Inclusive School Development with Signed and Spoken Languages - an Action Research Study on Joint Education with Deaf/Hearing Students in Morocco

The “campus vivant´e” is a Moroccan school that started teaching Deaf students alongside with their hearing peers in 2015. From 2018-2019, a collaborative Action Research study was conducted between Fabienne Schwartz (Humboldt University, Germany) and the campus, researching how joint education with hearing and Deaf students can be realised. The study had two main goals: 1. To identify possible measures and courses of action that are crucial for a sustainable, inclusive school development with both spoken and signed languages, 2. To enable the hearing and (new) Deaf teachers from the rural mountain area to make the changes for themselves by themselves. The study followed the Action Research approach, involving the staff as co-researchers in the whole school development process. The data collection was conducted in three steps: 1. Needs analysis via document analysis, problem centred interviews with staff and school management; 2. Participatory observation in classes and meetings (e.g. steering committee) over the course of seven months; 3. Conclusive problem centred interviews with staff and school management. The data was analysed using qualitative content analysis (Kuckartz 2012) and led to the development of an action plan that was implemented during the research period. The concluding data gathering resulted in a collection and consideration of possible measures for other pedagogical organizations. Key results of the study show that the joint education of Deaf and hearing students affects all three levels of school development (human resources, instructional and organisational development, see Rolff 2018): It highly impacts the organization as a whole, due to the sudden need to teach and communicate in a different language with Deaf co-workers and students, making in-service-training and personal motivation highly relevant. The study showed that Action Research is particularly effective in enabling the teachers to make the changes they believed in and that were indicated.