Appendix 3: Vignette from the Interviews
Par: So I’ve been studying up until last year and then I ended up getting into a bit of conflict actually, with one of the music teachers, saying that I had to study music. I mean I was like, I’m deaf so how does that work? So we had quite a confrontation about that with lecturers. I had a confrontation about that. The instruments you have to learn like guitar and flute and recorder and that sort of thing are really difficult for me, especially being deaf. I can hear a tiny little bit but not enough. Depending on the type of music, maybe feel the vibration, sometimes the beat but the recorder wasn’t as bad, but the lesson plans and things for me to do for music was a huge issue. And trying to teach music in Sign and like sing, sing a rainbow – that’s what I plan to do was sing a rainbow in NZSL. So I went to meet my lecturer and they said, “No sorry you’re not going to get a pass for this.” I was like, why? And they said, “Because you need to be – like you’re actually pretending to teach a music class.” And I was like , well I’m deaf and this is my language and this is how I would teach a music class. I would relate the language to the music. So as I say we to’d back and fourth between us about that ... so in the end I was told to copy from my class mates, just to hand that in. So I was really unhappy about that particular experience. And as a result I still have to do music, I can’t pull out of that particular class, otherwise I won’t get my BA. So that’s the situation there. So I know [another deaf person] also was fighting really hard for that as well and the same thing, yeah. So I feel really kind of a bit dumb really sitting in music and not being able to hear it and do anything, it’s a bit crazy. So even after having massive discussions with it, the end answer is that we have to do it to be able to get the BA in music. So this year I’m doing keyboard and learning the piano which is actually a lot more difficult. I have to use my hands and my eyes. I’ve got to look at my hands and look at the music the same time. And I really don’t want to but it’s part of the BA that I have to do. So I feel, yeah, not very happy about it. The university don’t really realise that we’re deaf and there’s things that we can’t do because we are deaf. I feel like, you know, we’ve really been pushed, that we have to do this study. It just doesn’t really fit with us. So anyway I have to carry on with music for the BA that I’m studying. My goal is to teach New Zealand Sign Language in either primary or Intermediate or High Schools and that’s my ultimate goal, so I won’t actually be teaching music or other subjects but I have to get this BA so I can do this. Int: Yeah, you’re not going to be teaching it but you have to do it to get the qualification. Bit crazy and a bit – a bit sort of bloody minded on the part of the university that they just don’t realise that because you’re deaf, music is sort of something that’s really hard for you to do. So …
Par: To my music lecturer. We had a meeting and I had a classmate that supported me last year. It was quite a heavy debate that we went through about it and we also had the community liaison officer from Deaf Aotearoa NZ come along to help try and solve it but it just wasn’t successful. The end outcome was, no I had to do it.
Int: So did you try higher like to the dean or someone up in – in the administrative side of things?
Par: yes and he said, “No, I had to study it,” but my music lecturer was to try and match my needs. So last year we had to do recorder or guitar. Guitar was very difficult, so I did the recorder. It was still difficult but I did manage to pass, but I just had to copy a lesson plan from classmates. So I didn’t actually learn anything. My plant was to do, you know, New Zealand Sign Language sing a rainbow, teach a class that, in News Zealand Sign Language, but they refused. No you have to pretend like you’re a hearing person and teach a hearing music lesson. So they didn’t really understand about the fact that I was deaf and that things would be different. The disability services person tried to explain to them about how – what it’s like being, you know, deaf and gave them information about being deaf and cultural things and working with an interpreter but …
Int: Definite discrimination as far as I’m concerned. And so when the dean said no and all the people said no, you felt you had no other choice but to just do it?
Par: I think, you know, something needs to be done so that it can actually be, you know, suit the needs of deaf people in regards to teaching music. I’ve got another deaf friend who has also become a teacher. She’s done it at Otago University. She went into the music class but she wasn’t – she didn’t have to do anything. She just went into the class, observed, and took notes. I spoke to the University Of Canterbury about that but no movement from them.
Int: It makes a mockery of the education system if they just say copy your classmate’s lesson plan and that’s ridiculous.
Third Party: They’ve managed to sort something out at Otago but not here.
Int: Have you thought about complaining at a higher level again from the university, like to a member of parliament or to like the Human Rights Commission? Par: they told me some options I think, and that I needed to do certain actions. The Human Rights said I needed to talk to the university more and if it became serious, I then think they would sort something out, but I just dropped it. I just – you know, because they said, “I had to do it.”
Fourth party: If you are unable to complete your BA because of the discriminatory nature of this university that is extremely serious.
Par: Yeah, I was hoping like, you know, my music lecturer, you know, could learn a bit more about me and deaf culture and how it works, but they just said, “No you need to try and be like a hearing person.” Par: I worked at [a large commercial organisation]. I actually lost my job there because the company went under but my manager was really, really lovely and told my work mates that I – that I teach Sign Language. And so they paid for some of our work mates to go along and learn. So it was really, really lovely that they could learn what the culture was about and learn some Sign Language for me. And so [the organisation] I think, paid for about seven or eight work mates to come along to learn, so they could communicate with me, like for example, like going toilet at break time, you know all those sorts of things.