Module 1: IRIS Vision and Values
IRIS: The Big Picture
The IRIS Project envisions increasing the quantity and quality of interpreters working and living in rural settings by cultivating educational opportunities and sustainable connections that support professional growth. In alignment with its vision, the IRIS Project:
- recognizes that rural interpreters experience professional isolation with limited educational opportunities,
- upholds a language policy of American Sign Language (ASL) for its shared spaces,
- creates intentional space for rural interpreters to build an ethical support community,
- implements communities of learning (COL) that have the shared experience of living and working in rural settings,
- requires that diverse perspectives are intentionally sought to provide depth and balance to the learning experience and one's personal growth, and
- believes dialogic engagement via peer interaction is centered on exploration and discovery as a pathway to learning.