The Center for Education Advancement of the Deaf (CEAD) continues to strengthen Deaf-centered bilingual education by providing opportunities for Deaf teachers and trainees to explore and express the Filipino Deaf experience. Through the introductory course titled “Isip at Kamay: Learning About the Filipino Deaf Experience Through De’VIA,” CEAD guided participants in developing creative learning materials grounded in Deaf culture and Filipino Sign Language (FSL).
Part of the Deaf-Centered Bilingual Education (DCBE) faculty development series under the Model Learning Institute on Deaf-Centered Education (MLITEDCE), the course supports the ongoing integration of sign bilingual strategies to enhance Deaf students’ classroom learning.
Building on the success of CEAD’s April 2024 De’VIA and FSL Storytelling Workshop, the program expanded to include a wider group of Deaf educators and allies. Initially conducted in-person, the course is being developed into an online diploma program to reach more participants across the country.
Over the five-day training, participants reflected on their Deaf life stories and transformed their experiences into visual artworks that used color, shape, and texture to express resistance and affirmation. These works served as inspiration for FSL stories and sign poetry, helping teachers create curriculum-based Deaf-centered materials to strengthen bilingual and bicultural instruction.
By organizing De’VIA workshops, CEAD promotes the creation of Deaf-centered learning resources that represent the culture, identity, and lived experiences of the Filipino Deaf community. Through art, storytelling, and research, CEAD empowers Deaf educators to design inclusive and culturally relevant teaching materials that advance Bilingual-Bicultural Deaf Education in the Philippines.
This initiative is part of the Model Learning Institute on Deaf-Centered Education (MLITEDCE), made possible through a grant from The Nippon Foundation.
