Teaching Channel Talks Episode 115: Teacher Supply and Demand in Deaf Education (w/ Karen Stinson)

Dr. Wendy Amato: Welcome to Teaching Channel Talks. I’m your host, Wendy Amato, and as often as I can, I jump into conversations about topics that matter in education. And to me, there’s nothing more important than having qualified professionals in front of our children. It’s my pleasure to welcome you. Karen Stinson.

Thanks for being my guest. Thank you, Wendy. I’m happy to be here. Let’s talk a little bit about your area of specialization. What do you represent in this education world?

Karen Stinson: So I am currently in charge of the teacher prep program at Redford University for pre-service teachers in deaf and hard of hearing through the state of Virginia.

We are actually the only program in the state of Virginia that offers a license in deaf and hard of hearing.

Dr. Wendy Amato: Okay. We need to amplify your voice and help people understand why your work is critical to education and public education In particular, what kind of training is distinguishing an educator who works with deaf and hard of hearing, or DHH students?

Karen Stinson: So our people, of course, are trained specifically to work with deaf and hard of hearing children. So the biggest challenge that our DHH children have is going to be language acquisition. It’s going to be language, which of course impacts literacy. And of course, literacy impacts. Everything. So our professionals are trained specifically to work with children in language and literacy and to meet their needs so that they are going to become those competent readers.

Dr. Wendy Amato: There’s a lot of emphasis on literacy and reading across all content areas and all student demographics, but you’re telling me there’s extra emphasis in preparing educators who work with deaf and hard of hearing.

Karen Stinson: Absolutely. Absolutely. So our educators need to know specifically the characteristics of deaf and hard of hearing children.

Okay? So they also need to know what those evidence-based instructional strategies are for our children as well. To get them to be the competent readers and writers that, that we know that they can be. So our training is not just, you know, in, in education. Our training is specifically to meet the needs of our deaf and hard of hearing children.

Dr. Wendy Amato: Do you think that families are aware of the specialization and special prep

Karen Stinson: that instructors have? I think that some do, depending upon the area that you live in. I think that there are very savvy parents out there and I think that they do realize the benefits of a teacher of the deaf or TOD. Then of course there are some who would not know the importance of having a specially trained teacher of the deaf to work with their child.

We have several positions opened in the Chesterfield Richmond area for TODs. I get constant calls from Northern Virginia, from Fairfax, from, alexandria and from Arlington, four teachers of the death. So we are in high need, but we don’t have that many. The need, of course is going to be greater in those more urban and metropolitan areas, the further south that we come.

And of course I’m at Radford, so we’re in southwest Virginia. We still have that need, but it’s even more difficult to find teachers at the deaf. So a lot of times you may have one student and that needs services that may not be getting a teacher of the deaf that’s working with them. Okay? These parents may not realize that they have the voice to request a teacher of the deaf to work with their child.

Because school systems, you know, we can’t fault them. When you don’t have the personnel, you can’t provide that personnel. So that parent may not realize that there is even such thing as a teacher of the deaf.

Dr. Wendy Amato: So we’ve got an awareness opportunity to help families know their rights. Absolutely. If a family were to inquire about the credentials or qualifications of the instructors, how do they do that?

Where do they go to say, is my child getting the right support?

Karen Stinson: So I always, always encourage parents to collaborate with their school system and ask those questions first of their building principal, and then go up if they’re not receiving the answers that they think that they should be doing.

Of course, they should be doing research on their own. The Department of Education will. Always help them to provide that information. These are state regulations. This is in the Code of Virginia as to what a qualified professional or a qualified person to be a teacher. The deaf is, it’s in the Code of Virginia.

But I always, you need to have that collaboration with the school, with the building principal, and with the school system first.

Dr. Wendy Amato: Thank you for emphasizing working together with the school because we’re not suggesting, you and I are not suggesting that a school is trying to withhold or is denying somebody support.

It’s really a question of availability. Absolutely. There are not credentialed educators, certified properly trained educators at the disposal of every school, everywhere. Tell me a little bit, Karen, about your day to day work and how you operate.

Karen Stinson: So as the coordinator for the DHH program, so I not only, you know, manage, you know, the program, but I also teach the classes.

So I am the only professor at Redford, so I am teaching the DHH classes. I’m coordinating. We currently have a grant to support graduate students who want to come into the field and get their credentials to teach deaf and hard of hearing students, so I’m managing that as well. So I mean, I do everything that a teacher does.

I also do advising which is a huge chunk of my time as well, but. It helps me, of course, to get to know my students. And let me go off on a little sidetrack with there. The deaf and heart of hearing community is very tight knit and I have the privilege of working with these future educators.

And one of the things that. I have done, or it is just indicative of the the community is that those relationships still continue today. I’ve been at Radford for 11 years and I still hear from all of my students. Yes. It is I will be hooding. Three people on Friday. It is nothing, it is an honor for me, and I don’t think that my students realize that when they ask me to hood them.

It means more to me than anything else because I am so proud of each and every one of my students.

Dr. Wendy Amato: I’m really happy for you to have those relationships when you know you’re changing education, there are children that are gonna learn better because of the investments that you’ve made in their teachers.

Karen Stinson: Well, and I wish I had my letter. One of my students sent me a letter last week and it generally made me cry because she’s an undergrad student. So we have an undergrad program and we have a grad program at Radford. Our undergrad program, of course, is a traditional four year program. Then of course the grad program is a traditional two year program.

Kind of, sort of traditional you, yeah and that’s a beast in of itself. But anyway, my undergrad student she’s had some pretty rocky moments and I have had the privilege of watching her go from being a student to being a teacher. And this is her last, tomorrow will be her last day in placement.

And I told her, I said. You are now my peer. You are not my student. And she, yeah, it’s just, it’s, I love watching that transition from student to teacher and it, it means a lot to me for sure.

Dr. Wendy Amato: It does mean a lot. And in our world where we’re helping to create this next generation of educator, I don’t wanna put all the groups together ’cause.

You really are developing an essential instructor. It represents a shortage in our country and a critical need for our learners. And probably the joy that you feel is dialed up to 11. It’s just, I can’t

Karen Stinson: even express it. And even like in our field, I was reading something not too long ago that.

That. So I graduated from my program in 1990, so that would give you an idea of how old I am. That was one of the largest groups nationwide of teachers of the deaf. Well, now we’re getting to the point where we are retiring and we don’t have. The students coming along to replace us. So the shortage of teachers of the deaf is not just indicative to Virginia, it is nationwide and school systems residential schools for the deaf and hard of hearing are struggling meeting the needs of having teachers of the deaf to serve those children.

So it’s not just indicative to Virginia, it is nationwide.

Dr. Wendy Amato: We have commented that there’s a shortage and now I hear you saying things are moving in the wrong direction. Not enough people are coming in and an exponentially large number of people are moving out. Absolutely.

Karen Stinson: We are just not getting the people into education.

To replace those of us who are getting close to retirement age,

Dr. Wendy Amato: what might be some solutions to help balance things or restore, rejuvenate.

Karen Stinson: I, I think, you know, we still need to have initiatives to recruit and to encourage these people to stay in the field, come into the field. I’m gonna offer you the support that you need.

I. Okay. I’m not gonna leave you alone once you leave me. So we need to recruit, we need to focus on that retention, and we also need to focus on the retention of once they leave us, what kind of support can we provide to these educators once they leave the program. That’s one of the things that, that I consider myself, you know, proud of that I am in contact with my students after they graduate.

Let me know how I can help you. So I think that those three things recruit, retain, you know, while they’re in college and retain once they leave a program. I think that those will, recruiting is a beast of itself as well.

Dr. Wendy Amato: When educators hear retention, we’re often thinking about retention in the profession, but your first wave of retention is really getting people through your program to get the credential.

Karen Stinson: Absolutely. And one of the things that Radford we pride ourselves on is the, you know, support that we offer our students. And it’s not just my program, it’s all of our programs. We are very involved with our students. We offer them the support and guidance that they need. We are in the classrooms when they do.

Let’s call it a pre-student teaching. We call it blocking. We’re in the schools with them every week, and when they do their student teaching, we are there with them every week. Making those observations, count, counseling, guiding them through that whole entire process. So we offer that support that they need.

Dr. Wendy Amato: What would you recommend to a school or a district who’s brought on a new hire in this special area of working with deaf and hard of hearing? What would you like to see provided to ensure that kind of support for long-term retention mentoring?

Karen Stinson: Our new teachers need mentors, and sometimes it’s difficult to find a mentor for A TOD because they may be the only TOD in the system.

They may be the only teacher, the deaf, so you’ve gotta make sure that you are partnering that TOD with more than likely a special ed teacher who’s had years of experience the mentoring. And I know from my own experience, the mentoring really, really can help make that first year teacher. It can be a smooth transition from having a lot of support when they were in, in college at, particularly at Radford, to, okay you’re in the classroom now.

You have to do whatever. That mentor can help that transition from college to that profession. Tremendously. A

Dr. Wendy Amato: mentor is a big deal, and if we can’t find a match within the school, is there a broader network? Is there. Perhaps a virtual community or is there an association? Absolutely.

Karen Stinson: So another good thing about Virginia is that we do have a professional conference.

It’s called O Dup, opening Doors and Unlocking Potential. And this year it’s actually gonna be online, but in previous years we have had we’ve been in person. And I always encourage my students to attend because they make those connections with other TODs around the state and. I cannot tell you how important it is to make those connections, especially if you are the only TOD in your system.

It is so easy to become lost but you make those connections at our professional conference and those connections will remain for life. So they lean on each other. I have a few years back, I have a TOD in Southwest Virginia who is really, really close with A TOD in Virginia Beach and another one in Faki County.

And the three of them are still in contact. They are constantly communicating with each other because they all share the same struggles as an itinerant teacher of the deaf would certainly have.

Dr. Wendy Amato: That’s fantastic. I’m happy to hear that. And for any school administrator or school personnel position who’s sharing this conversation with us, please.

Opening doors, unlocking Potential, and now even more accessible because it’s virtual. I.

Karen Stinson: Absolutely. And so we’re gonna try to do it every other year, hopefully virtual and in person. We’ll have to wait and see so that we can reach out to more people, not just in Virginia, but throughout the United States for sure.

Dr. Wendy Amato: What other advice can we offer to help with retention or support or transition mentoring?

Karen Stinson: I think that administer administrators really need to have conversations with their TODs. You know, don’t just assume that that they’re okay, you know, have those personal conversations, how are you doing?

What can I help you with? How can I find you supports what, you know, I may not know. Okay, that’s fine. But let’s see if we can reach out and find somebody who does. So, you know. Always be open, be approached, approach your TOD and offer that support that they may need. And they may not even know what support they need.

So ask those questions.

Dr. Wendy Amato: An assumption of no news is good news is a dangerous assumption.

Karen Stinson: Absolutely. Because that’s not always the case that they’re doing okay. You know? Yeah. That they’re doing okay.

Dr. Wendy Amato: I feel really unsettled at this prospect of losing qualified teachers. If programs like yours are not properly supported moving forward, how do we make noise about it?

Karen Stinson: So the, it is a concern. Again my program o operates through a grant and it is a federal grant. It is a flow through money through the Virginia Department of Education. We don’t have any answers right now as to what the future will look like. It is a concern. I think by doing this and just letting people know that we are specialty within a specialty that we are absolutely needed, that we provide services that nobody else can provide.

We have that expertise to work with our deaf and hard of hearing students. Okay. Other people don’t have that expertise. We have that expertise. So I think getting it out there that we are needed that there are jobs opened up throughout the state of Virginia that are not being filled because they don’t have positions, you know, they don’t have people to fill those positions.

If we just make it known that we are needed our children need us that you know, make that noise, then I think that will cause more attention too. Our speciality.

Dr. Wendy Amato: Let’s get a message out to the future educators that are coming up, the high school students, young people in their bachelor’s programs, career changers.

How can they find you? How can they learn more about your program? I.

Karen Stinson: Please. I consider myself a very approachable person. If you have a desire or you know, want to know more about deaf and hard of hearing individuals, about deaf and hard of hearing children, please contact me If you’re thinking about going into a tea, into teaching, but you’re like, I’m really not sure what I wanna do.

Come talk to me. Okay. Because I can tell you, Hey, I can tell you all the wonderful things about our field. It’s, I have been in this profession for over 30 years. You know, I can’t see myself doing anything else, but so they can reach me at Radford, at k [email protected]. That’s the best way to get me.

Again, it’s ka a [email protected]. If you do K Stinson, it won’t get to me, so it has to be ka a [email protected]. But again, if you are thinking about going into teaching and you’re like, I think I wanna do something a little bit different, come talk to me. I will certainly tell you all the wonderful things about becoming a teacher of the deaf.

Dr. Wendy Amato: If you want a career that’s gonna be fulfilling and rewarding and in high demand, this is the one.

Karen Stinson: Okay. So I have to say my my students who have graduated, who will be graduating this week one of them had four offers. So she was able to choose exactly where she wanted to, and she even got a relocation money to help her trans to move from her area to Norfolk.

My other students have had multiple job offerings, so we have a 100% hire rate. And the other thing about our field is that you will find that teachers of the deaf stay in our field longer because we. Absolutely enjoy everything that we do.

Dr. Wendy Amato: That’s a cherry on top. Valuable work, meaningful work in high demand.

That’s rewarding trifecta.

Karen Stinson: Absolutely. I couldn’t see myself doing anything else. I knew from a young age that I wanted to be a teacher, but I didn’t know what, I come from a long line of teachers. And I fell into this and I cannot see myself doing anything else. Cannot.

Dr. Wendy Amato: You are definitely the right person to share this conversation with the education community.

Karen, thank you for sharing time with me.

Karen Stinson: Well, thank you for having me. For sure. I.

Dr. Wendy Amato: To our fellow educators. Thank you each of you for sharing this conversation with us. If you’d like to explore the topics that Karen and I have discussed today, please check out the show [email protected] slash podcast.

Be sure to subscribe on whatever listening app you use. It will help others to find us. I’ll see you again soon for another episode. Thanks for listening.