Shifting contexts and practices in sign bilingual education in Northern Europe: Implications for professional development and training.

This chapter reviews concepts and approaches in bilingual education for deaf children from a Northern European perspective. Changes in thinking and practice are proposed that respond to shifts in educational policy and developments in knowledge and technology in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and the United Kingdom. From these comparative perspectives, the conceptualization of a new model of language learning and deafness is proposed that recognizes deaf children’s multimodal and multilingual resources and is situated within a global view of language and culture. The challenges and opportunities for classroom practice that a more plural view of language and deafness presents are discussed, and the implications for professional development and training in this field are explored.