AUI/NRAO, North American partner of the ALMA observatory, participated in the astronomy conference organized by the Dr. Jorge Otte Gabler school belonging to the Institute of Deafness, within the framework of the celebration of the month of science. On this day, a workshop on asteroids was held, a play was shown and a solar observation session was held, in order to bring astronomy closer to the deaf community with a view to increasing their enthusiasm and knowledge of STEM.
In response to the mission of involving the underrepresented communities of our society in learning STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), AUI/NRAO, North American partner of the ALMA observatory, participated in the astronomy workshop at Colegio Dr. Jorge Otte for deaf students, located in the commune of San Joaquín.
Founded in honor of Dr. Jorge Otte, an illustrious professor of otolaryngology at the University of Chile, this school is the only bilingual intercultural establishment in the country that offers education to vulnerable deaf children, adolescents and young people at all educational levels, recognizing and valuing deaf culture and therefore respecting sign language. Its mission is to contribute to the training of people capable of integrating into society through an open and pluralistic education, considering an academic, humane, supportive and mutually accepting orientation.
The day began with a workshop on asteroids for basic education courses, led by astronomer Carolina Agurto. This experience was created by the StarTres dissemination team, of which Carolina is one of its three members, in addition to being a postdoctoral researcher at the Planetary Formation Nucleus (NPF) at the University of Chile.
The astronomer Carolina Agurto commented: “The AVERO workshop, which stands for rocky adventure, was designed as an educational experience for boys and girls in basic education, to learn about asteroids, their origin, their composition and their shapes; and through which they create their own asteroid. This workshop was funded in 2021 by the International Astronomical Union and its Astronomy Development Department. I loved participating in this workshop at the Dr. Jorge Otte school, unprecedented in face-to-face format in Santiago and the first instance exclusively developed for the deaf community, being a wonderful experience that allowed us to answer the questions of the boys and girls, all eager to get closer to the space sciences.
The activity continued with an introductory talk on astronomy and our place in the universe, which took them on a journey through the Solar System, to other galaxies. In addition, during the day they were able to enjoy the staging of the play created by Malamute creations: “My celestial body: a concert in the cosmos”, whose creation had the scientific advice of the astronomer José Gallardo from the ALMA observatory and which includes sign language, thanks to the “Breaking the Barriers” project of the Chilean Astronomical Society (SOCHIAS).
For Sonia Duffau, Astronomer and AUI/NRAO Deputy Manager of Outreach and Diversity, with this event we seek to resume activities that serve the observatory’s mission of increasing diversity and inclusion in science and STEM. “Although we are still in debt as a country to provide the appropriate tools to facilitate the entry and permanence of students interested in pursuing a scientific vocation who belong to the deaf community in Chile, we can still contribute by opening learning spaces. For several years we were part of the initiative “Breaking the barrier of silence”, now called “Breaking the Barriers”, and we have learned that the best way to support any community is to reach out to it and listen before acting. Our objective is to learn about their needs and interests, in order to build collaborative bridges that allow us to visualize a path of development in the sciences”.
Juan Luis Marín, director of the Jorge Otte School, deaf co-educator since 2002, teacher since 2009 and director since 2020; He assures that “there are many students interested in participating in scientific activities and although there are science and mathematics teachers who are interested in working here, we know that being a hearing educator in a deaf community is a great challenge. Many teachers, who do not know the community, look at us with pity and inadvertently put a ceiling on learning, limiting the potential of students. Today we see that students are able to learn more about science and continue to explore new activities like today. We are happy to be able to interact on equal terms, since in other spaces there are still many barriers to join us. It is important to make these links to get to know our culture and community.”
The AUI/NRAO education and outreach coordinator, astronomer María Fernanda Durán, commented on the interaction with the high school students of the school: “Although we had some degree of approach to sign language, the deaf community and the interpreters who facilitate communication with the deaf public, this is the first time that we do an activity that was designed exclusively for them. The topics that we covered in the talk were based on questions that were sent to us through Professor Mirka Zepeda, and on the questions that arose spontaneously. I think we managed to share that universal fascination with astronomy, breaking down the barrier of spoken language. The surprise and emotion that many of the school community felt when seeing the solar flares with their own eyes, did not need to be said or heard to be understood”.
For its part, Mirka Zepeda, professor of mathematics and physics at the same establishment, a teacher with more than 30 years of experience, explains: “This type of activity is very important, since our students do not have good access to astronomy and it is relevant to learn and delve into these topics. Never before had an activity of this type and in this area of knowledge been carried out at school. Today children from 2 years old to fourth grade students participate in an establishment that serves more than 100 students from all the districts of the Metropolitan Region. It is very difficult for deaf professionals to enter the area of science and mathematics; and this is largely due to the limited access they have to this content and the lack of specialization in the area of sign language interpreters. That is why it is so significant that there are astronomers who want to bring this discipline closer to the deaf community. A hearing person can even learn from written texts or YouTube, but for a deaf person, his first language is sign language and not another, which makes it difficult to get information through traditional channels. Today the students were even able to observe through a solar telescope and ask questions on the ground.”
The school regularly does outreach activities, but they are usually non-scientific, which further adds to the value of this astronomy day. During the afternoon, the high school students were even able to observe the sun through a telescope equipped with special filters for this purpose.
After observation, Rocío Laubrie, a fourth-year student at the school, valued the experience and commented. “The truth is that I really like the universe. I am very interested in research on the milky way, the Earth and asteroids, and thus knowing what our origin is, from the dinosaurs to the evolution of man. All these topics fascinate me. I would like to continue learning more about the universe, like today, that we even measured the distance between the planets and recognized other galaxies. When I graduate, I would like to study graphic design at a university or institute, and take in-depth workshops on astronomy and science.”
To end, María Luisa Pérez, coordinator of secondary education and teacher of written language, commented: “Currently the State recognizes the existence of sign language, but it is not applied in all public institutions. Traditional universities offer a special quota for people with disabilities, but there is still a discriminatory bias with Deaf people, due to the demand for literacy management, which corresponds to a second language for them and an additional difficulty when making decisions. vocational. To this, there is also the requirement of a minimum score to apply. Likewise, the problem of the circle of poverty is added, since very few deaf people have access to education in sign language, there are even families that do not learn it and are unable to communicate. Thinking of a scientific career is a huge challenge for the deaf community and there are not a few scientific references among them, which increases the value of conferences like the one we are experiencing today”.
“Although there were many activities carried out, it is always insufficient. We leave with the mission of returning, at the request of the students themselves, to continue talking about the wonders of the Universe. This experience goes beyond an anecdote, it is the beginning of a long-term collaborative work”, concluded María Fernanda Durán.
