Music education in secondary schools for deaf in Turkey and basic problems encountered

The main purpose of this research is to identify the drawbacks experienced in the music education process by ascertaining the music education given in the Hearing Impaired Secondary Schools in Turkey. The ones experienced in music education were identified based on the opinions of the music educators who have attended the lessons of the hearing impaired students. The research is a qualitative study. The study group of the research consists of music educators working in 30 hearing– impaired secondary schools affiliated to the Ministry of National Education in Turkey. There were apparently no music teachers at some schools whereas approximately 20 music teachers were reached. In the work, the data collected with the semi-structured interview form are analyzed with descriptive and content analysis. The data are divided into themes and sub-themes and tabulated with their coding. Based on the findings, the problems experienced by the teachers working at secondary schools for the hearing impaired in Turkey are determined. Important issues such as the difficulties caused by not knowing sign language in communicating with students and the necessity of multiplying different methods and techniques for the music education of hearing-impaired students are identified. The results are discussed and suggestions are presented at the end of the thesis. Keywords: hearing impairment, music education, music education for the hearing impaired, music education problems, body music