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Three decades ago, we began an ambitious venture to educate the next generation of professionals in sensory disability. And within 10 years we opened our doors to the world, welcoming the first international student from Europe into our Masters degree program.
German Teacher of the Deaf Christiane was a brave and adventurous 24-year-old when she came to study with us. She was keen to expand her understanding of deaf education beyond exclusively oral language approaches.
Christiane now teaches near Hanover at a specialised centre for children who are deaf or hard of hearing. And she took the opportunity of a recent trip to Australia to pay us a visit at our new centre for innovation at Macquarie University.
She saw first-hand our latest ambition—to build even more international connections, and act as a drawcard for national and international thinkers and practitioners.
‘Since Christiane came through our program we’ve hosted students from 11 different countries, and our graduates work across Asia, Africa, North America, and Europe,’ says NextSense Institute Director Professor Greg Leigh.
‘We were so pleased at the time to have an international student from Europe. We had the opportunity to learn from Christiane about what was happening in that part of the world, what was changing, and alternate ways of doing things.
’This desire to learn from others is something that is deeply embedded in the NextSense approach. Our new centre for innovation is as much about learning from others as it is about sharing our own deep knowledge and expertise.'
— Prof Greg Leigh, Director, NextSense InstituteIf we want to continue advancing the field and cement Australia’s world-leading position in sensory disability service delivery and education, we will need to do this in partnership with others.
‘At our new centre, which has been custom built for people with hearing and vision loss, we will build living models of best practice that will constantly evolve as knowledge cycles in and out. Research will inform what we do, and what we learn from doing will in turn inform new research.’
For Christiane, completing our Master of Disability Studies degree meant thinking about language from a broader perspective.
— ChristianeI learned how to support young children and school-age students to develop language (including sign language) and English literacy. This helps them to achieve their educational and career goals. Working with NextSense I gained an understanding of working with children who had multiple disabilities.
Christiane now works at an organisation like NextSense, which incorporates school education, early intervention and audiology services, and itinerant teaching support.
‘I have fond memories of hosting Christiane as our very first international student,’ says Professor Leigh.
— Professor Greg Leigh, NextSense Institute DirectorIt was great to reconnect [with Christiane] and see how her career has flourished. And to recollect the great strides in education we have been able to achieve as our own program has gone from strength to strength.