Job pack: Deaf Education and Communication Advisor

Transcription

1 Job pack: Deaf Education and Communication Advisor Country Kenya Employer Slusuwe Community Based Organization Duration 10 Months Job purpose The overall placement objective is to contribute towards enhanced quality of life of deaf children, deaf youth and their families. The role will entail planning, developing and implementing individualized educational programs for pupils who are deaf or hard of hearing in Kwale, Nyandarua, Nandi and Bungoma County in Kenya. Contents: 1. Job Description Personal considerations Background and contextual information... 5

2 1. Job Description Job Description: Deaf Education and Communication Responsible to: Education Programme Manager Advisor International Volunteer- VSO Kenya CEDI Project (1 position) No. of direct reports: None Location Bungoma with frequent travel to Nandi, Nyandarua, Nairobi and Kwale County. Job purpose: Contribute towards enhanced quality of life of deaf children, deaf youth and their families. Responsibilities Key Performance Indicators Competencies Skills and Knowledge 1. Individualized Education Program Process Conduct assessment/evaluation of pupil abilities and needs to determine development of IEP instructional goals/objectives and identification of other related services for the learner. 2. Instruction Advice on the establishment of instructional/learning environment for the learner and develop a sequence of instructional activities to meet the learner s individual goals/objectives based on the learner s IEP 3. Trainings Provide capacity building trainings to parents of deaf children and, teachers on effective total communication including lip reading, speech therapy, self-help group approaches, leadership, group dynamics and other social, and/or functional skills aimed at fostering integration of special education pupils. Due to the nature of our volunteer placements, it is possible that the responsibilities of this role may differ in reality and therefore the post holder will need to be prepared to be flexible and adapt to their environment as necessary. Placements will be with collaborating partners and networks eg Action for Children with Disabilities; Children Agenda Forum Number of trained teachers (male and female) to teach deaf primary school Number of deaf children (girls and boys) enrolled into ECCD/ primary in the target counties. Number of parents or caregivers (women and men) demonstrating increased involvement in the education of their deaf children Number of parents/caregivers trained on Self Help Group (SHG) approach Partnerships developed with relevant organizations to coordinate and approach legislators on education related issues in including implementation of approved policies Building and Sustaining working relationships The social skills to build and actively maintain working relationships that foster teamwork and collaboration with others for the benefit of a common goal. Open Minded and Respectful A non-judgemental approach that values other people and culture. Seeking and Sharing Knowledge Recognition that learning is a two-way and continuous process. Facilitating Positive Change The ability to analyse problems and develop lasting solutions in line with VSO approaches. Adaptability A combination of education, training and experience which demonstrates ability to perform the duties and responsibilities as described: 1. Knowledge of standardized language assessment instruments, their administration and interpretation. Knowledge of Hearing, Speech and Language Sciences is an added advantage. 2. Psychology of the deaf, their community and culture. 3. Ability to work with deaf children, analyse issues and problem solve, create plans of action, and reach resolution. 4. Knowledge of and ability to apply principles and techniques of individualized instruction. Desirable

3 Objectives will be confirmed in a three way discussion between the volunteer, employer and VSO in the first three months of the placement. A flexible approach and the ability to adapt behaviour to different situations. Resilience The self-confidence to work with a variety of situations, diverse people and ambiguity. 1. Knowledge of the principles and techniques of behavioural management and current trends in educational methods for teaching language and auditory development 2. Ability to establish and maintain a program of instruction and learning for individuals with disabilities and analyse situations accurately and adopt an effective course of action. 3. Ability to assess to determine pupil abilities and progress; knowledge of non-verbal-communication techniques and systems. Language Requirement English and willingness to learn Kiswahili.

4 2. Personal considerations In addition to the job description, the following information should be used when considering whether a placement is suitable for you. Personal health considerations If you have a significant current or past medical condition and/or you have general concerns about staying healthy as a volunteer, please use this information to assess whether this placement will be suitable for you. All volunteers require medical clearance from a VSO medical adviser before they are able to take up a placement with VSO. Occasionally, VSO may consider that this placement is too great a risk for you in terms of your personal health and you would be advised to consider a different placement. For further guidance about medical assessment and volunteering with a medical condition please see the frequently asked questions on VSO website. Access to medical care and support The standard and quality of local medical care and support available at this placement will depend on its location within the country. Health facilities are likely to be more poorly resourced in rural areas in terms of medical expertise, equipment, infrastructure and regular supplies of medication. However, this may not be the case in the capital city or in a larger town, where in some countries there may be a reasonable standard of medical care. The following gives you an indication of where the placement is in relation to the country office and how easy it would be to make the journey if you were ill. This placement will be based with Slusuwe Organization in Webuye, Bungoma County, a semi- rural area approximately 400kms from the capital and takes 6 hours to travel mixed roads with no flights. There are basic health facilities including health clinics and a referral hospital in all the Project Counties. These health facilities are able to diagnose and treat minor/major problems. More advanced health facilities are available in Nairobi which is 2-3 hrs drive to Nyandarua County and 5-8hrs drive to Nandi/Bungoma/Kwale County. Bungoma and Nandi is also about 1-2 hrs drive to Eldoret where we have an advanced health facilities that may handle major problems. Eldoret town also has an international airport. The programme office is located in Nairobi which is the Capital City. There are also selected Hospitals to give service to staff and volunteers in Bungoma County and other project Counties. The Nairobi Hospital and Agha Khan Hospitals are well equipped and can provide comprehensive medical services. They can be reached on Nairobi Hospital / and The Aga Khan Hospital / In Nairobi, there are additional well equipped private hospitals that give service 24 hours. For general/minor health concerns VSO have a contract with Dr. Ajay Shah, a general medicine specialist with a clinic that is a walking distance from the Programme Office. He has long experience of treating expatriates and can provide basic laboratory services in-house. Address: Clinic in Harlingham PO Box Nairobi

5 Tel.:- Mobile (24hrs), (office) Mr. Bernard, Dr. Ajay Assistant Mobile No This placement is: Based with Slusuwe Organization in Webuye, Bungoma County, a semi- rural area approximately 400kms from the capital and takes 6 hours to travel mixed roads with no flights with periodic travel to Nandi, Nyandarua, Nairobi and Kwale County. Nairobi is 2-3 hrs drive to Nyandarua County and 5-8hrs drive to Nandi/Bungoma/Kwale County on good road. There is no flight to project Counties except in Nairobi and Kwale County. If you wish to discuss your personal circumstances or health concerns in confidence with VSO s medical team before you apply for this placement please contact medical@vsoint.org. Accompanying partner or family: If you have a partner or children who are planning to accompany you to your placement, please use this section to assess whether this placement will be suitable for you. This placement does not have any restriction for accompanying partners. But for children who are school age all schools available in the placement area are local. One can get international schools in Nairobi. Motorcycle requirements Motorcycle ride is not requirement for in town transport. There are public bus system and matatus (privately owned minibuses) that are the cheapest and most popular mode of transportation in Kenya. Buses are regarded as safer and follow the same route as matatus. However, while buses are often quiet and operate in a timely manner, matatus play loud music, have erratic schedules with frequent stops, and provide a more dramatic Kenyan public transportation experience. Security information There are no major security concerns in Bungoma, Nyandarua, Nandi and Kwale Counties. Nairobi may experience security concerns occasionally in designated areas as a result of political differences and citizen agitation voicing their grievance. However, the people in all the Counties are cooperative and friendly. As we draw closer to election in August 2017, it is expected that the political activities will be more frequent. It is therefore important to remember that like in any other Country, safety is actually a matter of following a few simple rules. 3. Background and contextual information Community Empowerment for Deaf Inclusion (CEDI) Project is a 3 year funded project by Deaf Child Worldwide and is being implemented in four counties in Kenya: Nyandarua, Kwale, Nandi and Bungoma. The project commerce in February 2015 and is expected to end in February The CEDI project aims to contribute towards enhanced quality of life of deaf children, deaf youth and their families. The project will achieve this by empowering communities to support deaf children and youth in the realization of their full potential. The project will facilitate access to quality education,

6 create and strengthen community support systems, advocate for a supportive policy environment, and enhance economic capacity of deaf youth and their families. The anticipated project outcomes are: 1) Increased access to quality education by deaf children; 2) Strengthened capacities of parents, teachers and wider community in promoting inclusion of deaf children in their community; 3) Enhanced economic capacity of deaf youth and families of deaf children. The three year CEDI project will enable 640 families in 4 counties to communicate effectively with their deaf children. The project will strengthen 16 parents groups; enable 80 deaf youths to engage in meaningful economic activities and reach a total of 1280 deaf children (320 deaf children, aged 18 and below, per county) through early identification and assessment services, training on sign language and communication skills, provision of assistive devices and facilitated enrolment to schools. This project is built on the premise that successful inclusion respects, protects and fulfils the rights of the child to basic services that include education and ensures participation and full commitment from the state, the teachers and parents. Adequate levels of resourcing and community support are crucial too. The project will influence policies at county level. It will also use lessons learnt to influence national policies on inclusion of deaf children. Anticipated project outcomes Outcome 1: Increased access to quality education by deaf children 1.1 Establishing four pilot learning centres for deaf children. This component aims to create practical and sustainable ways of helping families and communities towards the full inclusion of deaf children, through establishment of learning centres. In each County, existing early child care and development centres (ECCD) or education institutions will be identified through a participatory and consultative process with County governments and institutions. One classroom will be established and resourced for use as a learning centre. Through the learning centres, the project will provide deaf children with early opportunities to acquire sign language and to learn to speak through speech therapy and language stimulation. Families will be fully informed and involved as partners in the learning and development of their child. Deaf children aged 0-10 years will be enrolled in the centres. For the preschool children, the project will focus on screening, facilitating access to medical interventions, registration with the National Council for Persons with Disabilities, sign language skills, language stimulation and provision of hearing aids. Deaf children will be identified through the EARCs who will be supported to conduct regular screening and assessments. More families will be able to access the program through awareness raising activities in the community. For children of school going age the intervention will focus on developmental and educational activities. Children will be supported in learning of signed and spoken language and to help them communicate with their families and others. Parents will regularly participate in educational activities of their child. Individualized Education Plans (IEP) for the children and Individualized Family Support Plans (IFSP) will be a principal means by which parents will monitor the education development of their child. As the child enters primary school, it is expected that parents will play a key role as advocates for their child in ensuring that they receive the services specified in the IFSP. Information Education and Communication (IEC) materials (print and electronic) for early deaf education, teaching processes and Kenya Sign language (KSL) will be developed and disseminated to families and the wider community. These materials will form an essential knowledge base for the project teams, in support of training of parents regarding the services for deaf children. To ensure sustainability, the project will advocate for the County governments to allocate an operational budget for the centres, and eventually run the centres. 1.2 Developing Professional Human Resource for Education of Deaf Children

7 This component aims to provide trainings in sign language and total communication for deaf children and their families. Teachers, EARCs and young deaf people will be trained to support the learning centres. The trainings will focus on theories and practical methodologies in stimulating cognitive and language development of young deaf children. Deaf young people will be trained on pedagogies for teaching deaf children and their families on how to communicate, using a blend of theory, practice and experiential learning. Trained deaf youth will be engaged as sign language teachers, and mentors to meet the needs of deaf children and their families. In order to enhance the education performance of deaf children, teachers from selected special and integrated ECCD and primary schools will receive training on skills necessary to improve the quality of their work such as sign language training, educational audiology, inclusive education and training in SNE to improve visual and sign-languagebased pedagogical methods of teaching deaf children. National volunteers in each county will be trained in Kenya sign language and sign language interpretation in order to facilitate communication between deaf and hearing people in the project. Trainings in sign language will be provided in collaboration with Kenya National Association of the Deaf (KNAD). Teacher trainings will be done in collaboration with Kenya Institute of Special Education (KISE). Training will be delivered through customized in-house courses and ongoing distance learning via video programmes. The project will establish linkages with the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and school boards of management for the professionalization/ employment of deaf youth (as educators, mentors and sign language teachers of deaf children). It is anticipated that deaf youth will gain legitimacy in the eyes of the parents as helpful, trustworthy allies of their deaf children, and the parent-deaf community partnership will mature into a working relationship in promoting the interests of deaf children to educators and policymakers. Outcome 2: Strengthened the capacities of communities (parents/families, teachers) in promoting inclusion of deaf children. This component creates communication, knowledge sharing and partnership events between families, county governments and deaf communities. Through this component the project will empower community organizations and parent support groups as advocates in enhancing deaf awareness and inclusion of deaf communities in the society Awarenessraising and outreach activities will be done through the learning centres, local media, community and international events (e.g. UN day for persons with disabilities, deaf awareness week, global action week and the Day of the African Child) with the active participation of deaf children youth and their families. Outcome 3: Enhanced economic capacity of deaf youth and families of deaf children In order to sustain the engagement of deaf people in the communities, 16 existing parent support groups and 80 identified deaf youth will receive professional support in communication with the deaf and advocacy through an international volunteer placement (special needs advisor). The project will provide need based training courses that are suitable to the youth and parent support groups, such as training in business development and entrepreneurship skills, life skills training (leadership, communication, decision-making). Ten community development initiatives will be established or enhanced through provision of innovation grants to individual deaf youth and parent support groups. The project will facilitate linkages of the business entities with the private sector, business innovation & incubation hubs, micro-finance institution and other devolved funds in order to increase access to markets, credit facilities and expand the economic opportunities for the deaf youth, and parent support groups. By integrating program implementation with organizational development, the intent is to ensure that as the deaf organizations and communities advocate for deaf people's rights, they will be prepared to demonstrate their capacity to contribute to the socio-economic development of their Counties, in future. Further information on VSO s work in each of the countries we work in can be found on the VSO website.