Educators' Teaching Challenges and Strategies in Educating Students with Hearing Disabilities in Hospitality Programs

Author : Norhayati Mat Yusoff, Ungku Fatimah Ungku Zainal Abidin

Abstract :With the goal of preparing students for future industrial roles, the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education has established a plethora of educational institutions to serve disabled youngsters through polytechnics and community college. These institutions provide essential training in areas such as the hotel sector, foodservice, and culinary arts. Educator in these institutions play an important role in grooming youth by providing them with various types of knowledge, including both theoretical concepts and practical skills especially students with disabilities. To achieve this, educator is equipped with knowledge of taught the curriculum, regulations, instruction, resources, and skills to match the demands of general education with the strengths and limitations of students with hearing difficulties. However, they faced many challenges to ensure that students with hearing disabilities have the requisite knowledge and skills to secure and maintain employment. Educators have to keep encouraging the students and strategizing a plan to get the best from them in learning with limitation. This study investigates the strategies, and challenges faced by educators who teach students with hearing disabilities in a special hospitality program at a higher learning institution. Eleven (11) informants from hospitality program at the Polytechnic and Community College's participated in the semi-structured interviews. The data were analysed using content analysis, facilitated by Atlas.ti version 25. The primary findings indicate that communication difficulties, patience, emotional and behavioural issues, and unique learning demands constitute the problems encountered by lecturers instructing students with hearing impairments. Educators use tactics such as communication adaptability, visual and experiential learning, peer support and collaboration, and self-management to foster independence, as strategies to enhance teaching efficacy and student acceptability. Despite receiving support from the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education, the educators remain struggle to

Keywords :Special education, hearing disability, challenges, strategies and hospitality education.

Conference Name :International Conference on Advances in Education and Social Sciences (ICAESS-25)

Conference Place Bangkok, Thailand

Conference Date 13th Jun 2025