Imagine a completely ordinary classroom. Pupils who talk, preferably a little high-pitched.
When they sat down at the desks, the chair scraped against the floor.
Maybe someone bangs a pen on the table.
These are sounds not everyone thinks about, but for someone with impaired hearing and who has a hearing implant, these little sounds are enough to make you crazy.
– I get completely dizzy and just want to lock myself in my room.
Vilje Truslew Kehlet (13) from Langangen in Telemark says so. She is 100 percent deaf and has CI.
– Hearing badly is like driving a car in dense fog. You concentrate so much on seeing the road that when you arrive, you are very tired. With access to good sound, the fog clears and you drive in good weather.
Marianne Helgen
audio teacher, Myrene school
Change school
For Vilje, it can be difficult to take in everything the teacher says, and she is not alone.
Almost half of the pupils in Norway who use sign language do not go to schools that are prepared for them, according to one NOW from the government in 2023.
– I used to go to a school where most people didn’t understand how tiring it is to be deaf, says Vilje.
But after the 13-year-old switched to Myrene school in Porsgrunn, she has had no problem participating in class.
The school has installed microphones and loudspeakers in all classrooms.
– Now I take in more of what the teacher says in the large classes and I don’t have to exert myself as much as before. I am also less tired after school.
Vilje Truslew Kehlet (13)
seventh grade, Myrene school
Contact teacher and audio pedagogue Marianne Helgen says that it is now easier to get the students’ attention.
– I notice that they are better able to distinguish my voice from the noise otherwise in the class, she says.
– Apply here from all over the country
The Directorate for Children, Youth and Families (Bufdir) has stated a goal that all local schools must be universally designed by 2030.
According to an action plan from the ministries from 2021, between 20 and 60 percent of primary schools have deficiencies, and at least 10 percent have serious deficiencies.
This means that several thousand pupils with reduced functional ability do not have a school nearby that is universally designed.
– We have students who apply here from all over the country, because of our cutting-edge expertise and our provision for children with impaired hearing
That’s according to head of department and audio pedagogue at Myrene School in Porsgrunn, Cecilie Eikrem Johnsen.
The school has students from Vestfold and the entire Telemark county, and also students who have moved from northern Norway to attend the school.
Here, head of department and audio teacher at Myrene School, Cecilie Eikrem Johnsen, takes on one of the teacher’s microphones.
Photo: Helena Rønning
I think the equipment benefits all students
Every time the teacher enters the classroom, he must put on the microphone.
Helgen believes that the equipment does not only benefit students with impaired hearing, but that all students need access to good sound and a safe teacher’s voice.
– Then the children with normal hearing, dyslexia, concentration difficulties or ADHD also find it easier to concentrate and focus on the teacher.
In the hearing classes, there are only pupils with impaired hearing. There they have microphones for all the students. They are placed on each desk. When the pupils speak, the microphones pick it up and it goes out on the loudspeaker in the classroom.
Photo: Eline Molvær Løndal / NRK
The microphone hanging around the teacher’s neck.
Photo: Eline Molvær Løndal / NRK
In addition, they believe that the use of the equipment normalizes impaired hearing and creates less stigma among the pupils.
– Get the equipment in place!
Secretary General of the Hearing Impaired National Association (HLF), Inger Helene Venås, applauds the Telemark school.
– We know that children with hearing challenges more easily fall outside society, and they are more exposed to bullying.
She is therefore concerned about how it looks at schools in the rest of the country.
– The school owner is responsible for ensuring that the premises are prepared, but we know that this will not be done in several places.
Inger Helene Venås, general secretary of the National Association of the Deaf.
Photo: HLF
Venås encourages other municipalities to look to Porsgrunn. She believes that there is already money in the municipalities that will go towards this.
– Get the equipment in place! It’s just a matter of taking the initiative.
The head of department at Myrene School can inform you that their sound equipment has cost around NOK 300,000.
Will be a good example
The school in Porsgrunn hopes that they can be a good example for other schools both when it comes to hearing technology equipment, but also in the field of universal design in general.
– We are passionate about good sound and hearing issues, which is why we are extremely proud that the school has invested in such a facility, says teacher Marianne Helgen.
Nevertheless, they are not on target. The head of department says that they have plans to install the equipment in the gymnasium and in the media library as well.
– The next step is microphones for each individual student, not just for the teachers and students with impaired hearing, says Cecilie Eikrem Johnsen.
Tags: Schools arrangements pupils impaired hearing NRK Vestfold Telemark Local news radio
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