Professional Attributes in Teacher Preparation for Teaching Students with Hearing Impairment: Implications for Inclusive Education in Nigeria.

This descriptive survey research study assessed the professional attributes of teacher preparation for teaching students with hearing impairment. It discussed the role of teaching competence in ensuring the smooth delivery of lessons to children with special needs, especially the hearing-impaired. THAQ (Teaching Hearing-impaired Assessment Questionnaire), a well-structured questionnaire, face validated and with high reliability index, was utilized in eliciting information from 100 respondents (mainstream teachers). Three research questions guided the study, while percentage and mean statistics were used in answering the research questions. The study revealed that teachers of hearing-impaired children acknowledged the use of their fingers, dramatization, facial expressions; but were not too sure of the use of pictures in teaching. The study concluded that for inclusive education of children with hearing impairment, teachers needed to attend regular training workshops, conferences to keep abreast with the state of the art in pedagogical trends in special education.