‘Confessing to wilful disobedience': an ethnographic study of deaf people's experience of Catholic religious schooling in the Republic of Ireland
This ethnographic study examines deaf people's experience of the Roman Catholic Sacrament of Confession in two Catholic schools for deaf children in the Republic of Ireland from 1950 to 1990. The article fills a gap in Catholic deaf education literature that fails to uncover the experiences of...
| Published in: | British journal of religious education |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic/Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Routledge
[2018]
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| In: |
British journal of religious education
|
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Ireland
/ Catholic school
/ School for the deaf
/ Sign language
/ Prohibition
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| RelBib Classification: | KBF British Isles KDB Roman Catholic Church RF Christian education; catechetics ZF Education |
| Further subjects: | B
oralism
B Ethnography B Catholic religion B Deaf education |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | This ethnographic study examines deaf people's experience of the Roman Catholic Sacrament of Confession in two Catholic schools for deaf children in the Republic of Ireland from 1950 to 1990. The article fills a gap in Catholic deaf education literature that fails to uncover the experiences of deaf children. It provides space for their storied lives based on a total of 10 loosely structured individual interviews conducted with a purposeful sample of deaf adult participants who were past pupils of Catholic schools. Using ethnographic data, the study illuminates the views of participants concerning the learning obstacles created by a school policy dominated by oralism which prohibited use of Irish Sign Language. The article uncovers children's experiences of the Sacrament of Penance for disobeying classroom rules against signing. Participants found their schooling experiences exemplify notions of stigma and stereotyping. As children, their response was to either subvert or submit to their school's policy and religious practice. The findings make a useful contribution to current debates on language issues pertaining to teaching, learning and communication in deaf education. This paper concludes that, although heavily stigmatised in the past, Irish Sign Language has an important role in cultivating equitable access to Religious Education. |
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| ISSN: | 0141-6200 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: British journal of religious education
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/01416200.2016.1141089 |