Educator Dr. Marian Patricia Bea Francisco, the first Filipino editorial board member of the American Annals of the Deaf, continues her mission to champion the importance of research in improving the quality of life for the Deaf community.
Francisco was recently re-appointed as an editorial board member. She first joined the committee in 2021.
First published in 1847 by Gallaudet University in Washington DC, American Annals of the Deaf is the oldest and most widely read English-language journal dedicated to the Deaf and the hard of hearing children and adults.
The professional quarterly periodical is the organ of the Council of American Instructors of the Deaf (CAIS) and the Conference of Educational Administrators of Schools and Programs for the Deaf (CEASD).
It covers a wide range of topics including communication methods and strategies, language progress, parent-child relationships, teacher training, and mainstreaming and residential schools, among others.
Francisco was invited by the editor, who commended her constructive performance and evaluation. The editor encouraged her to formally join the panel alongside mentors and experts from diverse colleges and universities from across the globe.
Motivated by the belief that assessing articles is her service for the betterment of the field, she continues to bring her training in critiquing to determine the quality of the submitted articles and provide key points to guide the entrants in improving their works.
“I would like to think I am helping change the world one manuscript at a time,” she shared.
As a published scholar and research coordinator herself, she understands that research is a purpose-driven discipline that derives motivation and curiosity. She likewise dreams that more works on the Filipino Deaf will be recognized in the international scene.
Francisco, who currently serves as the director of the Center for Deaf Esteem and Formation (CDEAF) at the School of Deaf Education and Applied Studies (SDEAS) of De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, highlighted that the institution is empowered to advocate and collaborate with the Deaf community to document milestones that are integral in history.
“This is to generate more knowledge in the field of Filipino Deaf education and to utilize Deaf-appropriate teaching and learning methods supported by empirical research,” she explained. “It will help improve the education, programs, and services for the Filipino Deaf as well as their quality of life.”
She likewise wishes that others will appreciate, value, and be more open to research and not only see it as an end product but as a means to the end.
“What we do with the gathered information is more important than the number of presentations and citations we have,” she added. “Research results should be shared, reflected on, and applied. What good is knowledge if it is not shared for the good of all?”
Francisco, whose advocacy likewise includes volunteerism and community involvement, is also the first Filipino Gold Recipient of the prestigious Duke of Edinburgh International Award. Established in 1956 by the late Prince Philip, the erstwhile Duke of Edinburgh, the distinction encourages the younger generation to foster “a sense of responsibility to themselves and their communities.”
She earned her degrees in Bachelor of Elementary Education (Special Education) and Master of Arts in Education (Reading Education) from the University of the Philippines- Diliman. She finished her Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy in Education of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing from Columbia University in New York.
Her research interests delve into Deaf literacy, multiliteracies, multimodalities, inclusion, and teacher education.
