THE INCLUSION OF DEAF CHILDREN IN ELEMENTARY EDUCATION LIGHT OF THE ECOLOGICAL THEORY OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
Deafness. Inclusion. Inclusive Education. Libras.
Bilingual education, a right guaranteed to people with deafness according to the law number 14.191/2021, presents itself as an important contribution to the education and inclusion of deaf people, as it considers the Brazilian Sign Language (Libras) as the first language (L1) and language of instruction for this public, and Portuguese as a second language (L2). Despite the legal advance being of extreme significance and a historic milestone in the education of people with deafness, there are many challenges encountered in educational practice to include and promote the development of these students. One of the main challenges with regard to the arrival of deaf children in Elementary School is the fact that students have often never had contact with Libras, making it impossible for them to acquire the language in early childhood, due to the fact that they were born in a hearing family that does not know sign language. This study aimed to understand how deaf children are included in the first year of Elementary School from the systemic perspective of the ecology of
human development. Using the theory developed by Bronfenbrenner (1996) as a theoretical framework, the influence and interrelation of different systems (micro-, meso-, exo- and macro-) in the inclusion and development of deaf students was analyzed. The methodological approach defined was a case study and had as data collection instruments a documental analysis of the Pedagogical Political Project, class observations, a focus group session and a semi-structured interview with the teacher of the first year of elementary school. The units of analysis selected from the data collection were the child's protagonism, views on deafness, pedagogical practices and roles and relationships. From the analysis of the data collected, it was possible to verify that the different systems have a great impact on the development of the deaf child and, consequently, on their inclusion