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Conference Keynote: Educational Equity for Language and Disability Justice

keynote-gloshanda-lawyer

Keynote description

Historically Deaf Education has existed in a silo, often forgotten in popular discussions regarding (social) justice as if issues of inequity apart from language and literacy, do not impact Deaf, DeafBlind, DeafDisabled and Hard of Hearing children and communities. This presentation contextualizes Deaf Education within the United States curriculum of colonization. Connections to current policy changes such as the Read Act and their impact on how we education Deaf, DeafBlind, DeafDisabled, and Hard of Hearing populations are expounded upon. Justice-oriented lenses that have been developed for general education and bilingual hearing education are then shared and their alignment with Language and Disability Justice to discuss ways to combat issues of inequity as classroom teachers and other support staff.

Learning objectives

After the keynote, participants will be able to:

  1. Contextualize their pedagogy within the curriculum of colonization
  2. Explain how local policies such as the Read Act impact their pedagogy
  3. Describe issues of inequity that are maintained/perpetuated within their educational contexts
  4. Develop strategies using justice-oriented lenses that align with Language + Disability Justice to combat pedagogical inequity and support the development of Deaf, DeafBlind, DeafDisabled, and Hard of Hearing students

About the presenter

Gloshanda Lawyer, PhD is a community-based Disability + Language Justice practitioner with an emphasis in abolition and making social justice spaces more accessible. She also does research, workshops, trainings, and consultations at the community, national and international levels. Her research focuses on issues of social justice, translanguaging, colonization, and Deaf Education and Deaf Studies with emphasis on analyzing systems of power. She also advocates for multilingualism for Deaf, DeafBlind, DeafDisabled and Hard of Hearing populations and for Reproductive Justice, Language Justice, and Disability Justice for Black and Disabled birthers in the United States and the Global South. She has been a K-12 Deaf educator, early interventionist, and professor of Deaf Education, Deaf Studies, and Interpreter Education. She has also been a multilingual interpreter for more than 10 years. Gloshanda is also co-founder and co-researcher at Myers & Lawyer, a Black multilingual researcher/interpreter duo that engages in research, consultation, training and resource development for BIPOC interpreters. Gloshanda is also a full spectrum birth doula and a death doula.

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