Teacher educators in deaf education: why they entered higher education and their current priorities and...

The study presents information on why teacher educators in deaf education move from school classrooms to universities. These educators' priorities as university faculty are examined in regard to teaching, scholarship, and service; their scholarly productivity and perceptions of workplace conditions in school and university environments are studied. Findings show that these schoolteachers moved to higher education for various reasons, but primarily to pursue research and a scholarly life, and to have a greater influence on deaf and hard of hearing children and deaf education. As faculty, they are most interested in and committed to teaching; they publish at a modest rate. These educators perceive workplace conditions that support autonomy, flexible schedules, collegiality, and decision-making opportunities as more evident in university environments than in school environments. The researchers discuss the need for teacher educators in deaf education to pursue scholarly interests and to consider working with colleagues at the university and in schools to design collaborative research. Universities' need to support these efforts is also discussed.