Factors that influence implementation of sign language regulatory frameworks in Zimbabwean special schools for the deaf

Abstract

This study sought to examine factors that influence the implementation of sign language regulatory frameworks in Zimbabwean special schools for the Deaf. The main objectives of the study were four-fold. Firstly, the study sought to examine how Zimbabwean Sign Language (ZSL) laws and policies were being implemented in the special schools. Secondly, it sought to analyse the challenges faced by teachers in implementing Sign Language legal frameworks. Thirdly, it sought to find out the extent to which the teachers were equipped in the profession to teach Deaf learners. Finally, the study sought to explore the strategies that could be proposed to enhance the implementation of ZSL policies in the special schools for the Deaf. The study was a phenomenological multiple case study of four special schools for the Deaf. In-depth interviews, semi-structured interviews, and participant observation were used to generate data from 29 participants who were 17 Grade One to Grade Three Special Needs Education specialist teachers, the heads of each of the four schools, four district schools inspectors and four educational psychologists responsible for each of the school-districts. Data were coded and deductive thematic analysis employed through Atlas. ti and presented in Network View diagrams. The study revealed that several factors influenced the implementation of sign language policies in Zimbabwean special schools for the Deaf. It emerged that Sign Language policy goals and the means of achieving Sign Language policy goals were ambiguous, hence, this created some misunderstandings. Policy implementers were not capacitated on the meaning of Sign Language policies and how the policies were supposed to be implemented. Furthermore, there was a lack of implementation monitoring mechanism by the Ministry of Education and the district officers as they were not competent in Sign Language, resulting in the policies largely remaining just on paper. Based on the findings, the study proposed strategies to enhance the implementation of ZSL policies in the special schools for the Deaf. Key among these strategies included adoption of Chegovo’s (2022) Administrative Sign Language Policy Conflict-Ambiguity Resolution Model. It was also recommended that the Ministry of Education needed to actively promote Sign Language policies for effective implementation. Teachers and other Ministry of Education officials also needed to be fluent in Sign Language and so they could be given priority for in-service training in Sign Language.