Transcript nadp-conf2009

An exploration of
‘attitudes’ to dyslexic
students and
approaches to dyslexia
support among teaching
staff within one faculty
at one university in
England
Aim

The aim of this study was to explore
university teachers’ experiences with
dyslexic students in order to inform the
wider debate about the issues of dyslexia
support at HE level.
Method and data analysis
Data were collected and analysed using
constructivist grounded theory method
(Charmaz, 2006).
 Interviews with 14 academic staff were
transcribed; categories and themes were
identified.

Findings

Findings allowed university teachers to be
placed into into ‘positive’, ‘neutral’ or
‘negative’ categories of apparent ‘attitude’
towards dyslexia and dyslexic students;
and ‘active’, ‘passive’ or ‘resistant’
categories of approach to support for
dyslexic students.
Category correspondence
8 of the 14 participants were described as
‘positive’
 2 as ‘negative’
 3 as ‘neutral’
 1 was not categorised
With the exception of 1 case (negative to passive),
the categories of ‘positive’, ‘neutral’, and
‘negative’ corresponded to the categories of
‘active’, ‘passive’, and ‘resistant’ for approach to
support.

Personal experience
Personal experience with others (students,
family members, colleagues, friends)
appeared to play a key role in developing
understanding about dyslexia, interest in
finding out more, and a supportive
approach to students with dyslexia.
 No participants recalled having had
training in dyslexia that they felt was
effective or memorable.

So what did they say?
Positive

Personal experience:

I was alerted to the idea that dyslexia
could affect much higher level cognitive
skills, and in fact, like a colleague in the
department who was dyslexic, and got a
PhD in the department, and his problems
weren’t just around spelling and things
like that. I hadn’t made that connection
before (13)
 Personal
 I’ve
experience
always been more sympathetic
towards dyslexic students because I
have seen first hand how someone I
know has been very capable. (11)
 Recognising
 One
dyslexia in students
of the signs for me is when the
student will sit there and you will give
the essay back and [they] will explain
how that essay should be, in their
heads, and it just doesn’t relate to
the way it is structured [on paper]
and some of the time it may be
dyslexia. (10).
 Recognising
why students may hide
their dyslexia
I
mean, quite a lot of students don’t
tell you [they are dyslexic] which is
interesting. ..I think it could be for
lots of reasons. Sometimes it’s fright,
sometimes it’s er, they don’t think it’s
relevant; they don’t want to be taken
into special consideration. (10).
 Talking
 [I]t
to students
was very interesting talking to her
[the dyslexic student] about the kind
of coping mechanisms she had
developed. …she..[was]..really, as far
as possible, taking advantage of her
dyslexia rather than taking the
disadvantages of it. (9).
 ‘Believing’
I
in dyslexia
have seen students who struggle so
I knew it [dyslexia] was there even
before I fully understood. (14).
Comments from the neutral and
negative groups

The participants in the ‘neutral’ and
‘negative’ groups expressed markedly
different ‘attitudes’ towards dyslexia and
dyslexic students. Firstly, there was little
or no known experience with dyslexic
students or other people.
So, what did they say?
Experience with dyslexia
 I have not had any [experience]. Noone has
ever come to me with a question that suggests
they have problem with dyslexia’.(8).
 I have to say, I don’t really notice it [dyslexia].
(5).
 It is not something I am aware of – not in an
everyday sense. (2).
 I don’t see it as being a big issue, in my
experience, in the department. (1).
Recognising dyslexia in students
 I have to say that I don’t assume it is
dyslexia, I just assume they haven’t
checked it [their writing/ spelling]. (5).
‘Believing’ in dyslexia

I was never any good at ball games, and I
mean, it might be partly that I am just not
inherently gifted in that way, but I think mainly it
was because I actually decided at quite an early
age that I wasn’t interested in it, and therefore I
never developed that skill. (1).

Well, it may be a product of pushy parents, or
some of it, you know; or that they are expected
to reach a certain level and they fail to. (1).

More on believing in dyslexia
 And it’s like – there are students who aren’t very good at
whatever subject. We are all better at some things than
others, and now I am struggling with dyslexia, thinking it
is not – whatever it is. It’s not a syndrome. (5).
 [I believe dyslexia is] a difference of ability that is
probably culturally constructed and I think that the
hardware is probably there and it’s there in all of us and
we all have it, and we all have about the same amount of
brain, you know, and we all manage to learn a language;
so if you can’t do a-level maths, you know, in my view, it’s
not because you lack the brain cells, it’s because you are
not adequately programmed. (1).
Approach to support
Whose responsibility?

Comments from the ‘active’ group
 Issues like…what it is like to have
dyslexia….and how those things impact upon
what I should be doing in class as a teacher,
are things I take very seriously. (13).
 I think it is our responsibility to provide a full
range of support for writing, and if we get that
right in the department, then students
shouldn’t need to access support externally for
writing skills. (10).
Whose responsibility?

Comments from the ‘passive’ and ‘resistant’ groups:
 I guess [responsibility for support lies] with
some central service which can provide
appropriate expertise. (2).
 My general view of things like student support is
that we aren’t the experts in that We are the
experts in our subject; and when it comes to
complex conditions like dyslexia, we shouldn’t
dabble as amateurs. We should direct students
towards the expert services. (12).
Approaching students about
dyslexia
Active group:
 I usually talk to them separately. ..I usually
go and say “there is something wrong
here”. I would usually mention in the
comments that there is a problem with
writing style which they should see me or
their personal tutor about, and we’ll usually
follow that up and suggest that they go
and take the [dyslexia] test…we are now
quite forceful. (10)

Approaching students
Passive group:
 I think I would expect a student to come to
me and say, you know, I am really not
following this/ found it difficult to explain/ or
can you explain such and such. I think it
[support] would be a case of responding to
that kind of request. (8).

Passive group:
 If they [dyslexic students] thought there
was an issue I needed [to know
about]…they would speak to me. So I
therefore assume, presume that things are
working ok. If things weren’t working ok, I
assume I would hear. Our students are not
backward in coming forward – so they
would say.(2).
Making adjustments to materials or
assessments
Active group:
 I would try to sort through with them what ways I could
help, or what support systems in the university could
help. (14).
 She [the dyslexia support tutor] said that this [reading
dense text] is one of the things [dyslexic students find
difficult], so it seemed like the obvious thing to do [to
break the text down into simpler sections]. (3).
 They [dyslexic students] pass their essays to me and I
proof read them – give support to them…I am not
allowed to do it [proof-reading]…but I will do. (10).
Active group:
 [The student was allowed] to do the
project as an encyclopaedia…we had to
change all the rules because [the student
had produced] too much work…..it was
good teaching to understand that this is
what the student is good at and this is
what she was bad at – which was editing,
and let’s change that into a positive by
changing the terms of the project. (3).
Adjustments
Passive and resistant groups:
Participants in the ‘passive’ group tended
to follow generic minimum guidelines for
supporting students with dyslexia, but this
rarely meant a change in practice. For
example, in response to the adjustment of
prioritised reading lists, P8 explained..
 It seemed to me problematic because the
way I organised reading was already
guided. ..I didn’t really feel I could go
beyond that. (8).
Providing lecture notes before the
lecture
Active group: happy to provide electronic
notes before the lecture.
 Passive group: less happy – concerns
about attendance, but generally complied.
 Resistant participant: this practice restricts
academic freedom:
Those of us who dare to do it [lecture] in a
freer way are in a much better position to
make it interesting and engage the
audience. (1).

Conclusions

‘Attitude’ appeared to inform ‘approach’ to
support, and vice versa. A tentative
model representing a possible cycle of
influence was put forward in which
personal and meaningful experience
seemed to play a key role in lecturers’
attitudes to dyslexia and approach to
support.
1
Meaningful & engaging
experience with other(s)
with dyslexia
Students come to see
staff member as more
approachable?
Better understanding of
strengths & difficulties
assoc’ with dyslexia
3
More likely to approach
students/ provide
individualised support/ be
proactive
More sympathy
and interest
More awareness and
recognition of dyslexia
in students & seeking
info
2
So?
 We
can’t expect the university
staff will understand [dyslexia]
unless they have a particular
interest, which is likely to be from
personal experience.(14).
SO?
What can be done?
 Make staff training student led –
dyslexic
students could be play a much greater role in staff
development, and this would allow staff to gain
experience with dyslexic people directly.
Improve the dissemination of information
about dyslexia and dyslexic students more
efficiently to teaching staff.
 Move more of the responsibility for
support provision onto academic
departments.
