Teaching for almost 50 years has proved a rewarding career for Terry O’Brien, who has witnessed the development of deaf education.
O’Brien, 68, began teaching when he was 20, in Westport in 1969. In 1972, he did additional training to teach deaf children, then he began at Russell Street School in 1973.
Since then he has taught hundreds of deaf children in Palmerston North, at Russell Street, Ross Intermediate, and for much of the time, at the Freyberg High School’s Deaf Education Centre.
He has seen the transition of deaf education from an emphasis on teaching the deaf to communicate verbally and through text, to an emphasis on signed English, then New Zealand sign language in the 90s. Now, O’Brien says he’s amazed by the developments in digital technology that open new worlds for the deaf.
He learned sign language from pupils in 1995.
“It’s the culture of the language. Once you develop a language, you develop a culture and that’s why the deaf community is so close,” he says.
On November 26, about 100 of his past pupils, their families and his colleagues gathered to mark his retirement. Colleague Jackie Davidson said among the memories past pupils remember is O’Brien’s signature pencil, rubber and handy square of paper always kept in his shirt pocket, and his strong emphasis on good values.
“The deaf do see a lot of people out there [behaving badly] and think that’s the way to do it,” O’Brien says. “But I say that you’ve got to look at whether it’s the right thing to do, look at the values; not showing off, being reliable, being patient and kind, not being rude – putting other people’s needs first.”
At the farewell party several past pupils who had challenging times in the classroom spoke about how O’Brien’s emphasis on values stayed with them.
During his career, O’Brien said he felt privileged to have been invited to many past pupils’ weddings, birthdays and, more recently, house warmings. Over the years he has dabbled briefly in mainstream teaching and in management, but has always been drawn back to deaf teaching.
PHOTO: Terry O’Brien, with current Freyberg High School pupils Tarryn Attwell and Shintaro Laurette.
