By Samuel J. Supalla
Citation
Valente, J. M. (2016). “Your American Sign Language interpreters are hurting our education”:
Toward a relational understanding of inclusive classroom pedagogy. Transformations: The
Journal of Inclusive Scholarship and Pedagogy, 15(2), 20-36.
Abstract
The researcher pursues autoethnography as a form of self-reflection on his experience coping with
the limitations imposed on him as a deaf professor when teaching a course using an ASL interpreter
in a hearing university classroom setting. Initially, non-signing hearing students' displeasure and
complaints over the use of the interpreter as part of their classroom learning results in the deaf
professor's anguish and subsequent defensiveness. This soon gives way to deeper thoughts about
the meaning of inclusion and equity. The deaf professor also made the decision not to file a
grievance against his students. Shortcomings of the civil rights and discrimination models explain
why the professor decided to take a different course of action. As part of making a shift from the
"rights-based" approach to that of "rights in relationship", the deaf professor explores how his
classroom teaching could be modified with less dependence on the interpreter. This results in the
professor making some relational improvements with the students (along with improved course
evaluations). The deaf professor closes with thoughts on the reality of inevitable differences that
exist between himself and his students.
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(6 ¾ minutes long)
The Power of ASL 13
Summer 2020 – Issue 18