Bilingual Education for the Deaf a study on the construction of the bilingual teacher's identity

Abstract

This article aims to understand how the teaching identity of female teachers working in bilingual education for deaf children in Brazil is constructed, based on the analysis of their educational trajectories, professional experiences, and the relationships established within a school institution. The study is grounded in the perspective of bilingual education for the deaf, which considers Brazilian Sign Language (Libras) as the first language and Brazilian Portuguese, in its written modality, as the second language, drawing on the work of Skliar and Quadros, as well as on conceptions of teaching identity understood as a continuous, relational, and non-linear process of professional construction, as proposed by Nóvoa. This is a qualitative study conducted through narrative interviews with three teachers from a bilingual hub school in a municipality in the metropolitan region of São Paulo, Brazil. Data analysis shows that bilingual teaching identity is dynamically and contextually constructed through the articulation of academic knowledge, learning produced in pedagogical practice with deaf students, and collective experiences within the school setting. The results indicate that the appropriation of Libras, deaf culture, and the centrality of visuality in pedagogical planning not only guide teaching practices but also express professional and political positions. These aspects delineate specific ways of being a teacher in bilingual education for the deaf, marked by a commitment to linguistic and cultural difference and by the construction of pedagogical practices consistent with the principles of bilingualism.