DIVERSITY AND LITERACY: TEACHERS’ LEARNING AT A SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to discuss the processes engendered in the constitution of teaching practices of teachers working at a school for the deaf. The outline presented here is part of a qualitative-narrative study developed with literacy teachers of the State Education System of Santa Maria - Rio Grande do Sul, who work with deaf children. In this work, we consider the different paths that constitute the process of learning to be a teacher of the deaf, emphasizing the importance of recognizing the elements that inspire the commitment of these individuals to teaching practice in a context of diversity. The investigation carried out showed that the development of teaching practice in a context of diversity produces training characteristics that constitute modes of production of being a teacher. The demands and challenges faced in the context in which the teachers operate highlight the specifi c cultural characteristics of this reality. This process provides, for the teacher, the assumption of his or her status as a subject capable of moving with propriety in this diversity, and especially, his or her commitment to teaching in the context of a school for the deaf.