Deaf Epistemologies, Identity, and Learning

118 Deaf Epistemologies, Identity, and Learning

sign SERIOUS; see Figure 5.3) to bring and keep deaf adults on the right track and

to enhance their well-being. African indigenous education is oriented toward be-

coming a good per son (Nsamenang, 1992; Reagan, 1996); this translates in practice in

deaf indigenous education into an orientation toward being a serious person.

This is particularly relevant in the light of deaf people’s limited access to African in-

digenous knowledge that is traditionally transmitted in the family. The moral concept

stands in opposition to the concept of playing, which refers to bad or damaging behavior,

at both the individual and collective levels. For example, deaf adults are encouraged

to take care of the future. This includes saving money in the bank or through indigenous

savings and credit as sociations known as money-go-rounds (Rowlands, 2009) instead

of eating or drinking money, which is what is done in begging groups (see Figure 5.4).

The concept aims to create a moral network, and it is applied to diverse realms of life,

such as employment, education, marriage, sex, family, and leadership.

The directors of deaf schools are employing the concept in education to raise

deaf children to be good people. They keep deaf adults away from their schools so

as to not expose deaf children to bad behavior (i.e., the behavior of the begging

groups) before the children are mature enough to deal with this. A deaf leader ex-

plained how a deaf child can grow into a serious person (which illustrates the need

for secondary education):

There are many deaf people who are wandering around. Some become beggars

and thieves. They are without work; their families are poor and hearing people

take advantage of them. What should they do? Because they don’t have educa-

tion, there is no one to follow up.... They are responsible for themselves.

I want deaf children to develop first and to follow them until they are grown-

ups and have become responsible people.... I want deaf youth to have some-

thing to learn when they finish school, so that they can set up a business them-

selves or join another work and get paid every month. That’s better than always

Figure 5.3. The Cameroon sign serious, as drawn by Eyonga Beltus.