Songs for the Deaf: A Creative Path to Promoting Sign Language Education through Service Learning

Creative disciplines are an effective vehicle for personalized service-learning opportunities and community engagement with tangible outcomes. This proposal will share the experience of integrating collegiate learning with charitable outreach in an initiative to produce an album of musical works to promote sign-language education and inclusivity of the deaf community in Hong Kong.

Two concurrent undergraduate courses developed different aspects of this project. Drawing expertise from upper-level undergraduates tasked with lyric writing, composition and arranging, and juniors focused on recording and mixing, this project attracted participants from a diverse array of creative and educational backgrounds. A connection was made between the Hong Kong Baptist University Academy of Music and SLCO Community Resources Ltd., a charitable organization dedicated to promoting sign language education and serving people who have speech and/or hearing limitations.

In executing this project, students were challenged to step outside their specialization and engage with interdisciplinary topics to compose and produce music that was culturally sensitive and accessible to individuals with hearing and speech impairments. This project’s successful outcomes underscored the value of combining educational objectives and creative productions with community service, ultimately enriching both the student’s hands-on creative learning experience and the societal value provided by the community partner.