The sound of silence: deconstructing notions of inclusion in career guidance on exploring the experience of deaf people

Abstract

Learning that “career” was not a definite sign in Irish Sign Language (ISL) and that “Career Guidance” was poorly understood by the Deaf community prompted a systematic literature review (SLR). An uncomfortable truth relating to Career Guidance emerged–“Inclusion” is not where we presume it to be at. This paper presents the results of the SLR and shares how the answers from a thematic analysis can–through a Universal Design (UD), and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) (Rose & Meyer, 2002) lens–guide developments for inclusive Career Guidance. This paper shares the story of “d/Deaf guidance” in the literature; the tensions between theory and practice in relation to inclusion (Quirke, 2022), and the themes identified from the SLR–themes the Deaf community believe are a Deaf gain.