Local teacher Angela Joy has taken out the University of Newcastle’s 3 Minute Thesis competition.
Photo by
Megan Fisher
Local teacher Angela Joy from the Shepparton Deaf Facility at Guthrie St Primary School has been named the winner of the University of Newcastle’s Three Minute Thesis competition, impressing judges with her research into the role deaf mentors play in supporting deaf children born into hearing families.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
Normally, an 80,000-word thesis would take about nine hours to present.
Competitors in the 3MT had just three minutes and a single slide to communicate their research to a general audience.
Angela, who is completing her PhD remotely through the University of Newcastle, delivered her presentation, titled ‘The Missing Piece: Embedding Deaf Role Models into Policy for Inclusive Practice’.
Her work explores how deaf mentors can help bridge the gap for children who often start school with significant language delays.
“Most deaf children have hearing parents who may never have met a deaf person before their child’s diagnosis, let alone know any sign language,” Angela said.
“The years before school are critical for language acquisition, and I’m hoping my research can have a positive impact on future policy and practice.”
Angela has been a teacher of the deaf for more than 20 years, nearly seven of them spent at Guthrie St.
She said her passion for research grew from seeing the challenges deaf children faced when early intervention was limited.
“So far my research is showing that deaf role models can help parents and children learn sign language, connect families with the deaf community and give parents reassurance about their child’s future,” she said.
“Here at Guthrie St we’re fortunate to have a deaf teacher on staff, and for many of our students she’s the first person like them that they’ve ever met.”
Winning the competition also comes with a $5000 research grant, which Angela plans to use to visit New Zealand to study a role model program highly praised by her research participants.
She will also represent the University of Newcastle at the Asia-Pacific 3MT semi-finals hosted by the University of Queensland later this month.
“I think the missing piece is a positive perspective of deafness — what we call ‘deaf gain,’” Angela said.
“Deaf role models show children and families that deafness is no barrier to learning or to living your best life.”
Local teacher Angela Joy presenting at the University of Newcastle’s Three Minute Thesis competition
Photo by
Contributed
