Education of the Deaf

About the film

Instead of learning sign-language, deaf children are taught to speak and lip-read so that they might interact with others as easily as possible. This is a longer version of Triumph Over Deafness, aimed at a specialist audience.

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Details

• Release year - 1946
• Director - Jack Ellitt
• Production company - D.A.T.A. Films
• Producer - Donald Alexander
• Cinematographer - Wolfgang Suschitzky
• Composer - Beethoven
• Narration - David Lloyd-James
• Sound recording - John Woodiwiss
• Assistant Editor - E. Mason
• Assistant Camera - L. Griffiths
• Running time (minutes) - 48 mins 28 secs

Original description

'Until recently, deaf children were also dumb because they could not hear any sound to imitate. Now they are sent to special free schools where they are taught to speak and to use what hearing they may have, augmented with hearing aids. This treatment is superseding finger-language. It encourages the sufferers to mix more freely with others, and the children to grow up as normally as possible.'

(Films of Britain - British Council Film Department Catalogue - 1946)

Did you know?

Like many films in the archive, Education of the Deaf, and its sister film Triumph Over Deafness, show a very specific school of thought typical of its time - in this case advocating oralism and resisting sign language - ideas which are very much at odds with current thinking.

Unlike many of the British Council films from this era, the film was largely unscripted and unrehearsed.

This film has an alternative version - one intended for a specialist medical audience, the other with the general public in mind and going into less detail on the specific teaching techniques.

All films are subject to the Creative Commons licence guidelines.

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