Deaf education in Portugal and Brazil in the nineteenth century: Similarities and differences

Deaf education officially began in Portugal in 1823, with Pedro Aron Borg, at the invitation of D. João VI and his daughter, D. Isabel. In Brazil, it began in 1857, when Édouard Adolfo Huet Merlo founded the first institution, with the consent of D. Pedro II. The Royal Institute for the Deaf-Mute and the Blind in Lisbon and the Imperial Institute for Deaf-Mutes in Rio de Janeiro shared the objective to promote the intellectual and professional development of deaf students. This study intends to identify similarities and differences in pedagogical proposals of the first deaf education institutions in the two countries during the nineteenth century. The study presents a documentary investigation that follows a qualitative approach. The research findings concluded that there were significant differences in how deaf education originated in Portugal and Brazil, and in their approaches to language acquisition. Nevertheless, there were many common aspects, including the administrative organisation of the institutes, the pedagogical proposal design, and the appointment of former students as specialised tutors of younger deaf students. In both countries, the main purpose of the schools was to prepare deaf students for adulthood through professional training.