TBC News, Issue 21

From Deaf Education and the Struggle for Public Life: Dr. Henry Giroux has no Deaf friends or family. Except for news stories about the Gallaudet Protest, he knows nothing about Deaf Education or the struggles of Deaf people to gain recognition and respect for their language and culture. Likewise, few Deaf people know of Henry Giroux. The story of how he was fired from Boston University was not picked up by the Deaf grapevine. His books and articles are not readily accessible, and his work as a teacher and Director of the Center for Education and Cultural Studies at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio is not familiar. Nevertheless, those of us who attended his lecture several weeks ago found Dr. Giroux's theoretical concerns to be a source of inspiration and support for our efforts to challenge current practices in deaf education. We were equally proud to realize that our actions and beliefs link us to a broad movement for educational reform and social justice. The synergistic energy of education for liberation fuels both Dr. Giroux’s eloquent and passionate argument and our own deep commitment to natural Sign Language as the first language of instruction for deaf students.