A Model for Developing Workplace Learning Materials
for the Deaf

The Mathematics videos in ASL, which are now being used by the Deaf at Boeing as well as other Deaf groups within Winnipeg and across the country, have the potential of being an important learning tool in Deaf education. This type of teaching has never been done before in the workplace, and the impact of these videos on the Deaf community has been very positive.

This project had the full approval and support of the Deaf community in Winnipeg. The videos were developed using a steering committee of members of the Deaf community in Winnipeg, a number of Deaf Boeing employees, their instructor, and the Mathematics curriculum writer. Two of the Deaf employees from the Winnipeg facility participated as actors in the videos. Other actors are members of the Deaf community, showing community role models in a successful learning situation. This connects the Deaf students to their language peers and gives them the ease of learning that we take for granted in the hearing world.

Results and Achievements

Due to Boeing Canada Technology’s mandated certification requirements, many of the workers must be re-certified annually. This requires employees to engage in refresher studies, a written examination and on-the-job skills verification. The skilled technical performance that is a Boeing requirement demands reading skills and a fundamental foundation of Mathematical skills for daily referencing of specifications.

The result that speaks the loudest is that a very high percentage of employees, both Deaf and hearing who have taken the Essential Skills Reading Course, are now able to pass the annual regulatory certification exams. Many of these employees had previously struggled with these certifications. Likewise, a very high percentage of employees who have taken the Essential Skills Mathematics Course are now able to challenge the Boeing Mathematics test successfully.

One of the most visible achievements of this learning is that Deaf and ESL employees now hold positions as Lead Hands and in higher management. The far-reaching effect on self-esteem and life skills is immeasurable.

Positive Change

The success of the Math for Deaf Learners videos fuelled interest in transferring the Navigation component of the Essential Skills Reading Curriculum into an ASL video as well. That video was completed in the spring of 2002. These two curricula allow the Deaf workers to have access to all Boeing learning materials in their own language. This puts the Deaf employees on a level playing field with their hearing counterparts.

The outreach potential generated by the Mathematics for Deaf Learners component of the curriculum is enormous. Boeing has made the videos and the Mathematics curriculum available to other Deaf groups within the city and across the country. These include Deaf Centre Manitoba, Manitoba School for the Deaf, Society for Manitobans with Disabilities, Palliser Furniture, and the Nova Scotia Community College Deaf Studies Centre.