CONCLUSION

6.1
This Guide to Curriculum for Hearing Impaired Children has spelt out the objectives, general principles and strategies in the education of hearing impaired children. It has also suggested adaptations and specific teaching approaches for a few selected subjects. Special equipment and teaching resources commonly used have also been discussed. Hearing impaired children may have difficulties in some subjects and the root cause of these difficulties lies mainly in their difficulties in speech and language. Speech and Language teaching, with emphasis on the use of residual hearing, is therefore dealt with in great detail in the Guide. Evaluation, being a useful tool to reflect the children's progress and the effectiveness of a learning programme, is obviously a key element among the teaching strategies and is given due emphasis throughout the Guide. With an increasing intake of hearing impaired children with additional disabilities in special schools over the years, special guidelines for teachers concerned other than those for the majority of hearing impaired children would be helpful. A full chapter on this aspect has therefore been included in the Guide.

6.2
It is hoped that the Guide will serve as useful reference for heads and teachers, to provide for them a direction for further curriculum development on a school basis. It should be noted, however, that the teaching guidelines suggested for various subjects in the Guide are by no means exhaustive. Besides, not all teaching suggestions are ready solutions to problems encountered in the classroom. Before they are practicable, modifications may need to be made where required. Therefore the teacher needs to look into the specific learning difficulties and needs of the children in his own class, make necessary adaptations to the curriculum and develop Individual Educational Programmes (IEP), where required and feasible, to meet these difficulties and needs. Hearing impaired children undergo a similar process of cognitive development as their peers in ordinary schools, only they tend to suffer from developmental delay, which contributes to their learning difficulties. However, it is believed that, with an adapted curriculum and appropriate teaching strategies and given time and patience, these children do not necessarily achieve much less than their peers in ordinary schools. Such a conviction is an important support particularly to junior teachers, who would otherwise have their confidence undermined through frustrations in the classroom.

6.3
Perhaps more importantly, the Guide should be seen as a supplement to the CDC syllabuses for related subjects and curriculum guides in the mainstream curriculum. As the curriculum for hearing impaired children is basically the same as that for ordinary children, many of the guidelines laid down in the CDC syllabuses for related subjects and curriculum guides in the mainstream curriculum may also be applicable to hearing impaired children. Teachers, particularly less experienced teachers, are therefore advised to familiarize themselves with the content of these syllabuses and curriculum guides if they are to benefit more from this Guide to Curriculum for Hearing Impaired Children.

6.4 Curriculum development is a continuous process. No curriculum can remain unchanged if it is to cater for the fast changing needs of the Hong Kong society. What is taught and how it is to be taught should be subject to constant review and revision, whenever required and feasible. Therefore the completion of this Guide to Curriculum for Hearing Impaired Children is in no way an end to curriculum development for hearing impaired children. Rather, it marks the beginning -- the beginning of an ongoing process, a joint venture among all those working for a better education of hearing impaired children.

6.1	This Guide to Curriculum for Hearing Impaired Children has spelt out the objectives, general principles and strategies in the education of hearing impaired children. It has also suggested adaptations and specific teaching approaches for a few selected subjects. Special equipment and teaching resources commonly used have also been discussed. Hearing impaired children may have difficulties in some subjects and the root cause of these difficulties lies mainly in their difficulties in speech and language. Speech and Language teaching, with emphasis on the use of residual hearing, is therefore dealt with in great detail in the Guide. Evaluation, being a useful tool to reflect the children's progress and the effectiveness of a learning programme, is obviously a key element among the teaching strategies and is given due emphasis throughout the Guide. With an increasing intake of hearing impaired children with additional disabilities in special schools over the years, special guidelines for teachers concerned other than those for the majority of hearing impaired children would be helpful. A full chapter on this aspect has therefore been included in the Guide.
6.2	It is hoped that the Guide will serve as useful reference for heads and teachers, to provide for them a direction for further curriculum development on a school basis. It should be noted, however, that the teaching guidelines suggested for various subjects in the Guide are by no means exhaustive. Besides, not all teaching suggestions are ready solutions to problems encountered in the classroom. Before they are practicable, modifications may need to be made where required. Therefore the teacher needs to look into the specific learning difficulties and needs of the children in his own class, make necessary adaptations to the curriculum and develop Individual Educational Programmes (IEP), where required and feasible, to meet these difficulties and needs. Hearing impaired children undergo a similar process of cognitive development as their peers in ordinary schools, only they tend to suffer from developmental delay, which contributes to their learning difficulties. However, it is believed that, with an adapted curriculum and appropriate teaching strategies and given time and patience, these children do not necessarily achieve much less than their peers in ordinary schools. Such a conviction is an important support particularly to junior teachers, who would otherwise have their confidence undermined through frustrations in the classroom.
6.3	Perhaps more importantly, the Guide should be seen as a supplement to the CDC syllabuses for related subjects and curriculum guides in the mainstream curriculum. As the curriculum for hearing impaired children is basically the same as that for ordinary children, many of the guidelines laid down in the CDC syllabuses for related subjects and curriculum guides in the mainstream curriculum may also be applicable to hearing impaired children. Teachers, particularly less experienced teachers, are therefore advised to familiarize themselves with the content of these syllabuses and curriculum guides if they are to benefit more from this Guide to Curriculum for Hearing Impaired Children.
6.4	Curriculum development is a continuous process. No curriculum can remain unchanged if it is to cater for the fast changing needs of the Hong Kong society. What is taught and how it is to be taught should be subject to constant review and revision, whenever required and feasible. Therefore the completion of this Guide to Curriculum for Hearing Impaired Children is in no way an end to curriculum development for hearing impaired children. Rather, it marks the beginning -- the beginning of an ongoing process, a joint venture among all those working for a better education of hearing impaired children.