Challenges and Opportunities in Inclusive Animation Education to Improve the Skills of the Deaf

Abstract

Today's universities are required to provide a fair and diverse learning environment, including providing equal opportunities for people with disabilities to access higher education. One group facing significant obstacles is the deaf, who have a strong interest in creative fields but lack adequate access to education and technology. Furthermore, many university instructors still do not understand the need for inclusive education, resulting in students with disabilities often attending regular classes with the same teaching approach as other students. This situation creates a learning gap and prompted a study to develop a new approach to teaching inclusive 2D animation for the deaf community in Malang City. Participants in this activity were 12 deaf survivors aged 20–30 years from GERKATIN. The activity was implemented using a participatory, project-based learning approach through five stages: (1) observation, (2) intensive animation workshop, (3) interviews, (4) evaluation, and (5) designing a sustainability strategy through the formation of a deaf animation learning community. The results of the activity showed an increase in the participants' abilities, although a number of obstacles remained in the implementation of inclusive animation learning. These findings can be input for the development of inclusive education and provide contributions through animation teaching models that have the potential to be applied in various contexts.