Embracing theory as liberatory practice (Privette, 2023)

Purpose: The purpose of this tutorial is to guide practitioners to a critical praxis of speech, language, and hearing. This tutorial provides a foundational knowledge of critical theory as an approach to framing, conceptualizing, and interpreting phenomena and demonstrates its application to the speech, language, and hearing profession.

Method: This tutorial reviews critical theory as a category of frameworks that challenge existing power structures and provides a critical analysis of the profession’s approach to language using a raciolinguistic framework. Questions are included for the reader to guide self-reflection and preparation for enacting a critical praxis oriented toward justice. Recommended readings are provided for the reader to continue the journey beyond these pages.

Results: The author presents a critical praxis of speech, language, and hearing, drawing directly from two additional critical frameworks: Black fugitivity and culturally sustaining pedagogy. This critical praxis is discussed within the context of three major areas—activism, assessment, and intervention—with a reconsideration of how to leverage skills, resources, and strategies in a way that centers (racial) identity formation and multimodal communication.

Conclusion: Next steps are suggested, and readers are invited to become theorists who continue to develop a critical praxis for their context.

Supplemental Material S1. Selected readings.

Privette, C. (2023). Embracing theory as liberatory practice: Journeying toward a critical praxis of speech, language, and hearing. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 54(3), 688–706. https://doi.org/10.1044/2023_LSHSS-22-00134

Publisher Note: This article is part of the Forum: Reflect, Reframe, and Re-Imagine Theory and Practice in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences.