Just because you can sign doesn't mean you can teach:


In an online forum a frustrated ASL student stated:

"The instructor was Deaf so I know it was being taught properly,"

To which I reply: "Not necessarily."

It is amazing how many (untrained / unskilled) ASL teachers there are (both Hearing and Deaf) who got their job simply because they were in the right place at the right time when a clueless hiring director (Chair / coordinator / program manager) needed someone (or worse -- "anyone") to fill a spot.

Just because a person is "Deaf" doesn't mean they know how to teach ASL any more "properly" (skillfully / successfully) than being Hearing makes a person qualified to teach English.

Knowing how to "do" something and knowing how to "teach" something are two different skills.
 



 

Notes: 


Also see: Is it okay for people who can hear to teach sign language?