Deafness, deaf education and bilingualism: advances and contradictions in the implementation of Law n. 14.191/2021

Abstract

In this article, we discuss the contributions of recent movements in relation to deaf education and increased visibility of deaf communities in Brazil. Since the early 1970s, and the consolidation of our most recent Federal Constitution, the struggles of deaf people for the right to education and the use of Libras have been intensifying. Since the publication of Law n. 10.436, in 2002, many debates have been promoted towards increasing the role of deaf people in their teaching and learning processes. In 2021, bilingual education was included in the LDB (BRAZIL, 1996), as a constituent of deaf identity, spreading throughout the educational trajectory (basic and higher education) of the deaf individual. In writing this article, we were guided by a qualitative approach with the use of literature review and documentary analysis. The documentary analysis focused on documents that guide the education in the country as the PCNs, the BNCC and Law n. 14.191/2021. In turn, our literature review aimed to find recent works that look at this inclusion of bilingual education in the LDB. Our results indicate that recent changes, although seemingly promising, still require many debates with deaf communities, continued and quality training in undergraduate courses in the country, as well as the social reduction of the stigma cast on deafness and the deaf person, understood from the point of view of the hearing 'normalization'.