Teaching Brazilian Sign Language (Libras) as per the perspective of a Deaf teacher and a Hearing teacher

the place of Libras in the Curriculum

Abstract

Brazilian Sign Language – Libras – has been recognize as the language of the Brazilian Deaf Community since April 2002, and this recognition occurred as the result of intense activism from the Deaf Community. Although some people may state that Libras is the second official language in Brazil, it is, in actual fact, recognized as the language of Brazilian deaf communities, and this recognition took place as of the publication of Act 10436/02. Following this recognition, the Decree number 5626/05 made it compulsory for Libras to be taught in teaching undergraduate programs. We can say that this first contact for undergraduate students taking their teaching degrees with the paths tread by the deaf in pursue of education, as well as a first understanding of the complexity of Libras is extremely important for the developmental processes of the Community to the guaranteed. It is even more important as a means to prevent the Sign Language from being taken for granted, simplified or considered as a inferior to the Portuguese Language. In this paper, we - a deaf and a hearing professors - discuss some elements of the experience of teaching the language in Federal Universities. We also discuss some data that were produced in a bilingual school, working in teacher education with deaf teachers. By looking at the discourses that the participants present, we analyze the data as per the canons of the Critical Collaborative Research (PCCol), Magalhães, 2006, that was the theoretical-methodological bases for the investigation/teacher education project, and that is a perspective that favors co-construction within the context and school-university collective construction as well. This framework is what allows us to focus on and reveal our commitment as teachers-researchers within the belief that teaching and learning compose the same two-way path.