Systems & Collaboration
This Systems & Collaboration webpage demonstrates my knowledge of education as a complex system (C1). The system of education is made up of interconnected parts influenced by historical, legal, and social influences across time and proximity to people within the system. As a member working in this complex system, this page also demonstrates my knowledge of and ability to respectfully collaborate with the educational team (C4), using my knowledge of educational theories and practices to work effectively within the school system.
School Interpreting Series (SIS) Standards
SIS Competency 1
Analyze educational laws, state regulations, and school protocols that influence U.S. public educational systems and structures, ultimately impacting deaf and hard of hearing students and the support provided by educational professionals. (Knowledge)
SIS Competency 4
Collaborate with educational professionals, respecting the collective contribution of the different roles and responsibilities in schools, serving the unique educational needs of each deaf and hard of hearing student. (Knowledge & Skill)
This page includes a demonstration of Systems & Collaboration for:​
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Scenario: Decision-Making in Action [To be added INTR 435]
This page also includes an overarching reflection and references.​​
Ecological System of a Deaf and Hard of Hearing Student
​This webpage includes a demonstration of my competence within Systems & Collaboration through the display of artifacts and works I have done in my courses during my time as an OSEP scholar. In the very first class in the School Interpreting Series curriculum, we began to examine the system as a whole and how the different layers of the system can impact deaf and hard-of-hearing students on a personal level. This work resulted in a model I created of an Ecological System of a Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Student. As I continue in this coursework, more artifacts will be included on this page.
Citations for Ecological System: (Clerc Center, n.d.; Guy-Evans, 2024; Lee, n.d.; Johnson et al., 2023; U.S. Department, n.d.; Washington Office, n.d.; Washington State, n.d.).
There are many things that influence a student's experience in the K-12 education system. One way to examine those influences and see how they interact with each other is to use Bronfenbrenner's Ecological System Theory. Because I will be a school interpreter working with deaf and hard of hearing students, my ecological system begins in the center with the student.
Microsystem: The layer closest to the student is the microsystem. This represents the relationships in direct contact with the student that can influence their development. This includes parents, siblings, other family members, teachers, and the interpreters they work with. Being people that the student has direct contact with most days, it is easy to understand the different ways the student's development is shaped by their microsystem.
Mesosystem: The next level is the student's mesosystem. This layer involves relationships between people in the student's microsystem without the student being an active participant in their connection. For example, if the student has hearing parents who are skeptical of the interpreter and not too eager to collaborate with the IEP team, it could influence the student to harbor those same feelings for the interpreter and other IEP team members. Additionally, the relationship that the student's sibling has with their parents can have a major impact either positively or negatively on the development of the student. Personally, I have experienced this as a younger sibling. I watched how my parents interacted with my older sister and it greatly impacted my behavior because I wanted the same kind of positive relationship that they had.
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Exosystem: The next layer is the exosystem. This layer, again, does not have direct contact with the student but can have a great impact on their development and education. An example would be the parents' workplace and their policies. If their parent has a job that requires them to work long hours or be away from the home frequently, this shapes the student's development and can influence their engagement and performance in school.
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Macrosystem: Zooming out a little further, we have the macrosystem layer. This includes things like laws and policies, cultural and religious practices, and other societal expectations. An example that I had not considered before would be the laws that outline how deaf and hard-of-hearing students should receive accommodations. Laws like IDEA and No Child Left Behind are major pieces of legislation that had a great impact on public schools and their approaches to education, which then trickles down to how the deaf or hard of hearing student experiences their day-to-day in the classroom. The student, depending on their age is likely completely unaware of these laws that their teachers and administrators put extra care into meeting the requirements of.
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Chronosystem: The final layer of the system is the chronosystem. It is inevitable that all students will experience some kind of transition or shift throughout their lives. Examples of these transitions could be the birth of a new sibling, moving, parents' divorce, or starting a new high school. Additionally, there are things happening around the world that can influence the student's development. Examples could include 9/11, the development and rise in popularity and accessibility of the internet and social media, and education in a post-COVID-19 world. These are very external forces that impact many aspects of the student's life as well as how they will receive their education (Guy-Evans, 2024).
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​It must be noted that these layers are constantly interrelated, as shown through the arrows in my system. A change or event in one of the layers can ripple to reach all of the layers in the system. Additionally, on my ecological system, you will note that some aspects are expanded upon such as a few education laws, the requirements for an interpreter if they want to work in a school in Washington, and the standards of curriculum in Washington State. As a future school interpreter, these aspects help me relate the ecological system to school-specific events. Keeping all of that information in mind as I continue to work to become a classroom practitioner will remind me to look within the systems that are specific to the public school system both nationally and locally. To reach the "more information" promised within the ecosystem, please click on the photo.
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Ecological System Reflection: Before creating the ecological system that can be seen above, we were asked to practice the creation of an ecological system for ourselves related to our lives. This was an eye-opening experience as it allowed me to get more comfortable with the concepts being discussed, but it allowed me to see all of the things that impact my life even if I'm not directly interacting with them on a regular basis. My Ecological System of a Deaf or Hard of Hearing Student was built over the course of several weeks. By being able to focus on each level more individually, I was able to fully wrap my head around the systems and relationships at play in each level. Then, as l built into the system, I was able to see how each layer of the system is interconnected with the other levels. I was also able to dig deeper into some of the laws that will impact the access and IEPs provided to the students that I will be working with as I interpret in the school setting. The requirements of the ecological system that were related to my state's requirements for K-12 interpreters and curriculum standards helped me narrow my focus just a little bit to connect what I have been learning to the work I will be doing in the future in my home state.
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Prior to the experience of building this system and looking at how many different levels there are to factors that can impact a student in the classroom, I felt like my skills in this area were limited. I understood that a student's family and the major life events in their lives can play a huge part in the student's development and ability to engage in the classroom. However, some of the less obvious factors like for me, the ones in the macrosystem, are not ones I fully considered before. For example, in the macrosystem, I placed access to quality healthcare. Previously, I understood that if children themselves did not have access to the healthcare they needed, it would impact their ability to attend school and participate in class. If we zoom the lens out a little further and think about it in more of a systemic/macrosystem way, how does the lack of quality healthcare for the entire community impact the student? Does this create different priorities for the people in that community? How does this shared experience within a community trickle down to impact the student at an individual level? Of course, the answers to these questions can only be definitively answered in each individual situation. All of this to say, the ecological system development process has given me the opportunity to move between the bigger picture and the experience of each individual student more comfortably. Understanding how each level interacts with the others as well as being able to look at the system as a whole allows me to create a more in-depth and complete picture of the student.
This can help inform my interpreting in the classroom in many ways. Perhaps the biggest impact I see is that while I was creating both the practice personal ecological system and the one posted above, I found myself thinking about how much is truly going on in the world and in people's personal lives. When working through each day, it is easy to think about just the challenges that are right in front of our faces, perhaps existing within our microsystems, and not consider everything else that has an impact on us at any given time. For the first time in a while, I was able to take a moment of reflection and experience compassion for myself and the students I will encounter in the future. If I am in a situation where a student is having a difficult time and I find myself feeling challenged by their decisions or behaviors, I can remember back to the ecological system and know that there are many things impacting that student at that moment. Understanding how the ecological system comes together allows me to have more grace for myself as well as the students, colleagues, and parents I will be encountering through my work.
Instructional Assessment
An Instructional Assessment underlines one of the most important sentiments in interpreting: it is impossible to interpret something you do not understand. If a school interpreter doesn't have a deep understanding of content and teacher intent in the classroom, the Deaf and hard of hearing students in the classroom will not have the opportunity to have equal access and opportunity for participation in the classroom. By completing Instructional Assessments, interpreters can be sure that they have a full and supportive understanding of important content and its delivery in the classroom so that their interpretation can be as clear and effective as possible.
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In order to complete the Instructional Assessment, I observed four live in-person classroom lessons and two recorded video lessons. I was able to observe a variety of grade levels and subjects. Additionally, I was able to discuss what I saw in the in-person classrooms with both instructional aides and interpreters to gain further insight into approaches that support understanding and comprehension in Deaf and hard of hearing students. I am grateful for the opportunity to engage in the classroom in a different way while further supporting the development of my knowledge and skills as a future school interpreter.
The primary goal of the creation of the Instructional Assessment was to demonstrate my understanding of how interpreters must have a keen awareness of lesson goals, curriculum used, academic standards that must be met, and the reasoning behind a teacher's approach in order to provide clear and effective interpretations. This connects to the first SIS Competency as it shows my awareness of school procedures and structures that will impact my work as an interpreter. Additionally, it relates to the fourth SIS Competency, as my presentation discusses ways that interpreters must collaborate with teachers and adjust their approach to match the teacher's goals and strategies in the classroom in order to produce an effective interpretation that provides adequate access for the student. In addition, in creating this artifact, my understanding was solidified, but perhaps my greatest learning was of what I learned about myself in the process.
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Due to other homework and life obligations, the due date of this assignment snuck up on me. I learned that I should have worked further ahead and given myself more time to find the approach to the assignment that worked well for me. I found this assignment difficult to start because there were guidelines that needed to be met, but it felt like the rest of the assignment was fairly broad. I am a late-diagnosed adult with ADHD, and within the past few years since my diagnosis, I can see all of the ways that it impacts my daily life, even with medical and therapeutic intervention. With this project, the broader aspects of it made it difficult for me to figure out how I wanted to present the information. Through the process, I found myself fighting against the ways that my brain would be considered neurodiverse. Instead of leaning into the ideas that I had. These approaches could have been a more effective way to present my ideas and demonstrate my understanding, but they may not have been exactly what would have fit into the assignment requirements. In other words, my approach might not have checked every box on the rubric, but it could have been an overall more effective presentation than what I was able to provide, trying to fit myself into a box. I also could have consulted my professor about my ideas to see if they would have been appropriate, because sometimes it is difficult for me to decipher what is my neurodivergence and what aligns with the way a neurotypical person would approach things.
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All in all, I think that my ADHD can help me be a more creative and effective practitioner. However, I think that at times when I feel like I am fighting against it, I should communicate how I am feeling and try to determine an approach that satisfies assignment requirements while also allowing me to feel satisfied and complete in my approach, even if it is a little different. Because my ADHD diagnosis is still fairly recent compared to the grand scheme of my life, it is important for me to recognize these moments and continue building an awareness of how to best support my brain and the way it likes to function.
Overarching Reflection
Fall 2024: As stated in the introduction, the goal for this page is to demonstrate my abilities in the first SIS competency, which includes having a knowledge of the laws, structures, and systems that can impact a deaf or hard of hearing student in the classroom. Having a deep understanding of these aspects of the public school system while being able to analyze how they might affect the students I work with and, ultimately, the interpreting product that I make is a skill I am still working on. This course as a whole has provided a great foundation that I look forward to building up through the rest of the SIS courses. The ecological system project has helped to open my eyes to the benefit of looking at a system from a very close-up perspective, like the microsystem, while also being able to step back and look at the system from a perspective that is further out, like the macrosystem or chronosystem. I have found that sometimes I get stuck looking at things only from a close-up point of view. This process has served as a reminder to me that things are not always black and white. I can look at things up close and from further away and all the perspectives in between and it is important to be able to work along that spectrum. In an example like the ecosystem, all of the layers interact with each other and if I continue looking at things as if they are only black and white, I will miss out on the learning that can be found in the gray areas or the interactions between the layers. I look forward to seeing how my perspective and knowledge continue to grow through the rest of the SIS courses.
Spring 2025: When I look at both of the artifacts on this page together, it is interesting to see how the Ecological System highlights the complexities of each individual student, and the Instructional Assessment shines a light on all of the complexities that school interpreters will encounter in the classroom. Before starting the OSEP PSI program, I knew that becoming a school interpreter had great responsibility with it, but this page is a great representation of all of the different considerations that school interpreters must keep in mind at any given moment in order to provide effective interpretations. It is the complexity of the work that drew me down the path of school interpreting, so seeing representations of these factors has been very beneficial and, frankly, quite fun for me.
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I can already see the benefit of a deeper awareness of the aspects of classroom instruction in my most recent interpretation. I was able to process the goal of the lesson and determine ways to emphasize important information so that the DHH student in the class was able to receive that information in a similar way that the teacher emphasized it and the other students received it. Of course, this is a skill that I am still developing, but I can already see improvement in my work because of a deeper understanding of the aspects of Instructional Assessments. I look forward to seeing how these skills continue to grow with practice.
References
Clerc Center. (n.d.). Education of the deaf act. https://clerccenter.gallaudet.edu/ccsp-2020/education-of-the-deaf-act/
Guy-Evans, O. (2024). Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/bronfenbrenner.html
An investigation into patterns of practice (2nd Ed.). Interpreting Consolidated.  
Lee, A.M.I. (n.d.). What is no child left behind (NCLB)?. Understood. https://www.understood.org/en/articles/no-child-left-behind-nclb-what-you-need-to-know
U.S. Department of Education. (n.d.). Individuals with disabilities act. https://sites.ed.gov/idea/
Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. (n.d.). Resources by subject area. https://ospi.k12.wa.us/student-success/resources-subject-area
Washington State Professional Educator Standards Board. (n.d.). Educators of the deaf and visually impaired.