IW 208: Interview Debra Russell Part 4: The Professional Heartbeat of a Good Visitor

Let's get the pulse of the situation. Then we'll know.

Debra Russell imparts some wonderful thoughts and wisdom concerning interpreter education, team interpreting, new interpreters, experienced interpreters, research and much more.

Set you egos aside. Be open to curiosity.

Transcript

IW 208: Interview Debra Russell Part 4: The Professional Heartbeat of a Good Visitor

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[ROCK INTRO MUSIC STARTS]

00:00:02 Tim

Good morning, good evening, good afternoon. Wherever you are, this is the Interpreter's Workshop podcast. I'm Tim Curry, your host. Here we talk everything sign language interpreting the ins, the outs, the ups, the downs, the sideways of interpreting. If you're a student, a new interpreter, experienced interpreter, this is the place for you. If you want to know more, go to interpretersworkshop.com.

00:00:28 Tim

Let's start talking... interpreting.

[ROCK INTRO MUSIC ENDS]

00:00:34 Tim

And now the quote of the day by American author Barbara Holland.

00:00:40 Tim

“Visiting is a pleasure. Being visited is usually a mixed or ambivalent joy. The visitor can always go home. The visitee is already home, trapped like a rat in a drainpipe.”

00:00:59 Tim

Now I hope that Debra Russell forgives me for using such a dark quote, but the meaning will become clearer throughout the episode.

00:01:09 Tim

Being a visitor means that we have to be polite and respectful of those we are visiting.

00:01:17 Tim

We have to be a good visitor.

00:01:21 Tim

Today, Debra Russell will tell us many, many things, some great words of advice, some wisdom through her experiences and through her thoughts.

00:01:32 Tim

We delve into what it takes to be a good team, a discussion on the education of sign language interpreters, including advice for new interpreters, experienced interpreters, interpreter researchers, and for all of us in the profession.

00:01:50 Tim

Oh, that's right.

00:01:51 Tim

Let me answer the question from last episode.

00:01:54 Tim

So, let's not wait.

00:01:55 Tim

Let's get started.

[SHORT TRANSITION MUSIC]

00:02:00 Debra

What do you think?

00:02:02 Tim

What you just suggested helps with the gap that we've been talking about for years, how we've gone from graduating from a program and then working as an interpreter, but you have no experience with it.

00:02:16 Tim

You've done only the pretend interpreting throughout school.

00:02:20 Tim

You might have a few experiences in the community, [Debra: Mm-hmm] but it's just like moving away from your home, and now you experience living by yourself, making your own money, paying your own bills, cooking your own meals, deciding what to do, what not to do, by yourself without having the protection of your parents.

00:02:42 Tim

As a student, you have the protection of the school and your teachers, even the Deaf teachers there are more of a, a safe zone for you.

00:02:52 Tim

And so, I think having a mentor, a Deaf mentor or a Deaf interpreter with you to help lead and guide you, I think that's a good way to transition from education to practice.

00:03:04 Tim

However, how do we implement that for people's time and energy? [Debra: Mm-hmm]

00:03:10 Tim

And how do we train enough Deaf interpreters or Deaf mentors for the plethora of graduates that we might have.

00:03:19 Tim

One way we can get away from the spectrum of interpreting, at least, is possibly adding a year and calling it something different.

00:03:29 Tim

In the curriculum that I wrote here, I called it interactive interpreting, where we're interacting with the spectrum rather than interacting with people, [Debra: Mm-hmm] and therefore using what is needed at the moment.

00:03:44 Tim

I think I said all that to say, I don't have the answer. [Debra chuckles]

00:03:49 Debra

I just think for every country, there's probably multiple ways to figure out what's the best way to educate interpreters in that country at that moment, at that time, and lots of different models.

00:04:01 Debra

I think that we shouldn't get locked into, you know, and it seems ironic to say that for somebody who's had a long academic career, but…

00:04:09 Debra

I think we shouldn't be locked into, there's just one model and one academic class.

00:04:13 Debra

There has to be some measure of being able to do that differently.

00:04:18 Debra

The other thing that I would love to research more is, you know, I think as a teacher, I get very worried about what's happening with Deaf children these days.

00:04:26 Debra

And I don't think putting interpreters in the classroom has ever been effective.

00:04:30 Debra

And some of my studies that...

00:04:33 Debra

I have published, have proven that out from a Canadian context, but again, getting people to understand the nature of bilingual direct instruction, I think that's a really critical area that has to be addressed, but it comes with all kinds of attitudinal variables.

00:04:49 Debra

And again, some of those, we've created mythology that says interpreters can be a language vehicle in a classroom, and I don't ever believe that to be true.

00:04:58 Tim

Yeah, I agree.

00:05:00 Tim

We do learn better in our own native language.

00:05:03 Tim

And that's one thing I saw as a strength when I came here, that the Deaf leaders here were resisting having inclusive schools where they say, “It's great, for those who don't need a second language. [Debra: Mm-hmm] But for Deaf, we need our instruction from a Deaf teacher, for role models, for language role model, all of those reasons.”

00:05:32 Tim

And it's not that they want to be separate and apart from the hearing world, but they said, “We're in the hearing world no matter what.”

00:05:43 Debra

24/7, absolutely.

00:05:46 Tim

Exactly.

00:05:47 Tim

For me, it was an aha moment because in the US we have, you know, mainstream schools there may only be one Deaf in a 500-student school and one interpreter. [Debra: Mm-hmm]

00:05:59 Tim

And because they have the right to education wherever they want, therefore they have a right to an interpreter there.

00:06:05 Tim

But that doesn't always mean that it's right.

00:06:09 Debra

Yeah, when I talk to parents often, I...

00:06:12 Debra

I try and gently take them to the results that show that the kids in my studies that have done well with an interpreter in a classroom have four factors.

00:06:22 Debra

And when families have those four factors, okay.

00:06:26 Debra

But that's not typical.

00:06:27 Debra

Those four factors being if they've, if the child's had direct education with a teacher who can sign, doesn't matter if they're Deaf or hearing, but can sign for four to six years, huge factor.

00:06:38 Debra

If they can read and write at grade level, huge factor.

00:06:41 Debra

Friendships outside of the school that they're gonna go to so that they can put up with loneliness all day for the sake of working with an interpreter.

00:06:50 Debra

Those things are really, really important.

00:06:54 Debra

The idea that they've got home communication, and again, it doesn't have to be fluent signers, but something, between parent and child.

00:07:04 Debra

And when you can check those four boxes, maybe a child's ready for an interpreted education.

00:07:09 Debra

But again, some of the kids in my study do that then.

00:07:12 Debra

And then once it's high school time, they come back to being with their Deaf peers.

00:07:16 Debra

And my children went to a French immersion school, and no one batted an eye because that's valued.

00:07:22 Debra

But when I speak to them about a Deaf child going to a bilingual school, I think again, if we stop calling them schools for the Deaf and we spoke about them as bilingual charter schools, maybe we'd get some less resistance and some embracing of direct education.

00:07:38 Debra

So, I think there's lots of work to do there for young researchers maybe.

00:07:42 Tim

Yeah.

[ROCK TRANSITION MUSIC STARTS]

00:07:44 Tim

Some really good advice here and throughout the episode.

00:07:48 Tim

Why not share this with a friend and a colleague who also would benefit from listening to such wisdom?

00:07:55 Tim

Click on the links in the show notes.

00:07:56 Tim

Thank you.

00:07:57 Tim

Now let's go back.

[ROCK TRANSITION MUSIC ENDS]

00:08:00 Tim

Let's do a little word association first, a little fun.

00:08:04 Tim

I will give you a word or a phrase and just give me what first comes to your mind, whether it's a word, a phrase, a story, and

00:08:14 Tim

We'll see where that leads us.

00:08:16 Debra

OK.

00:08:17 Tim

So, the first word is comfort food.

00:08:22 Debra

Spicy.

00:08:23 Tim

Spicy.

00:08:23 Debra

East Indian, spicy vegan food.

00:08:26 Debra

Aligobi.

00:08:27 Tim

Has it always been?

00:08:28 Debra

Vegetarian since the age of six, basically.

00:08:32 Tim

The spicy.

00:08:33 Debra

Hot - spicy maybe since I was 10.

00:08:35 Tim

Wow.

00:08:35 Tim

Yeah.

00:08:37 Tim

I'm pretty much bland man when it comes to spice, although it's gotten a little bit better as I've gotten older.

00:08:44 Tim

I don't know why.

00:08:45 Debra

Sometimes when I've been to Malaysia, you know, the colleagues have rubbed my hand and said, “Are you sure you're white?” [Tim laughing]

00:08:51 Debra

“You like food spicier than we do.”

00:08:57 Tim

OK, next.

00:08:59 Tim

Community.

00:09:02 Debra

Relationship.

00:09:03 Debra

Friendship.

00:09:05 Tim

OK, next.

00:09:07 Tim

Perfect.

00:09:09 Debra

Perfect.

00:09:10 Debra

Cup of tea.

00:09:14 Tim

[chuckling] Any particular flavor?

00:09:17 Debra

Earl Grey with a slice of lemon in the morning and maybe some lemon ginger in the afternoon.

00:09:23 Debra

Anything with citrus is always a good thing.

00:09:25 Tim

Yeah, yeah.

00:09:26 Tim

Earl Grey, I absolutely love.

00:09:28 Tim

Yes.

00:09:29 Tim

And next, pet peeve.

00:09:33 Debra

Oh gosh, there's too many to mention. [both chuckling]

00:09:38 Debra

One that immediately comes to mind based on the weekend is that no running water in a campground that has running water, so the showers aren't turned on.

00:09:48 Debra

That's a little bit of a pet peeve.

00:09:51 Debra

And the other pet peeve might be signing and talking at the same time.

00:09:55 Tim

Yeah, I understand that.

00:09:56 Tim

Yes, yes.

00:09:58 Tim

Although it's funny, there's a friend here, Deaf and a Deaf mother, his mother, and I don't know how they did it, but they would sign a little bit and then they would mouth the words to each other and they would understand each other.

00:10:16 Tim

I had no clue what was going on.

00:10:19 Tim

I'm like, what?

00:10:21 Tim

Can you sign a little bit for me here, please?

00:10:24 Debra

What is happening here? [chuckling]

00:10:25 Tim

Yes, I was lost.

00:10:28 Tim

You know, in the States, I would have those moments where some Deaf would realize, “Oh, you're hearing.”

00:10:34 Tim

And so, they would start signing and mouthing in English order for me.

00:10:39 Tim

When I encountered that here, I said, “You're not helping at all. I know English. I don't know… I can't read Czech lips at all. Sorry.” 

00:10:52 Tim

OK, next, character.

00:10:58 Debra

Ethical.

00:11:00 Debra

Salt of the earth.

00:11:02 Debra

Keeps their promises.

00:11:06 Debra

Steady.

00:11:08 Tim

Yeah.

00:11:09 Tim

What do you mean by ‘salt of the earth’?

00:11:12 Debra

Mm-hmm.

00:11:13 Debra

You know, again, for me, it's like remembering what your roots were.

00:11:16 Debra

So, knowing where you came from, recognizing that history, celebrating that history.

00:11:25 Debra

Yeah, staying grounded.

00:11:27 Tim

Speaking of which, how has your family connected with you in your professional career?

00:11:35 Debra

My family has been very, very supportive of my professional career.

00:11:40 Debra

There's just no question.

00:11:42 Debra

I said earlier that we were a family that sort of raised our kids on an airline. [Tim: Mm-hmm]

00:11:48 Debra

So, the value of travel has always been part of my family.

00:11:53 Debra

And my own parents, we lived in a very small town, you know, 600 people, 12 million cows. [Tim: yeah]

00:12:00 Debra

But my parents played leadership roles.

00:12:02 Debra

And so whatever service organization they needed to contribute to build a strong community, that's what I grew up seeing is that my mother and my father both played those volunteer roles.

00:12:13 Debra

And so, I understood that to be part of the nature of what one does in having an adult life. [Tim: yeah]

00:12:21 Debra

So yes, that sort of has been supportive as well too.

00:12:25 Debra

And I think my kids have loved the travels because they've often come with me.

00:12:29 Debra

So, they have been exposed to things that perhaps they might not have been if we wouldn't have had that privilege of travel.

00:12:38 Debra

And I think it's broadened their horizons and made them better human beings.

00:12:43 Debra

From a biased point of view, I think that's true.

00:12:46 Debra

Yeah.

00:12:47 Debra

And like your daughter, my son, uh, had a Deaf caregiver when I worked, when he was a baby.

00:12:54 Debra

And so, he knew that when Doris came in the room, he did something that looked like signs. [Tim: Mm-hmm]

00:13:00 Debra

He knew when his father came in the room that he would babble.

00:13:04 Debra

And he knew that when I came in the room, he could do either one. [Tim chuckles]

00:13:07 Debra

And I love the power of the brain and to be able to figure out languages.

00:13:13 Debra

So, yeah.

00:13:15 Tim

Yeah.

00:13:16 Tim

In all of your travels throughout the world, which one felt the most like home for you?

00:13:24 Tim

Not necessarily the same as your home, where your family is and so forth, but it felt that sigh of, ah, this is the place.

00:13:37 Debra

Maybe Peru?

00:13:39 Tim

Yeah.

00:13:39 Debra

There is something about Peru for me that is very grounding and feels very safe and embracing.

00:13:53 Debra

Yeah, I could imagine that that could be home.

00:13:57 Tim

Yeah.

00:13:58 Debra

There are many other places where I felt very, very comfortable, but there's something about the draw of Peru for me.

00:14:05 Debra

I mean, I could easily live in, you know, Byron Bay in Australia, and that would feel like Canada all over again, really, in many places.

00:14:12 Debra

You know, the sense of home is…

00:14:15 Debra

My grandmother used to say, you know, bloom where you are planted.

00:14:18 Debra

And so, I think, I think I've always been a good traveler in that way.

00:14:21 Debra

I can sort of find peace and home no matter where I am.

00:14:25 Debra

But there's just something that I can't articulate very well about Peru for me.

00:14:30 Tim

Yeah.

00:14:31 Tim

With that in mind, from a perspective of being a sign language interpreter, which of the places where you've gone for a conference, whether it's WASLI or efsli or wherever, which of those places made you feel that comfort and why?

00:14:50 Debra

Certainly, all of the places that I've been to in the Austro-Oceania region feel really comfortable for me.

00:14:57 Debra

And they feel comfortable because I suppose a couple of those countries are Commonwealth countries.

00:15:03 Debra

So, I feel like philosophically, there can be thoughts in common sort of at the DNA level.

00:15:10 Debra

Structurally, the governments can feel very comfortable in that way.

00:15:14 Debra

So, those places I felt very comfortable with, I mean...

00:15:17 Debra

…obviously, Europe feels very comfortable, it's probably easier to think about where it doesn't feel comfortable. [Tim: hmm]

00:15:25 Debra

Because again, I think I'm a good sojourner, so I like everywhere.

00:15:30 Debra

You know, I can find comfort everywhere. [Tim: yeah]

00:15:33 Debra

As long as there's a nice cup of tea and there are Deaf people and interpreters that I can sort of interact with and figure out, I've enjoyed all of them. [Tim: Yeah]

00:15:43 Tim

Yeah, let's apply that now to interpreting.

00:15:47 Tim

What makes a team of interpreters, that you are part of the team, what makes it feel that comfort?

00:15:56 Debra

Hmm. I think with an interpreting team, when we are philosophically aligned around what do we understand interpreting to be?

00:16:04 Debra

And again, both language, interaction, professional behaviors, how we interact with the prep material, how we interact with each other.

00:16:12 Debra

I love that…

00:16:13 Debra

I love a team that where there is the norm that absolutely anything will be talked about [Tim: Mm-hmm] and that problems will be solved in the moment, not, [chuckling] and that problems will be solved with huge respect for everyone's contribution. [Tim: yeah]

00:16:30 Debra

And that will work to strength so that there isn't the ego. [Tim: Mm-hmm]

00:16:35 Debra

This is my turn at the mic, or this is my turn on the stage, but whose strengths fit this particular presenter or whose strengths fit this particular context. [Tim: yeah]

00:16:45 Debra

So, I love that aspect of teaming.

00:16:47 Debra

I recently teamed with someone who's a relatively recent grad but has a much stronger science background than I do.

00:16:53 Debra

And so having them lead in many places and having me support them was an ideal team.

00:16:59 Debra

It was beautiful.

00:17:00 Debra

I know how to interpret it.

00:17:01 Debra

They know much more about the science.

00:17:02 Debra

Put us together, we're not bad.

00:17:04 Tim

Yeah, yeah.

00:17:05 Debra

I like teams where there's lots of reflection on what worked well.

00:17:09 Debra

And I like teams that take the work seriously, but not themselves very seriously so that they can actually relax at the end of the day [Tim: yeah] and what's necessary for the next day on the day after that.

00:17:21 Debra

But yeah, I love teams that don't make excuses.

00:17:26 Debra

Like everybody takes responsibility for their own work and they just...

00:17:30 Debra

They're just present.

00:17:31 Debra

You know, they're not off in their head or running their business or doing something else on the side, but they're really present with us.

00:17:39 Tim

Yeah.

00:17:40 Debra

And people who are not whiners, I'm not fond of whiners.

00:17:43 Debra

You know, so you asked about pet peeves.

00:17:44 Debra

I don't like whiners.

00:17:45 Debra

Like, life is good.

00:17:47 Debra

There's nothing to whine about here.

00:17:52 Tim

Yeah, I don't need those.

00:17:53 Tim

I have a seven-year-old.

00:17:54 Debra

Exactly. [both chuckling]

00:18:01 Tim

And my wife has me, so, you know.

00:18:03 Debra

Yeah, exactly.

[ROCK TRANSITION MUSIC STARTS]

00:18:07 Tim

That's right.

00:18:08 Tim

No one likes a whiner.

00:18:09 Tim

That's why I ask that you review this podcast with a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

00:18:18 Tim

Review with five stars.

00:18:20 Tim

Thank you.

00:18:21 Tim

Now let's go back.

[ROCK TRANSITION MUSIC ENDS]

00:18:23 Tim

Before I let you go, let's pick your brain. [Debra: hmm]

00:18:28 Tim

From all of your experience, what advice would you give to the new interpreters, the experienced interpreters, and the interpreter researchers?

00:18:41 Debra

For those new interpreters, I want them to find ways to be good visitors in the Deaf community.

00:18:48 Debra

I want them to strengthen and build and maintain strong relationships with the Deaf community because that will be the heartbeat of their career.

00:18:58 Debra

I'd like them to find good interpreting mentors.

00:19:01 Debra

I've had great interpreting mentors, so ‘each one teach one’.

00:19:05 Debra

So good mentors that way.

00:19:07 Debra

I'd like them to never forget what a privilege it is to do this work. [Tim: Mm-hmm]

00:19:13 Debra

The fact that every day we get to show up in sometimes the most difficult moments of people's lives, I would like people not to take that for granted, that this is...

00:19:24 Debra

This is a privilege to do this work and to do it well and to consistently do it well.

00:19:32 Debra

And I think the last piece I would say to a new interpreter as well, too, is to make sure that you build a community that can support you because the work is hard [Tim: hmm] and you're going to need friends at the end of the day some days.

00:19:44 Debra

And so, to be able to recognize how well you're doing and to recognize what's not working well and find ways to make that work better for you, it takes a community.

00:19:53 Debra

And so, build those relationships across the entire spectrum.

00:19:58 Debra

And to read.

00:19:58 Debra

I said that was my last one, but it really wasn't. [chuckles]

00:20:01 Debra

Read.

00:20:03 Debra

And stay reading.

00:20:04 Debra

You know, I just think that there's so much to be learned and we can never know it all about interpreting and we can never know it all about the situations in which we interpret.

00:20:13 Debra

So, staying very curious throughout their career.

00:20:17 Tim

Yeah.

00:20:18 Debra

And I guess to experienced interpreters, I would say similar things, you know, to be constantly examining what is the nature of my relationship now with the Deaf community, in what ways am I continuing to still contribute to the Deaf community in a positive way?

00:20:37 Debra

Am I continuing to mentor and make myself available to newer interpreters?

00:20:44 Debra

Am I available and willing to accept feedback from all aspects of people who interact with me and take that feedback to heart?

00:20:54 Debra

And am I willing to play a leadership role in that, each of us have something to contribute and we can learn to be better leaders and to serve our organizations and serve our communities.

00:21:06 Debra

And so to step into those roles.

00:21:08 Debra

And I recognize that, you know, that can come with a sacrifice in your own personal life or your family life and so on but finding ways to give back in the ways that you can at every stage of your career.

00:21:19 Debra

So, for experienced interpreters, I might say that and keep reading.

00:21:24 Debra

The joys of mentoring younger interpreters is that they may be exposed to material that I haven't read or I didn't know about.

00:21:32 Debra

And so, staying curious is the same for all of us throughout our entire careers. [Tim: yeah]

00:21:39 Debra

And researchers, I would hope that the questions come embedded in your interpreting practice.

00:21:45 Debra

And if you are thinking about becoming a researcher, understand research methods really well, as opposed to just being curious.

00:21:53 Debra

And I'm going to go get an answer to the question that I already want the answer to be this.

00:21:57 Debra

But we recognize what good research is, because you can have good research and well-reported, or you can have poor research well-reported.

00:22:06 Debra

And I'd like our field to benefit from good research and well-reported. [Tim: yeah]

00:22:11 Debra

The other thing that perhaps is an emerging area around the research is to think about the ways in which we publish.

00:22:17 Debra

And so, if you are a newer researcher, thinking about being able to publish in fields broader than just sign language.

00:22:25 Debra

So spoken language, interpreting and translation, I think is an opportunity.

00:22:30 Debra

Anthropology is an opportunity.

00:22:32 Debra

Thinking about broader audiences, I think can be useful.

00:22:35 Debra

And then being willing to speak about your research in your signed language.

00:22:40 Debra

So, that it's not just accessible to those who have a first language ability to read the published study, but to be able to really speak to it in the way that your Deaf community will benefit from your understanding of that problem.

00:22:55 Tim

Yeah.

00:22:56 Tim

One more question.

00:22:58 Tim

As we become more experienced throughout our lives, we always think back, like those moments that I mentioned earlier, there are also those people that truly influenced us, that we still have with us.

00:23:14 Tim

And I'd like you to share with us who those people would be that are still with you.

00:23:22 Debra

Still with me in my heart or still physically on this planet?

00:23:26 Tim

Yes, both.

00:23:28 Debra

Dave Mason, Roger Carver, Caroline Fritz are three members of the Edmonton Deaf Community that I would not be here without all three of them.

00:23:38 Debra

Absolutely, they were amazing influences on my life and my career as an interpreter and incredibly, incredibly generous.

00:23:49 Tim

Yeah.

00:23:50 Debra

In terms of interpreting mentors, I always mention Phyllis Joynt, who was a Canadian and was a teacher of the Deaf, but became one of our earliest interpreters.

00:23:58 Debra

And she, again, took many of us under her wing and always had the idea of ‘each one, teach one’. [Tim: Mm-hmm]

00:24:03 Debra

So, as she learned, so did we.

00:24:06 Debra

So that she was a huge influence as well.

00:24:10 Debra

And…

00:24:11 Debra

You know, I've had a lot of influence from people like Sharon Neumann Solow and Betty Colonomus and MJ Bienvenu.

00:24:19 Debra

Those early days of my career, I really took lessons, I think, from many of those colleagues who were very generous with me, who we sometimes call honorary Canadians, but I have yet to convince them to come across the border. [Tim chuckles]

00:24:35 Debra

But for sure, those people.

00:24:38 Debra

And I guess, you know, in terms of my WASLI work, I really, I credit Colin Allen.

00:24:43 Debra

I learned so much from that guy, as a human being, as a fellow vegetarian, as a world traveler.

00:24:51 Debra

But his way of demonstrating leadership in the Deaf community was incredibly insightful for me, and I learned a heck of a lot from him.

00:25:01 Debra

I'm so grateful that we had that time to be able to work together so closely.

00:25:09 Debra

There's so many people that have just been so, generous with me.

00:25:13 Debra

But, when I think about recently, I was cleaning out an old-fashioned file cabinet [Tim: Mm-hmm]and, I found letters from Roger Carver [Tim: hmm] that he had written when I was just starting my career and Dave Mason images and so on.

00:25:29 Debra

You know, Caroline is on my shoulder.

00:25:31 Debra

If I produce something and I go, “That makes absolutely no sense.”

00:25:34 Debra

I see her sitting in front of me with eyes glazed over.

00:25:37 Debra

It's like, “Do you want to do a redo of that? That would be good. [both chuckle] Try that again, Deb, because that didn't make sense.” [Tim: yeah]

00:25:44 Debra

So, I love the fact that all of them have shaped me into whatever version I am right now.

00:25:53 Tim

Thank you for your time now, a very short time with us, but…

00:25:57 Tim

I know your words today and your influence throughout the years, throughout the world, has put you on other people's shoulders as well.

00:26:09 Tim

And they can look back and think, that's when that happened.

00:26:14 Tim

Thank you for your contribution and your love for our profession.

00:26:19 Debra

Thank you so much for those kind words, Tim.

00:26:21 Debra

It's been a pleasure to be in conversation with you.

00:26:23 Tim

We hope to see you soon.

00:26:25 Debra

I hope so too.

[SHORT TRANSITION MUSIC]

[ROCK EXIT MUSIC STARTS]

00:26:32 Tim

Where to begin?

00:26:33 Tim

This is an episode you might want to listen to several times.

00:26:37 Tim

There are several tidbits of wisdom, ideas throughout the episode that you may not catch the first time around.

00:26:45 Tim

Let me give you just a few bullet points of what we talked about.

00:26:50 Tim

Starting near the beginning, Debra talked about, there's not one special model for teaching sign language interpreting.

00:26:58 Tim

We have to be open-minded enough to understand that the systems, the situation, the people, the culture in different countries vary to an extent that what might work in one country for educating sign language interpreters will not necessarily work in another.

00:27:18 Tim

And that begs the question, how many ways is there to create the same result, a qualified, a competent interpreter with the right philosophy, the right ethics to make it work.

00:27:32 Tim

And that connects to, do we keep sign language interpreters in the Deaf schools, in the mainstream schools?

00:27:42 Tim

Is that the best option for Deaf students?

00:27:46 Tim

If you are a sign language interpreter in an education environment for children, what impact are you having?

00:27:54 Tim

What positive, what negative impacts are you having?

00:27:58 Tim

Are you the best option?

00:28:00 Tim

We think about that when we're going to an assignment.

00:28:02 Tim

Am I the best for this situation?

00:28:05 Tim

We should think in a broader view, are interpreters the best solution for education?

00:28:11 Tim

Jumping to the next, teaming.

00:28:14 Tim

Some good points on what a good team needs.

00:28:17 Tim

No ego.

00:28:18 Tim

Everyone has a say in what is needed.

00:28:21 Tim

Everything is up for discussion to make the service appropriate.

00:28:25 Tim

It's best to have the same philosophy about what interpreting is.

00:28:30 Tim

How serious do you take the work with humor?

00:28:34 Tim

Being able to not take yourself seriously, but the work seriously.

00:28:39 Tim

And when you have a conflict, deal with it as immediately as you can.

00:28:44 Tim

Don't let it sit there and wait for weeks, for days, and definitely don't keep it a secret and gossip to other colleagues about that situation.

00:28:55 Tim

It's only for that situation and only for that team.

00:28:58 Tim

Some of the best nuggets of wisdom was when Debra was speaking about what advice she would give to those three groups, new interpreters, experienced interpreters, researchers…

00:29:10 Tim

Two things truly stood out for me: one, be a good visitor in the Deaf community, create those strong relationships, because that is the heartbeat of our careers that tells us what they want, what they desire us to be, and the second...

00:29:31 Tim

is that as a sign language interpreter, pass it on to the next generation.

00:29:35 Tim

Pass it on to your colleague.

00:29:37 Tim

Each person teaches the next person.

00:29:41 Tim

“Each one - teach one” in our profession.

00:29:45 Tim

Don't keep it to yourself.

00:29:46 Tim

Share it… just like this podcast.

00:29:49 Tim

So, until next time, keep calm, keep the interpreting ego at bay.

00:29:55 Tim

I'll see you… next episode.

00:29:58 Tim

Take care now.

[ROCK EXIT MUSIC ENDS AT 00:30:34]