Adopting bilingual education : an Australian school community`s journey

This article describes a case study of an Australian deaf facility and its changes in language policy. The study documents the process of change in a school community as the researcher worked collaboratively with teachers and parents to investigate the place of Auslan and bilingual pedagogy in deaf education. Teachers’ dissatisfaction with educational outcomes and current practices propelled the discussion about language policy. Gaining the support of parents is a key feature of this study. Beliefs about language policy and practices are explored and the implications for change investigated. This is part of a larger study of deaf education and the politics of language practices (see Komesaroff, 1998).