Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education Development of Deaf Identity: An Ethnographic Study

This ethnographic study explores the identity development of 9 deaf participants through the narratives of their educational experiences in either mainstream or special schools for the Deaf. This exploration goes beyond a binary conceptualiza-tion of deaf identity that allows for only the medical and social models and proposes a bicultural ‘‘dialogue model.’ ’ This postmodern theoretical framework is used to examine the di-versity of identities of deaf learners. The inclusion of the researcher’s own fluid cross-cultural identity as a bicultural ‘‘DeaF’ ’ participant in this study provides an auto-ethno-graphic gateway into exploring the lives of other deaf, Deaf, or bicultural DeaF persons. The findings suggest that deaf identity is not a static concept but a complex ongoing quest for belonging, a quest that is bound up with the acceptance of being deaf while ‘‘finding one’s voice’ ’ in a hearing-dominan