thematical congresses in member countries – in 2016 the congress took place in Luxembourg and the topic this time was Inclusion and what it means for deaf education.
On the invitation of the previous longtime FEAPEDA president Paul Simpson (on the picture) a member of our organization also attended this years event in order to raise professional knowledge and discuss the possibility of the Estonian association`s membership in FEAPDA. As FEAPDA was in the process of changing the policy of membership at that moment, then it was agreed that discussion in this field will continue after the new policy has been fully established.
The Estonian Association of the Teachers of Hearing Impaired Children will be looking forward to positive developments and a chance to become a member of FEAPDA.
A moment from a workshop during FEAPDA 2016 congress
In June 2015 the International Congress on the Education of the Deaf (ICED) – „Educating Diverse Learners: Many Ways, one Goal„ took place in Athens, Greece. Two representatives (Piret Põllu, Raili Loit) from our association also attended the event in order to make professional contacts for further possible cooperation and gather information about the present situation in the field of Deaf education in Europe as well as in the whole world.
ICED is one of the oldest and the most prestigious body of inquiry in the field of Deaf education. The first congress was held in Paris in 1878, and since 1970 it is organized every five years in different countries.
The congress in Athens lasted for four days and the program focused on deafness in very many different aspects. More than 400 presentations were offered in the field of language and literacy, sign language and bilingualism, emotional development and mental health, sensory and cognitive diversity, early intervention, CI, curriculum and learning environment, technology, teacher training, lifelong learning, employment and mobility. The congress was very interesting and offered a good overview about what is going on in the field all around the world. It was refreshing to acknowledge, that general problems and views in the education of hearing impaired children are quite similar in all countries.
More information about the congress can be found on the ICED 2015 webpage (http://www.iced2015.com/en/)
The next ICED congress will be held in 2020 in Australia, Brisbane – hope to see you there!
A moment from the ICED 2015
