What does a Sign Bilingual approach look like in a school?
It will depend on if it is a school for the deaf or a mainstream setting and on the individual child’s language and communication needs (see for example the case studies in Sign Bilingual Education: Policy and Practice (Swanwick and Gregory 2007). There will always be an emphasis on the positive development of the child’s Deaf identity; an understanding of deaf culture and of the essential role of deaf adults in the education of deaf children. Any sign bilingual approach will involve the planned use of BSL and English (Speaking and Listening and Reading and Writing).
