Deaf Education Roots Stem From Benedictine Beliefs

9-30-97
Scranton, Pa. --- The origins of deaf education can be traced beyond dedicated teachers such as the well-known Gallaudet family, who founded schools in America, to the religious beliefs of a 16th-century Benedictine monk in Spain.

Dr. Marilyn Daniels, associate professor of speech communication at Penn State's Worthington Scranton Campus, traces the connections between the first teachers in Europe to the founders of the American schools, and compares the similar philosophies of Benedictine teachings and of the deaf educators in a recently published book, "Benedictine Roots in the Development of Deaf Education" (1997: Bergin & Garvey, Westport, Conn.).

Pedro Ponce de Leon, a 16th-century monk who lived in a Benedictine monastery in Ona, Spain, is credited with running the first school for the deaf, teaching sign language and finger-spelling to children.

"The monks observed daily periods of silence and developed signs or gestures to communicate during those times," said Dr. Daniels. "So it was natural for them to move to teaching with sign language since education has been another integral part of their system.

"But an important factor was their belief that people are all whole, equal and should be treated with respect, according to the 'Rule of St. Benedict,' " she added. "This contrasted sharply with the general societal scorn of deaf people stemming from an erroneous belief of philosopher Aristotle, which became embedded in Judeo-Christian teachings. "

Ironically, the first known teachers of the deaf were either members of religious communities of the deaf themselves, Daniels points out. Ponce de Leon's work provided a balanced base for deaf education, passed on unattributed by Juan Pablo Bonet of Spain who tutored the children of a wealthy family and wrote a book on his techniques.

The book was used by a French priest, Charles Michael de L'Epee of France, who founded the French National Institute for the Deaf, the first school for the deaf in the world. An institute teacher, Laurent Clerc, assisted Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, a young Protestant minister who went on to start the American School for the Deaf, and whose son, Edward Miner Gallaudet of the United States, later opened Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., the first institution of higher education for the deaf in the world.

"The connection between Ponce de Leon's ideas and how he treated the deaf is the same attitude that is present at Gallaudet University," Daniels notes. "Teachers there think of the deaf as wholly formed people, not as abnormal human beings. "

The whole-person philosophy is central to the bilingual approach utilizing both American Sign Language and English as separate and complete languages for deaf people, as well as hearing people.

"Each of the pioneers in deaf education in the book has conscientiously honored the whole-person concept," Daniels said. "Again, valuing the whole person is a recognized precept of Benedictine communities. Pedro Ponce de Leon demonstrated his belief that human beings are whole people when he considered it possible for deaf individuals to be educated.

"Abbe de L'Epee focused all of his energy on educating poor deaf children and when they had mastered his teaching, he had faith in their ability to instruct others as teachers in his school," she said.

"Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet also was a strong believer in the whole person, calling it the culture of the "Whole Being." His meaning was consonant with Benedictine ideals although Gallaudet would undoubtedly not have appreciated being associated even semantically with a 'papish community,' " she said.

Daniels had conducted earlier research about dance and worship, focusing on the Benedictine monks of the Weston Priory in Vermont for an earlier book, and interested enough to continue learning more about Benedictine communities. She notes that the road of deaf education has been long and arduous, filled with divergent politics and philosophies, but her book focused on tracing the Benedictine roots of deaf education to the methods and procedures in place in the United States today.

"Often, issues involving the deaf are considered civil rights or political topics, but in reality, the belief of treating deaf people as whole persons transcends all religions and backgrounds," she said. "A monk, a priest, a minister and the son of a minister, from different denominations and backgrounds, all ended up espousing the same holistic approach to deaf education."

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EDITORS: Dr. Daniels is at (802) 296-7412 or at maltdani@aol.com by email.

Contacts:
Vicki Fong 814-865-9481 (O)/814-238-1221 (H) vyf1@psu.edu