My Life Without Hearing Blog 5 - Becoming a British Sign Language Tutor

My first BSL exam

When I was working for social services, I used to love reading the British Deaf news magazine. I started having it delivered every month when I was at Doncaster College, and I loved to read about all the news from the deaf community. You could even make pen friends with other deaf people through the magazine. One time I saw an advert from CACDP (the council for the advancement of communication with deaf people, which has now become Signature) advertising their British Sign Language courses. Although I had been a native BSL user for most of my life, I didn’t have any formal qualifications to evidence my skills, so I signed up to take the Level 1 exam. The exam was very different from the current level 1 exam. A tutor from out of the area would come and conduct the exam face to face, so it was with a person you weren’t used to signing with. The exam had two parts: a conversation and a four part story, which the examiner would tell you, and you had to relay back to them. I had to travel to Birmingham to take the exam and I remember feeling nervous when I got there. I took the opportunity to see the town centre while I was there and look at the beautiful old buildings. About 6 weeks later I found out I had passed. I later went on to study Level 2 and Level 3, so I can empathise with my students as I know what it’s like to be in a British Sign Language group and learn the language, and also what it’s like to have to brush up your skills at the last minute before exams! 

Shadowing a BSL tutor 

My friend invited me to observe the Level 1 and Level 2 classes they were teaching at a local community centre, so I could get an idea of what’s involved in teaching BSL. I would go and shadow them every Tuesday and Wednesday evening, and I loved it straight away. I enjoyed chatting with the students and I made lots of notes. They showed me the kind of resources they used, and how to make lesson plans; although the lesson plans at that time were much simpler than the ones we have to produce now. A teaching post became available as one of the tutors was leaving, and they were hoping I would be able to step into their role. However, I was told I would need to attend an interview first. I went to an interview with two hearing men who couldn’t sign, so we had to use pen and paper and write throughout the interview. Luckily I was offered the job, and started teaching Level 1. When I started teaching my first group I was SO nervous. It was quite a large group as well, with 14 students. I remember one of them was very tall and towered over me when they stood up. They were a lovely group and soon got into the swing of things. I was delighted when they bought me a present at the end of the course. One year later I started teaching Level 2 as well.  Back then it was the old CACPD stage 2 which took two years to learn. Many students wished they could learn it quicker, but I really enjoyed teaching the course, and having plenty of time to cover the material. 

Going it alone

I took a break from teaching to care for a family member for four years, and unfortunately when I was ready to go back to work I found that the local colleges has stopped running British Sign Language courses due to financial constraints. I was difficult to find any job at that time but I was particularly disappointed because teaching was my passion and I was looking forward to starting back. It was then that I made the decision to go it alone and set up as a freelance tutor. That was back in August 2011, and it was the best decision I could have made. I set up as Proud Hands BSL and taught my first group in November of that year. They were a really lovely group, and I am still in touch with two of them to this day. They are a lovely couple got married in April 2012, and many of us from the group went along to celebrate with them. 

Success stories

Over the years I have taught hundreds of students, and some of them have gone into careers using British Sign Language, such as interpreting; communication support work, or classroom assistant roles. It still makes me very proud when a student thanks me for giving them the skills to get a new job. Other students have learned BSL because they wanted to be able to communicate with their own deaf children, and knowing that I have helped a family to be able to communicate more easily is very rewarding. 

Join me next time when I will be giving you some tips on how to communicate with deaf people.