Abstract
Narrative pedagogy is an educational method that draws on the power of stories to cultivate learning. Narrative has been described as the fundamental way that individuals “make sense” of events by connecting new information to their own lived experiences. In this article, we argue that narratives are underutilized in American Sign Language–English interpreter education, perhaps due to concerns about confidentiality. This article describes an educational project that incorporated narratives from experienced medical interpreters into an interpreting course. The primary learning objective for students was to become familiar with specific competencies necessary for successful practice in medical settings. Drawing on the document “ASL–English Medical Interpreter Domains and Competencies,” students individually interviewed 17 experienced medical interpreters to gain perspectives on competencies needed to interpret in medical settings. The interviews and resulting narrative data were used in the classroom to develop content knowledge about the competencies and to cultivate critical thinking regarding issues that arise in medical interpreting. We provide two samples of narratives collected by students and discuss our instructional methods with the students. We suggest that narrative pedagogy can serve as an effective instructional method in ASL–English interpreter education.
Recommended Citation
Nicodemus, Brenda S.; Cole, Janis; and Swabey, Laurie
(2015)
"Storied Classrooms: Narrative Pedagogy in American Sign Language–English Interpreter Education,"
International Journal of Interpreter Education: Vol. 7:
Iss.
2, Article 6.
Available at:
https://open.clemson.edu/ijie/vol7/iss2/6
