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ABOUT US

 

Find out more about the Interpreting and Translation in Education group and our beginnings.

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LISTSERV

We need your participation, ideas and passion!

Join the ITE Listserv to be part of this historic effort to professionalize educational interpreting and translation. 

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Crowd of People

INAUGURAL MEETING

We made history on September 27, 2019 during the Inaugural Conversation on Interpreting and Translation in Education, held onsite and online, hosted by the Orange County Office of Education.

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WORKGROUP

Stay tuned for news and announcements about our efforts to kickstart a national workgroup to credit a code of ethics and standards of practice for educational interpreters and translators. 

Workgroup

STAY TUNED!

Inaugural Meeting

inaugural meeting

Many feel that educational interpreting and translation are hitting a tipping point, similar to that experienced by legal and healthcare interpreters in the 1990s and 2000s, and by signed language interpreters in the 1970s and 1980s. The field has matured to the point that stakeholders from all over the country are clamoring for more recognition, more resources and a more formal structure.

 

In that spirit, ITE coordinated an exploratory conversation about the creation of national ethics and standards for interpreters and translation in education. The meeting was held onsite on September 27, 2019 at the Orange County Office of Education 3rd Annual Interpreters and Translators Conference. 65 people attended onsite and 35 attended online. 

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The event was a working meeting to determine next steps for the creation of a body to pursue a national effort to create educational interpreter and translator ethics and standards. 

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The two primary goals of the the first meeting were:

  • provide a summary of the process the National Council for Interpreting in Health Care went through to create national ethics and standards for healthcare interpreters as a jumping off point for the conversation.

  • agree to a series of next steps to publicize this effort, ensure broad inclusion and begin to establish the group's structure and goals.

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5 speakers provided key framing for those attending, starting with Healthcare Interpreting founding pioneer Cindy Roat, who gave a 15-minute history and analysis of how healthcare interpreting successfully created its ethics and standards. Cindy was followed by four lightning presentations about efforts taking place in a variety of education settings across the country: 

  1. Angel Ho, Oakland School District, California

  2. Betty Tapias-Heinrich, University of Minnesota

  3. Victoria Baldwin, Jefferson County Schools, Colorado

  4. Jennifer Love, Prince George's County Schools, Maryland

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During the meeting, participants provided input to the following questions using a polling platform called Mentimeter, responses in the Zoom chat box, and by handing in 3x5 cards a the onsite venue. 

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  1. Who is here? (see graphic)

  2. Where are you attending from? (see graphic)

  3. What are the biggest challenges facing educational interpreters and translators? (see Excel form)

  4. Do you support the effort to launch a national effort to create ethics and standards for T&I in education? (see Excel form)

  5. What structure should the effort take? (see graphic)

  6. Based on Cindy's presentation, what are the next steps? (see graphic)

  7. What additional next steps would you like to see? (see Excel file)

  8. How can we make this effort as inclusive as possible? (see graphic)

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Below, we have provided the following information from the meeting:

  • The meeting agenda.

  • Cindy Roat's PowerPoint presentation

  • Mentimeter results in graph and Excel form

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STAY TUNED for the complete report on the meeting and our next steps. We are still collating the written responses and processing the video of the meeting. These will be posted soon. 

download Meeting files

Mentimeter poll graphics

Listserv

JOIN THE EFFORT

We have set up a new listserve using the listserv site simplelists.com. 

 

Please sign up to receive updates and join the conversation.

 

Our hope is to build a broad, diverse group from all parts of educational interpreting and translation committed to professionalizing our field. 

 

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About ITE

about ITe

  • What is the InterpretAmerica Summit?
    Formerly known as the North American Summit on Interpreting, the InterpretAmerica Summit is a biennial gathering designed to bring together leaders, experts and key stakeholders from the many sectors of the interpreting profession. Its unique plenary format provides ample opportunities to network with peers from professional associations, academe, government and the private sector. Professional associations span the continent and specialized conferences for specific areas of specialization of the interpreting profession take place on a regular basis. However, the InterpretAmerica Summit is still the only venue where leaders and specialists from all sectors can come together to learn from one another and network. The Summit fills a void that has existed for far too long and seeks to envision the future of one single interpreting profession, similar to the way people think of the legal and medical professions.
  • Is InterpretAmerica a language services company?
    No. InterpretAmerica does not provide language services of any kind, nor do we hire translators or interpreters. If you are in need of language services or looking for employment as a translator or interpreter, we encourage you to contact any of the language service providers or professional associations who have sponsored our Summits. InterpretAmerica's mission is to provide a forum for the interpreting profession. It was formed as an LLC to facilitate the planning and holding of meetings and other events where the entire industry can gather and exchange ideas and knowledge. InterpretAmerica seeks to facilitate the sharing of information and resources, networking, and to support the critical work currently being undertaken by professional associations, vendors, academic institutions and researchers across the field.
  • How can I get involved?
    While we are not a professional association with members who pay fees to belong, we do welcome collaboration and exhcange. Here are ways you can join us in our mission to strengthen our profesion and make it visible to a much broader audience: Stay informed! Suscribe to our blogs and updates. Comment on what you see and join the conversation about our profession. Looking for a broader exchange with other members of our profession? Like our social media pages on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Attend the InterpretAmerica Summit! Our conference is a place to learn, network, and contribute your expertise to the field. Your participation has helped make interpreting a more connected, aware, and proactive profession. It's invaluable! Become a guest blogger! We welcome submissions for our blog that are of interest to the interpreting field. Contact us at inquiry@interpretamerica.com if you are interested in contributing.
  • Why was InterpretAmerica created?
    InterpretAmerica, LLC is a legal entity originally created to organize the first national forum in the United States specifically for the interpreting profession. We had observed great interest among interpreting leaders and experts from across all specializations for broader interaction with peers. When we first began holding the InterpretAmerica Summit, there was a general lack of awareness and information shared between interpreting specializations, how each area worked, where norms, standards, and practices differed, where they were the same, and where overlap could benefit all. Since holding the first Summit in 2010, mutual awareness, understanding, and collaboration have blossomed between interpreting industry stakeholders. We are proud to have played a small part in that change and will continue our efforts to raise the profile of the interpreting profession through conferences, blogging, collaborative ventures, publications, public speaking and any other way we can.
  • Is InterpretAmerica a professional association?
    No. InterpretAmerica’s sole mission is to provide a national forum for the entire interpreting profession and to ultimately raise its profile, both inside and outside the industry. It was formed as an LLC to facilitate the planning and holding of meetings and other events where the entire industry can gather and exchange ideas and knowledge. InterpretAmerica seeks to facilitate the sharing of information and resources, networking, and to support and enhance the critical work currently being undertaken by professional associations, vendors, academic institutions and researchers across the field.
  • A nod to our origins
    InterpretAmerica owes its beginnings in large measure to José Luis "JL" Villanueva-Senchuk and Lucille Barnes, conference interpreters from Argentina. They saw the need to raise the profile of interpreters in all sectors and organized the first-ever conference in Argentina covering the entire profession. Interpreta2007, held in Buenos Aires in July of 2007, convened a distinguished group of international experts from conference, legal, medical and academic sectors. Barry S. Olsen spoke at the conference and came away with a similar vision for interpreting in North America and the seeds for InterpretAmerica were sown.
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