Decolonizing Speech Language “Pathology”: Critical Foundational Concepts for Research, Pedagogy and Praxis

Abstract

This article critically interrogates how knowledge in speech and language pathology is conceptualized, constructed, and controlled by a dominant Euro-centric epistemology. There is an increasing trend in the profession to uncritically apply diversity, equity and inclusion practices in scholarship, pedagogy, and praxis without problematizing the historical and socio-political context of colonialism and the racist origins of the field. The article will first offer a critical commentary on the active erasure of White supremacy and the profession’s complicity in perpetuating performative diversity. It will review the role of critical and decolonial theories in actively challenging the superficial “rituals of diversity” measures that are utilized in the profession. Anchored from critical and decolonial theories, the article will discuss five foundational concepts on decolonization that can dismantle the dominance of Euro-centrism in speech and language pathology. The article calls for scholars, educators, and practitioners in speech and language pathology to create an epistemological shift through adopting a decolonial and critical framework in theory, pedagogy, and praxis.