North American coloniality and decoloniality: Transnational tensions in a Mexican deaf bilingual school

ABSTRACT

Colonial and decolonial tensions manifested in a unique, Mexican school for the deaf that used Mexican Sign Language for instruction. (De)colonial tensions were inherent in the school’s work, from its non-Mexican, Foreign-origin school board to its child-of-deaf-adults principal’s vision. We observed the presence of a colonial legacy, decolonial aspirations, and (de)colonial sites of struggle; all of these worked in tension with histories of power, race, transnational gentrification, and Deafness. We conclude with implications for increased trans-disciplinarity between bilingual and deaf education research.

Notes

1. In this article, we follow identity-first practices (deaf people, deaf community) rather than person-first (people who are deaf), as this is the preference of many in the deaf community (Dunn & Andrews, 2015).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Georgia State University Global Initiatives Grant.

Notes on contributors

G. Sue Kasun

G. Sue Kasun is Associate Professor of language, culture, and education at Georgia State University.

Jessica Scott

Jessica Scott is Assistant Professor of Deaf Education at Georgia State University.

A. Jyoti Kaneria

A. Jyoti Kaneria is ESCUELA Grant Coordinator and Doctoral Student of Language Education at Georgia State University.

M. Garrett Delavan

M. Garrett Delavan is Assistant Professor of language education at Georgia State University.