The purpose of this study was to investigate deaf participants’ perspectives of their educational experiences within the last 50 years. The study was comprised of five deaf participants educated in the public school setting, and four deaf participants educated in the residential setting. The qualitative study utilized three in-depth interviews, a survey, and the researcher’s reflections/notes. The findings suggest deaf students’ educational experiences are impacted by low academic expectations. Sign language can be a powerful learning tool or a barrier for deaf students as deaf students depend on sign language and visuals to support their learning. Both spoken and written English are likely to be a struggle for deaf students. Emotional difficulties were associated with public and residential settings for the participants. Personal motivations, family members, and the type of setting had powerful influences on the participants. Freire’s (1993) theoretical framework of liberation was utilized in this study to engage participants in dialogue about the perceptions of their educational experiences.
","abstract_html":"<p>The purpose of this study was to investigate deaf participants’ perspectives of their educational experiences within the last 50 years. The study was comprised of five deaf participants educated in the public school setting, and four deaf participants educated in the residential setting. The qualitative study utilized three in-depth interviews, a survey, and the researcher’s reflections/notes. The findings suggest deaf students’ educational experiences are impacted by low academic expectations. Sign language can be a powerful learning tool or a barrier for deaf students as deaf students depend on sign language and visuals to support their learning. Both spoken and written English are likely to be a struggle for deaf students. Emotional difficulties were associated with public and residential settings for the participants. Personal motivations, family members, and the type of setting had powerful influences on the participants. Freire’s (1993) theoretical framework of liberation was utilized in this study to engage participants in dialogue about the perceptions of their educational experiences.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["DePew, Charles"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Education in Curriculum Studies (Ed.D.)","degree_level":"Dissertation (open access)","degree_discipline":"Department of Curriculum, Foundations, and Reading","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Delores Liston","Kymberly Drawdy","Grigory Dmitriyev"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2015,"date_issued":"2015-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2015-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:28:15Z","subjects":["ETD","New York","Five Decades","Study","Residential School","Public School","Deaf CultureETD","Deaf Culture","Educational Methods"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/1292","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Delores Liston","Kymberly Drawdy","Grigory Dmitriyev"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["DePew, Charles"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2015-02-17T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Department of Curriculum, Foundations, and Reading"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation (open access)"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Education in Curriculum Studies (Ed.D.)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["ETD","New York","Five Decades","Study","Residential School","Public School","Deaf CultureETD","Deaf Culture","Educational Methods"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/1292"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The purpose of this study was to investigate deaf participants’ perspectives of their educational experiences within the last 50 years. The study was comprised of five deaf participants educated in the public school setting, and four deaf participants educated in the residential setting. The qualitative study utilized three in-depth interviews, a survey, and the researcher’s reflections/notes. The findings suggest deaf students’ educational experiences are impacted by low academic expectations. Sign language can be a powerful learning tool or a barrier for deaf students as deaf students depend on sign language and visuals to support their learning. Both spoken and written English are likely to be a struggle for deaf students. Emotional difficulties were associated with public and residential settings for the participants. Personal motivations, family members, and the type of setting had powerful influences on the participants. Freire’s (1993) theoretical framework of liberation was utilized in this study to engage participants in dialogue about the perceptions of their educational experiences.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Perception of the School Experiences of Five Generations of Deaf Students"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Delores Liston","Kymberly Drawdy","Grigory Dmitriyev"],"dc:creator":["DePew, Charles"],"dc:date.available":["2015-02-17T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The purpose of this study was to investigate deaf participants’ perspectives of their educational experiences within the last 50 years. The study was comprised of five deaf participants educated in the public school setting, and four deaf participants educated in the residential setting. The qualitative study utilized three in-depth interviews, a survey, and the researcher’s reflections/notes. The findings suggest deaf students’ educational experiences are impacted by low academic expectations. Sign language can be a powerful learning tool or a barrier for deaf students as deaf students depend on sign language and visuals to support their learning. Both spoken and written English are likely to be a struggle for deaf students. Emotional difficulties were associated with public and residential settings for the participants. Personal motivations, family members, and the type of setting had powerful influences on the participants. Freire’s (1993) theoretical framework of liberation was utilized in this study to engage participants in dialogue about the perceptions of their educational experiences.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/1292"],"dc:subject":["ETD","New York","Five Decades","Study","Residential School","Public School","Deaf CultureETD","Deaf Culture","Educational Methods"],"dc:title":["Perception of the School Experiences of Five Generations of Deaf Students"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Department of Curriculum, Foundations, and Reading"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation (open access)"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Education in Curriculum Studies (Ed.D.)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:28:15Z"}