Educational interpretation is a noble vocation and an immensely challenging role. Supporting students means acknowledging various hurdles individuals face, including language barriers, cultural gaps, disabilities, and different communication styles.
For example, approximately 5.3 million public school students were English learners in 2021. Educational interpretation provides equity in education, but logistical challenges and finding quality interpreters remain an issue.
At Geneva Worldwide, we’ve provided qualified interpreters for decades, supporting educators in delivering a five-star education to every child. In this guide, we discuss the main challenges educators face and how an educational interpreter can support effective communication strategies for educators.
Understanding the Barriers: Identifying and Addressing Communication Challenges
One of the biggest misconceptions about inclusion in the classroom is that communication is a matter of words, such as deploying educational sign language via translators. However, ensuring academic success and equity in schools means acknowledging and targeting the trident of communication challenges.
So, what do these three challenges in educational interpreting look like?
1. Linguistic Barriers
Linguistic barriers are where there’s no educational translator available for a student’s language or dialect. This is especially problematic in rural and isolated districts, where educational translation services may be unavailable.
For example, a student may misunderstand a particular piece of mathematical terminology. Alternatively, parents might miss key details during a parent-teacher conference because no consistent interpretation service is available. Approximately 72% of school districts have no formal translation or interpretation team.
2. Cultural Barriers
Culture matters and can be just as impactful as the words used. Communication styles differ widely across the world between cultures.
For example, in many Asian cultures, it’s uncommon to question people in positions of authority or even make eye contact. This can mean students and parents don’t make themselves heard. Alternatively, it could mean that teaching staff misinterpret cues like body language and eye contact.
3. Technical Barriers
Technical barriers have arisen since the introduction of remote learning, with 61% of all undergraduates taking at least one distance learning course. Working with interpreters can become impossible when these issues arise, such as when the Internet connection drops out or insufficient audio equipment makes it difficult to hear.
Planning for Success: Addressing Logistical Challenges in Educational Interpretation
Managing interpreters effectively, even when available, to support improving communication with parents and students comes with immense logistical challenges. These include:
- Scheduling – Ensuring interpreters are available for every student when required and dealing with last-minute requests becomes tough to coordinate. That’s why clear scheduling policies are crucial to success.
- Availability – A specialist educational interpreter may be in high demand but in limited supply. Relying on a single interpreter or failing to schedule breaks properly can lead to overwork and burnout, meaning institutions must provide proper cover, even when an educational translator is dealing with a rare language or dialect.
- Working Conditions – Does your school provide proper work conditions for interpreters? This means proper seating, dedicated spaces, well-lit environments, solitude, and access to learning materials in advance. Without these things, performance drops like a stone, which impacts everybody.
Educational institutions must have an appropriate environment to support interpreter performance and ensure students have interpreters when required. Sadly, too many organizations lack a proper Plan B, so the house of cards collapses when things don’t go according to plan.
Building Bridges: Addressing Cultural and Ethical Considerations in Interpretation
Interpretation in education is more than words and style, but understanding people. The very best interpreters know how to develop relationships with their charges because they know it’s a profession that revolves around people.
A person’s identity is rooted in their cultural background, so cultural sensitivity is essential to successful translation and interpretation. It means understanding communication styles, family hierarchies, educational interpretations, and more.
Students and their families may become frustrated and disengage from the process without acknowledging cultural cues and having this awareness. Simultaneously, interpreters must maintain the pillars of ethical interpretation, including confidentiality and impartiality.
How do schools deal with this from an interpretation point of view?
- Welcome families into safe spaces. Emphasize the collaborative relationship.
- Work with interpreters who have been trained in the cultural aspects of the job.
- Ensure that interpreters receive ongoing cultural competency training.
Authentic communication goes beyond words, and grasping the cultural nuances of students and their families builds those connections that ultimately result in a fruitful working relationship for both sides.
Effective Strategies: Practical Solutions for Overcoming Challenges
Interpretation is a practical profession requiring meticulous planning to make the most of every session. Every encounter is a teachable moment that could stick with students and parents for years to come.
Let’s review each stage to see how an experienced interpreter might approach a session with a student.
Preparation
Before a session begins, confirm all details in advance, including topics, locations, and meeting times. Educators should supply all relevant materials to the interpreter for review, including lesson plans and supporting academic material. The purpose is to provide interpreters with access to complex terminology ahead of time.
Likewise, interpreters should receive relevant details regarding communication preferences, including dialect, language, and medium (over-the-phone, educational sign language, etc.).
The Session
Working with an educational translator can be daunting for educators. That’s why educators must stand aside and allow them to work. It’s all about striking the right balance. Here are several practical solutions:
- Speak clearly.
- Pause regularly to allow for interpretation.
- Minimize interruptions.
- Be direct.
- Check engagement, including body language and eye contact.
Above all, educators shouldn’t be afraid to engage with the interpreter if they feel like their wires are becoming crossed.
Evaluation
The end of a session is an opportunity for some much-needed reflection. Before the student or parent leaves, examine for understanding. Reiterate the key points of the session and allow time for further questions.
It’s also a chance to gather feedback from all parties to learn more about what could be done better to adjust to their needs. Document any necessary follow-up steps to continually improve future sessions.
Empowering Educators: Geneva Worldwide’s Support for Effective Educational Interpretation
Speaking a dialect or knowing educational sign language is insufficient to ensure comprehension in these settings. Interpreters and institutions must work together to accommodate the needs of these communication professionals and those they serve to get the best results.
At Geneva Worldwide, we boast over a century of providing expert interpreters with real-world educational experience and cultural competency training. If you’re ready to learn more about amplifying your school’s accessibility and improving equity, contact us to learn more.
