The SEN Hearing Impairment Postgraduate Diploma/MA is for you if you have UK qualified teacher status plus teaching experience and are looking to specialise in teaching children and young people with hearing impairment. To do this you are required by regulations to obtain a specialist qualification as a Teacher of the Deaf (ToD).
At the University of Wales, Newport the majority of students aim to gain Teacher of the Deaf (ToD) status, however the course may also be followed by teachers, who may exit after completion of the taught modules with a Postgraduate Diploma SEN. The masters is taught in conjunction with Mary Hare School for the Deaf, Newbury, Berkshire. Mary Hare Training Services is one of the leading specialist institutions of its kind in the UK.
By gaining a specialist qualification as a Teacher of the Deaf (ToD) you may then join a network of professionals with the same qualification by attending meetings within Wales and beyond and by accessing various forums on the internet.
As all pupils with hearing impairment are entitled to support from a Teacher of the Deaf (ToD) specialist, your potential for employment is very good.
To gain a Postgraduate Diploma in Hearing Impairment participants must pass four modules.
Three taught modules:
• Language, Learning and Understanding Literacy
• Issues in Audiology
• Classroom Practice and Support Issues
Participants must also pass the fourth module:
• Understanding Learning Difficulties and Disabilities: which is taught on the campus or can be accessed via e-learning (please refer to prospectus entry Masters Gateway to SEN, page 120).
The programme includes lectures, seminars, visits, workshops and teaching placements, and aims to prepare students to become specialist teachers who can work in a range of educational settings and across all ranges. Teachers of the Deaf work in homes, mainstream nurseries and schools, special schools and resourced bases within mainstream schools. They provide expert advice, support and expertise to parents and to mainstream and special school teachers who have pupils with hearing impairment in their classrooms. They also provide teaching of specialist skills such as sign language, alternative methods of communication and use of specialist hearing aids, as well as ensuring that the curriculum is suitably modified to meet the needs of individual pupils.
Teachers of the Deaf work closely with school staff, providing in-service training on the needs of individual pupils with hearing impairment to ensure that they achieve the highest possible standards.
A 
programme specification for this course is available.
Assessment
Each module is assessed by submitting a written assignment of 5,000 words, or equivalent. The Classroom Practice module is assessed via the teaching practice component where students are observed in their placement (eight weeks over 2 years) and on submission of their teaching practice file. Participants must also successfully complete an approved Sign Language qualification and an assessed Teaching Practice component.
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Eileen Taylor - Senior Lecturer: SEN, Pathway Leader MA SEN |
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All students will undertake teaching placements during each year of the course.
A prize (currently named the Glan Davies Award) is presented to the highest achieving student within this pathway each year.
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Excellent library resources are available including e-books and other facilities. Students will also have access to all of the relevant facilities at Mary Hare School in Newbury. |
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Where Next?
Upon successful completion, most students will undertake the Research Methodology module and will then proceed to the MA dissertation, in order to achieve the award of MA SEN.
After completing their Masters award, some students take further qualifications in SEN at the University. If you are interested in the possibility of a higher degree by research, your tutors will be pleased to discuss the opportunities for doing so here at Newport.