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Abstract

This qualitative multiple-case study investigates the dynamics of D/deaf-hearing teaching partnerships and their role in supporting emergent South African Sign Language (SASL) literacy in a school for the D/deaf in South Africa. While research in the Global North has highlighted the benefits of D/deaf-hearing co-teaching, particularly in multilingual education contexts, there remains a significant gap regarding how these partnerships function in the Global South, where histories of apartheid, systemic inequalities, and sociolinguistic diversity shape education in complex ways. South African D/deaf education faces ongoing challenges, including language deprivation, limited access to fluent SASL role models, and a shortage of trained D/deaf teachers; issues compounded by cultural, racial, and linguistic barriers. Although the recent recognition of SASL as an official language marks progress, educational access remains uneven, especially for D/deaf children born to hearing parents, who constitute the majority of the D/deaf population. In this context, some schools rely on co-teaching partnerships where hearing teachers and D/deaf teaching assistants collaborate to promote linguistic and cultural development. This study explores two such D/deaf-hearing dyads, examining their experiences, perceptions, and pedagogical approaches to supporting early SASL learning. The research draws on semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, WhatsApp conversations, and reflective discussions, framed by an expanded social constructivist perspective incorporating Vygotsky’s deaf pedagogy, plurilingualism (García & Kleifgen, 2010), and insights on practitioner collaboration (Swanwick et al., 2012). A critical, reflexive lens acknowledges the researcher’s position as a hearing-signing, Global South insider-outsider with longstanding ties to the Deaf community in South Africa. Findings reveal how co-teaching partnerships both challenge and reinforce existing hierarchies, shaped by uneven SASL fluency, shifting role boundaries, and intersecting cultural identities. The study offers new insights into how collaborative, contextually grounded teaching models can promote more equitable SASL literacy development for young D/deaf students in South Africa.