Deaf Ways of Education 75
the hearing world, deaf people fight for the recognition of sign language, better
education for deaf children, bilingual/bicultural education and mainstreaming
with interpreters, more captioning on Tv, more hours of interpreting, and less
discrimination at work.ConCLusIon
Through the life stories of Flemish deaf role models, people who have actively and
openly assumed leadership in the deaf community (Ladd, 2003; also see Charlton,
1998), I have explored the empowering transformation of deaf identities (yang,
2000). Grounded analysis of the research data led to the development of tenta-
tive generalizations and hypotheses (Stebbins, 2001). Flemish deaf people mention
waking up when coming into contact with deaf cultural rhetoric: They reconstruct
and deconstruct their lives, finding both an inward new identity and outward agency
(yang, 2000). This can be represented by a circle of deaf empowerment.^11
Flemish deaf people’s global encounters have led to the “insurrection of subju-
gated [deaf] knowledges” (Pease, 2002, p. 33). Whereas their deaf education had
never provided them with deaf cultural rhetoric (Jankowski, 1997) and was deposit-
ing oppressive societal conventions (see Freire, 2005), deaf global encounters and
sign language conversations were spaces of dialogue, paving the way for liberation
and activism (Freire, 2005). Flemish deaf people woke up through seeing deaf dream
worlds or places with ideal conditions for deaf people. These deaf dream worlds, in
comparison with their lived experience of barrier-laden environments, provided
them with a barrier-free model to shape their future lives (Jankowski, 1997). Further
research should bring more insight into deaf empowerment through the connec-
tion between coming into contact with deaf cultural rhetoric, on the one hand,
and seeing barrier-free alternatives, on the other hand, as revealed in the study
presented in this chapter.
Global deaf encounters and visits to ideal deaf places, or deaf dream worlds, have
empowered Flemish deaf people who have gone on to become role models. Here I
strongly advocate for deaf culture classes in deaf schools and the incorporation of
deaf cultural information in programs for mainstreamed deaf students. Deaf teach-
ers and deaf adults in deaf schools and deaf clubs are crucial to the transmission of
deaf cultural information to young deaf people, as well as to their identification with
deaf role models. opportunities should be created and encouraged for deaf people
to network with empowered deaf peers, and opportunities such as international deaf
youth camps and sports competitions should be supported and sponsored. Short- Chapter 4 looks into this cyclical process of international deaf people’s becoming “strong”
through active participation at Gallaudet from a sociocultural perspective of learning. Chapter 7 also
refers to this “ripple effect of empowerment” and the cultural meaning of (not) being able to give back
and pass on knowledge to deaf peers. Chapter 8 explores metaphors of growth and fertility in relation
to flourishing futures of the Cameroonian and Ugandan deaf communities.