14
UWI TODAY
– SUNDAY 11 AUGUST 2019
CAMPUS NEWS
English is not an easy language to learn.
Imagine having
to learn it if you are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH). It’s a
challenge for DHH students and for the educators with the
job to teach them.
In July 2019, The UWI School of Education (SoE)
OutreachUnit, partneringwith the CounsellingDepartment
of Gallaudet University in the US, held the 2019 Professional
Development Workshop for teachers, interpreters and
Student Support Staff of Trinidad and Tobago’s Ministry
of Education. The workshop trained them in the Bedrock
Bilingual Literacy Programme for DHH learners, as well as
strategies for their social and emotional needs. It was held
at SoE on the St Augustine Campus.
SoE lecturer Dr Paulson Skerrit and Ms Shannon
Training educators to be
better teachers for deaf students
B Y D R P A U L S O N S K E R R I T
Teachers, interpreters and Ministry of Education staff taking part in the workshop.
PHOTO: COURTESY SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
Winters, a teacher at the Arkansas School for the Deaf,
facilitated the sessions on using the Bedrock curriculum.
Dr Danielle Thompson-Ochoa, professor at Gallaudet
University, held sessions on the socio-emotional needs of
DHH students.
Apart fromthe lectures, discussions anddemonstrations,
the workshop included presentations by qualified local DHH
teachers.
The Ministry staff benefitted from insights into the
unique approaches needed to teach DHH students and
the specific considerations when it comes to assessment
and concessions if equity is to be achieved. Participants
willingly gave up part of their lunch breaks and even
stayed on after the scheduled closing time each day to ask
questions and discuss implementing the approaches that
were introduced. They rated the workshop as “practical”,
“high quality”, “intensive” and worth the sacrifices needed to
participate. What made the workshop especially appealing
for participants was that the information was rooted in
evidence-based research.
The Trinidad and Tobago Association for the Hearing
Impaired (TTAHI) funded the cost of providing high quality
interpreting (sign to voice and voice to sign) during the
workshop and the interpreting service was outsourced to
Caribbean Sign Language Centre (CSLC).
The 2019 Professional Development Workshop was
coordinated through the SoE Outreach Unit managed by
Mr Cipriani Davis with support from Ms D’Izraiel Billy.
Dr. Paulson Skerrit is Lecturer in Reading Education at The UWI St Augustine School of Education.
LAND SETTLEMENT AGENCY AND UWI VETERINARY SCHOOL
FOCUS ON RURAL PETS IN COLLABORATIVE SURVEY
When it comes to rural and marginalised communities
we tend to think about the welfare of the people – but what
about their pets? Just as community members have to deal
with the challenges and risks of country life, so do their
animal companions.
The Land Settlement Agency (LSA) under Trinidad and
Tobago’s Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, has
collaborated with the School of Veterinary Medicine in the
Faculty of Medical Sciences at UWI St Augustine to focus
on animals in these areas.
These communities, often located in remote and
forested locations, are typically in close contact with the
environment and more importantly with wildlife, many of
which are carriers of infectious pathogens.
The Marabella Trainline/Bayshore community was
selected as a pilot study area to study the “One Health”
through community engagement principle (One Health
is a multidisciplinary, internationalist approach to health
for people, animals and the environment.
See UWI Today
March 2014
march_2014/article17.asp).
This community is located on
the coastline adjacent to and within the mangrove. It is also
located next to a middle income community at Marabella.
Findings generated from the survey of 413 households
at theMarabella Trainline/Bayshore area revealed that 35 per
cent of participants (approximately one in three households)
kept pets. These pets included dogs, parrots, chickens and
others such as ducks, caged songbirds, pigeons, rabbits, pigs,
fishes and monkeys.
Persons from these communities often have limited
access to health services, a scenario which has implications
for vector-control, public health measures, immunisation
and zoonotic disease (diseases spread between humans and
animals) control. Such communities are ideal for exploring
the human-animal interface.
Future research conducted in health-related fields
through community engagement can provide insightful
information which can support the implementation of
national health policies.
Percentages of Pets Kept by the Residents of the
Marabella Trainline/Bayshore District
Dogs
Parrots
Chickens
Others such as ducks, caged songbirds,
pigeons, rabbits, pigs and monkeys
11.8%
12.5%
14.6%
61.1%
