home index by author index by subject

Talk; Adults

Friday stream 6 Session 14.00 - 15.40 Length 25 minutes

The experiences of teachers and trainee teachers who have dyslexia

Barbara Riddick

University of Sunderland barbara.riddick@sunderland.ac.uk

Abstract

In the current climate of inclusion (Jenkinson 1997, Hornby 1999) an important issue involves the inclusion of teachers with a range of disabilities. The Dyslexia in Higher Education Report (1999) raised concerns about the negative attitude of some teacher training departments to admitting and supporting students with dyslexia. The current study has interviewed a small number of practising teachers and trainee teachers with dyslexia about their experiences of teaching and training and the specific coping strategies they have adopted in the classroom. They were all asked if (and how) their own experiences of literacy difficulties had influenced the way they teach children, and especially those with literacy difficulties. All the participants reported using a number of effective coping strategies and felt that on balance the advantages of being dyslexic outweighed the disadvantages in terms of giving them greater empathy and understanding of children's problems. The majority felt that their own very negative experiences of school had been a strong motivating factor in wanting to teach in order to give children a better educational experience than their own. Trainee and new teachers were fearful of being 'found out' by other members of staff and often felt low in confidence despite performing well in the classroom. Most would have welcomed constructive support and mentoring from experienced teachers with dyslexia. In a climate of inclusion it is argued that a more enabling and open attitude to teachers with dyslexia should be adopted.

Introduction

The Dyslexia in Higher Education Working Party Report (Singleton 1999) found that seven institutions had admission policies that specifically excluded students with dyslexia from teacher training courses. They also wondered how many other teacher training departments were informally excluding students with dyslexia, anecdotally there is a strong feeling that this is the case. It was estimated by the report that up to 50% of prospective education students with dyslexia were not declaring their disability on application because of fear of discrimination. The report also pointed out that there must be a number of competent teachers who are dyslexic already in schools and that it would be helpful to find out what coping strategies they have used. Currently there appear to be tensions between the high literacy and numeracy standards required by the TTA (teacher training agency) and the DfEE (department for education and employment), and the equality of employment opportunity enshrined in the Disability Discrimination Act. The concerns of the education establishment are that the drive for high literacy standards will be compromised if teachers with 'weaker' literacy standards are employed. The Working Party (Singleton 1999) state that they do not think that dyslexia should prevent individuals from training in professions such as teaching, because compensatory strategies can be used which enable such individuals to work to the required professional standards. In the USA similar concerns have been expressed about the conflict between making accommodations for student teachers with learning disabilities and the demand for teachers with high literacy and numeracy standards (Wretheim, Vogel, Brulle 1998). In both Britain and the USA this emphasis on standards has been underlined by the introduction of basic literacy and numeracy skills tests that prospective teachers have to pass in order to be allowed to practice.

Review of previous studies

Morgan and Rooney (1997) interviewed ten student teachers six of whom were dyslexic. They focused on practical aspects of the teaching role such as preparing worksheets, writing on the board, reading aloud etc. They found that the dyslexic students were aware of their own strengths and weaknesses and had developed a variety of coping strategies to compensate for their difficulties. Duquette (2000) interviewed three Canadian leaning disabled* student teachers and also observed them on teaching practice. She found they all gave a negative account of their own schooling, and had empathy with struggling children. On teaching practice they developed a friendly supportive class atmosphere, with the stress on finding alternative ways of learning and motivating children to want to learn. None of the students needed any accommodations or special assistance to carry out the expected standards of class teaching and all of them had high expectations of children. Ferri, Hendrickk and Gregg (2001) in the USA interviewed three learning disabled* student teachers who were teaching learning disabled school children in resource room settings. They concluded that the most important differences between the learning disabled trainee teachers and their non disabled peers was in terms of the attitudes and experiences that they brought to the classroom rather than differences in pedagogy.

The main aim of this study was to gain the perspectives of dyslexic teachers and trainee teachers on a number of issues relating to their role as a teacher. Experienced teachers could reflect on their role over time and trainee teachers could talk about specific experiences linked to their training. Both groups could talk about what they saw as the advantages and disadvantages of dyslexia to their role as a teacher and the kind of coping strategies that they used. Previous research has not examined the role of experienced dyslexic teachers or the impact of current attitudes to dyslexia and literacy on the experiences of trainee dyslexic teachers.

Researching a hidden or 'not legitimate' disability

Until recently the education establishment in Britain had a somewhat negative or dismissive view of the term dyslexia (Miles and Miles 1990). The wealth of cognitive research in the 1980s and 1990s has forced educationalists to re-evaluate their position and indeed use this research as a basis for improving literacy teaching (Piotrowski and Reason 2000, Snowling 1998). The emphasis on competent teachers needing high literacy standards raises the issue of how dyslexic teachers or trainee teachers are made to feel by this requirement. The high percentage of dyslexic trainee teachers not declaring their disability on application because of fear of rejection suggests that a substantial proportion feel that they need to hide their disability. In addition some fear they will not be employed by schools when they qualify if they declare their dyslexia Surprisingly little is known about how qualified teachers with dyslexia feel about this issue. Perhaps their very lack of visibility suggests that they do not as a body feel comfortable in coming forward to debate or challenge current assumptions about literacy standards and competent teaching. An alternative explanation is that some of them trained at a time when there was less emphasis on literacy standards so that their literacy weaknesses were never seen as a major problem. In addition to this they also trained at a time when their dyslexia was much less likely to be identified so they may not define themselves as dyslexic even if they recognise that they have a weakness in an area like spelling. With a hidden or 'not evident' disability (Goffman 1966) like dyslexia there are issues both of how individuals identify themselves and how far they choose to disclose any difficulties that they have.

Participants

All of this suggests that particular thought and care is needed in approaching individuals to ask them to participate in research on a contentious educational issue, which has high personal significance for them. The purpose of the research was explained verbally and in a brief written summary to all participants. Eight teachers and five trainee teachers with dyslexia took part in the study. Teachers included a primary school head, a head of art at a comprehensive, a higher education teacher trainer, class teachers, special needs teachers in mainstream and two teachers in special schools as well as a learning support assistant in a comprehensive school. One teacher was in her first year of practice and had trained at the same university as another of the trainee teachers so could reflect on her recent training in a manner similar to the trainee teachers. Trainee teachers came from two universities with two focusing on primary and 3 on secondary teaching. All the trainee teachers, the newly qualified teacher and the special needs assistant had been formally assessed by qualified psychologists and clearly identified as dyslexic. Most of the experienced teachers had not been formally assessed but they all had a strong family history of dyslexia, with siblings or their own children clearly identified as dyslexic. In addition some were very knowledgeable with one teacher working in a specialist dyslexia school and another supporting dyslexic children at school and running a support group for parents. In talking to the researcher (a qualified clinical/ educational psychologist) who has experience of assessing dyslexic adults they all showed clear developmental histories of dyslexia. It was not felt ethically appropriate to ask to assess experienced teachers as this a decision they would need to take for themselves. It could be argued that this is representative of many of the experienced teachers in school who would meet the criteria for dyslexia, in that probably few of them have been formally assessed.

Only two people responded to the general request that was put out for participants, one trainee teacher and one special needs assistant. Publicity was in the form of eye catching posters in two teacher training departments and a piece in a network news letter for local teachers both assured participants of confidentiality and a location of their choice. For the trainees in particular it seemed important that somebody like a learning support tutor or a personal tutor could vouch for the researcher and her intentions. Two students for example saw the publicity but talked it over with their learning support tutor (who knew the researcher well) before deciding to come forward. Most of the teachers already knew the researcher and/or her previous work on dyslexia and all those approached were willing to take part. Because of the 'hidden' nature of dyslexia, especially for teachers within schools, it is impossible to say how representative this sample might be. In terms of role, experience, subject matter and age range taught there was a diverse sample.

Method

A semi-structured interview schedule was used and all the interviews were taped and later transcribed. The interview covered participants own experiences of school, what made them decide to pursue a career in teaching, what coping strategies they used, what they saw as the advantages and disadvantages of their dyslexia and their general attitude to literacy standards and the training of teachers. As well as these core questions, questions that were specific either to the trainee teachers or the qualified teachers were also asked. Trainee teachers were asked for example about the new literacy and numeracy tests, and how much they disclosed about their dyslexia on teaching practice. Qualified teachers were asked for example whether their teaching colleagues were aware of their literacy difficulties. Questions for the interview schedule came from a variety of sources including informal conversations with dyslexic teachers and student teachers, a survey of concerns raised by teacher education staff, and by discussion with student support services. In addition in previous interview research of a range of dyslexic university students an education student was interviewed and some of her observations relevant to her role as a trainee teacher were noted (Riddick, Farmer and Sterling 1997). Participants chose to be interviewed in the university education department, or at their own home or school. Interviews varied in length from 30 minutes to one and a half hours. Twelve out of the thirteen were interviewed face to face. One headteacher who lived at the other end of the country was sent the interview schedule and taped her own answers and sent them back to the researcher. Her transcribed interview was of similar quality and style to the other interviews and an independent researcher when given extracts from it blind could not distinguish her interview from the rest. The data was analysed both on a question by question basis and in terms of thematic analysis.

Outcomes

Own experiences of school

The interview started by asking all the participants about their own experiences of school. This was first asked as an open question and then they were asked to rate their experiences at both primary and secondary school as positive, mixed or negative. What was striking was that 9 out of the 13 reported very negative experiences of school from their own childhood, three said they had mixed experiences and only one felt that she had positive experiences at both primary and secondary school. These are some of the responses to the question of 'what were your own experiences of school like?'.

Oh don't..how long have you got? It was a nightmare. (Special needs assistant)

I hated it (Special needs teacher)

At primary school not very good..we had like a naughty chair which I was in quite a lot (Trainee teacher)

Very negative..I had a dreadful time at secondary school...I hated it (primary school headteacher)

In order to compare this with a sample of non dyslexic teachers, all the trainee teachers taking a special needs option on the same course that some of the dyslexic trainee teachers were taking were given a questionnaire. This asked them to rate their experience of primary and secondary school as positive, mixed or negative and if possible to explain why if they had rated either or both as negative. Out of 21 students only one rated their primary school experience as negative and only two rated their secondary school experience as negative. Whereas only one of the 13 dyslexic participants rated both her primary and secondary school experience as positive eight of the non dyslexic students out of 21 rated both their primary and secondary school experience as positive. It could be argued that although these results might be comparable to those of the dyslexic trainee teachers they couldn't be compared to the experienced dyslexic teachers as six of them went to school twenty or more years ago when little was known about dyslexia. On the other hand 18 out of the 21 trainee teachers had worked in full time employment before applying for training and several were in their 40's or 50's. It was also the case that the reasons given for a negative school experience differed between the dyslexics and the non dyslexics. Whereas the dyslexics negative experiences were all related to their literacy difficulties, the reasons among the non dyslexic group included bullying, moving a lot and truanting because school was not challenging enough.

Why did they decide to teach ?

Given the negative school experiences of some of these dyslexic teachers and trainee teachers an intriguing question to ask was 'what made you decide to go into teaching?'

Ten out of the thirteen replied that they wanted children to have a better experience of school than the one they had.

I was looking back on my education and I thought I really wouldn't want somebody to go through that. (experienced teacher)

I hated school so I want to go back and change it completely, so the children I teach come back thinking she was great rather than useless. (trainee teacher).

Was dyslexia an advantage or disadvantage ?

When asked whether on balance they saw their dyslexia as an advantage or a disadvantage to their role as a teacher, eleven said it was an advantage.

An advantage...definitely...especially with children..because I really have found identification with them and things I couldn't do.

They all felt that it gave them greater empathy and understanding of children who were struggling.

You know what kids are going through

I'm so much more aware

I see me in them

Two (one trainee, one newly qualified teacher) were ambivalent they thought it made them a better teacher but at the cost of having to work harder and feel more insecure. All the participants gave specific examples of how their empathy or privileged understanding of some children affected specific aspects of their teaching. The majority, for example, had dreaded having to read out loud at school so were very careful in the way they asked children to do this.

I'll just like who'd like to volunteer, because I know I wouldn't pick on anybody because I can remember feeling and knowing what it is like getting picked to read.

Some of the interviewees felt that empathy was an important requirement for teaching children with dyslexia

And if you've never experienced it you never understand it, so why can't we have more teachers who are more understanding?

An interesting question is whether empathy can be taught or whether you have to experience a particular difficulty or situation in order to empathise with someone else. Tim one of the trainee teachers felt that empathy came out of experience.

Empathy comes from experience in suffering

Both Stein (1970) and Davis (1990) claim that empathy can not be taught directly as a skill although there are ways in which the process can be facilitated. There may also be differences in individuals propensity to develop empathy for others. Davis suggests that the more mature and abstract someone is in their thinking the more able they are to empathise with even the smallest of similarities. Many of these dyslexic teachers thought they had a big advantage in understanding how children felt, who were in difficulty at school. One of the dyslexic teachers recounted a conversation with an English teacher in her school.

She said she just didn't get it, she couldn't understand how kids couldn't spell. I felt sorry for her really.

Teachers also felt being dyslexic was an advantage in giving them insights into using alternative teaching strategies and really being motivated to help struggling children.

A huge advantage ..I think I'm a very much more enthusiastic and sparky teacher than I would have been if I wasn't dyslexic.

One of the issues that has been raised is that teachers with one kind of difficulty might focus on children with that difficulty to the exclusion of children with a different type of difficulty. Although all the interviewees were concerned about children with literacy difficulties nearly all of them said that their concern was for children who struggled for whatever reason

I mean one of the things I've found is I have empathy with children who struggle it doesn't matter what it is.

Another concern that has been raised is that having empathy with children may lead to teachers having lower expectations and being less demanding or rigorous in the standards they expect children to reach (Wertheim et al.1998). This is difficult to prove or disprove without empirical research, although Duquettes (2000) teaching practice observations found no evidence of lowered expectations. What is probably critical is the way in which empathy is expressed or acted upon. Many of the interviewees linked empathy or identification with children with a determination to find an effective way to teach them.

It's how you can get it through... you don't understand...right lets do it a different way..and a different way..and give them as many different ways as possible , so that eventually one of them clicks..and I can say right you've got it now lets move on (trainee teacher).

It's not a matter of expecting any less. I'm determined they'll do it, it's finding the best way to teach them that's important.

Most of the interviewees were angry or upset that they had been underestimated at school and allowed to underachieve, and therefore thought it was important to have high expectations for all children.

I've fought for the first twenty years of teaching to raise the academic standards in schools, to enable children from poor backgrounds to do extremely well academically ..so I'm very committed to that.

Coping strategies

Teachers were asked about the kind of coping strategies they used in the classroom. They stressed the importance of extra preparation and preparing in advance. Common examples were writing out board work on paper first, writing out likely words for brainstorming sessions, spellchecking worksheets and reports and using lesson templates.One trainee teacher commented 'preparation is power'.

On the spot strategies included using themselves as role models in looking up how to spell words, and always carrying a spellchecker or dictionary with them. Although all the trainee teachers had developed effective coping strategies they were fearful of negative reactions from schools and would have welcomed support such as mentoring or advice from experienced teachers with dyslexia. One student by chance had a mentor on her second teaching practice who was also dyslexic and this she found enormously helpful not just in terms of practical advice but as a positive role model and a boost to her confidence.

Luckily my mentor in my second school was dyslexic..he was very supportive, he was great.

To hide or not to hide

An important issue for the trainee teachers was whether to declare their dyslexia when they applied for teacher training, when they were on teaching practice, and when they applied for their first teaching job.

The five trainee teachers and one newly qualified teacher were asked if they declared their dyslexia when they applied for their teaching course. Out of the six, four said they did declare and two said they did not.

Overall it can be seen that five out of the six students either hid their dyslexia or encountered negative attitudes to it when applying for teacher training. Once they started their training courses some still encountered the odd tutor who made negative comments.

One of the lecturers suggested that I would find it very difficult in primary, nigh on impossible. She said how would I cope with things like brainstorming and writing on the blackboard and things like that and I think that must have had an effect on me because it knocked my confidence a bit.

One trainee teacher who informed her teaching practice school of her dyslexia was told ' there will be zero tolerance of spelling errors'. But some of the trainees and teachers argued that the important point was not how good a speller you are but how good you are at teaching spelling to children.

I do think I have a lot to offer them...I know about the strategies. I know how to teach children to spell...and even if I can't do it very well myself, I know how to enable them to do it..and I think that's what's important.

Because spelling appears to be such a central issue in the training and employment of dyslexic teachers they were all asked how open they were about their spelling difficulties both with other staff and children in school. For the trainee teachers this was part of a critical decision they had to make each time they went on teaching practice about how far they should hide or be open about their literacy difficulties.

Trainees and newly qualified teacher

How open are you on teaching practice about your spelling ?

Apart from Amy all the others were more wary about telling teachers rather than children. Most of them sized up the attitude of the school and their particular supervising teachers before deciding whether to say anything.

I told the teacher at the end of my last practice, I didn't tell him before because I didn't feel he was sympathetic to dyslexia. I've not said anything at my present school (to teachers) but the children know I can't spell the odd word.

Laura and Emma were encouraged by supportive tutors or mentors to tell those teachers they were working with closely on teaching practice. Murray-Harvey et al (2000) found that the relationship between supervising teachers/mentors and trainee teachers played a key role in the amount of stress trainees experienced on their teaching practice. Stuart one of the dyslexic teachers was Laura's mentor on her final teaching practice. He observed that much of the support he gave her was in terms of lowering her stress and raising her self-esteem.

I kept saying to Laura it's not a problem, it's only a problem if you make it a problem, and you should be confident that you are a fabulous teacher and you work really well with children. (Laura gained a distinction on this teaching practice).

Experienced teachers

How open are you at school/college about your spelling?

*former school teacher now lectures in university education department

All the experienced teachers described a process whereby you had to prove yourself as a teacher through gaining experience and a reputation as a competent teacher. Apart from Elspeth they started by hiding their difficulties from other colleagues until they felt their competence as a teacher was well established. Jenny clearly exemplified this process.

Q: So in your present job Jenny are any of your colleagues aware of your literacy difficulties?

A: Yes I'm much more confident to turn round and say.

Q: So is it something you wouldn't have said when you were first teaching?

A: Yeah I would have done anything but admit it.

Q: Just thinking about your own coping strategies have they changed over time?

A: I'm much more open and upfront about them. ..I've got more confidence that if I've made a mistake well I'm sorry about the mistake and put it right and I'm more able to do that whereas in the early days I would have been devastated.

Whereas most of them quite openly defined themselves as dyslexic, two preferred to use the term in a more tacit manner, one presenting himself as a poor speller and one keeping her difficulties largely hidden. Mary was well aware of her spelling and grammatical difficulties, but had not discussed them before because as she explained she had viewed them as

part and parcel of something that's not quite right with my ability. I never considered there was anything legitimately wrong with me...I always thought well maybe I'm not bright in that section.

Gerber (1992) has suggested that in coming to terms with a specific learning difficulty individuals need to reframe their difficulties in a more constructive manner that identifies strengths as well as weaknesses. In reality relatively little is known about the combination of personal, experiential and circumstantial factors that influence each individuals coping style. Mary works in a university education department where because of the prominence given to high literacy standards for students it might be more difficult as a member of staff to own up to literacy difficulties.

Q: So do you think your teaching colleagues are aware you have literacy difficulties?

A: No I'm sure they don't..maybe one or two think there's something missing and I think they think I'm not clever..yes..I'm sure they do think I'm not very bright and that worries me a bit..I'm quite sad at that.. but I think I mask it reasonably well.

Mary was also asked how open she was with students about her spelling and whether she used herself as a role model

A: I've only recently started to do that, which says a little bit more about my confidence in myself, to deal with it..and I haven't always done that..I mean I would have been five years ago more likely to burst into tears at the idea..there was a hint they knew I wasn't altogether perfect.

It may be the case that individuals vary in their model of what constitutes a good teacher with some feeling that good teachers must present themselves as flawless whereas the majority in this sample appeared to feel that presenting yourself as fallible could be turned to a positive advantage

Personal biography and teaching performance

It could be argued that what the participants said and believed about themselves as competent teachers may not accord with how they would be evaluated by others. In response to this three of the trainee teachers gained a distinction on their teaching practice. The head of a primary school has just had her school awarded beacon school status. These are schools that are identified as demonstrating outstanding educational practice and are asked to take the lead in helping other schools to enhance their practice. Stuart was head of art and design in a large comprehensive school and also chief examiner on a GCSE exam board. Gill had been head of a special needs department in a mainstream school and was now teaching in a specialist dyslexia school. Andrew has just been promoted within a highly successful special school which is being considered for beacon school status. Jenny is well known locally for her outstanding work with special needs children and their parents. Claire had spent most of her adult life working with horses after a disastrous time at school as a child. She comments that she specifically chose an occupation that avoided literacy skills.

Well I went to the horses you see.. that was the safe haven

It was only when her daughter was identified as dyslexic three years ago that she was also assessed as dyslexic and took specialist literacy tuition. Around the same time she started as a special needs assistant to a boy with cerebral palsy in a comprehensive school. She was then invited by the school to do additional learning support training because they recognised her skill in working with children. She now works in the support unit mainly with children with literacy difficulties. She was asked at a staff inservice training day to talk about her experiences of dyslexia.
Knowles (1992) gives an overview of the literature on the role of personal biography in the development of trainee and newly qualified teachers. He argues that personal biographies have a significant impact on how teachers behave in the classroom and that more attention should be paid to them in the training of teachers.

Summary

Not all dyslexic teachers will be outstanding teachers they are as likely as any other group of teachers to have a range of skills and competencies. But for this particular sample of trainee and practising teachers there is no indication that they are any less competent than their non-dyslexic colleagues and some clearly are outstanding teachers. In addition they would argue that what they have to offer in terms of attitudes, beliefs and commitments to the teaching of children (particularly those with special needs) far outweighs any literacy difficulties that they have.
All the interviewees endorsed the need for high literacy standards in school, but felt that dyslexics should not be automatically barred from teaching. They argued that the important thing to consider was whether someone had effective coping strategies.
Teachers and trainee teachers were in the contradictory position of feeling their dyslexia enhanced their teaching performance but might discredit them in the eyes of the wider educational establishment.
Given the current emphasis on inclusion it could be argued that it is important to include effective teachers who understand what it's like to struggle in school and can act as positive role models to children of how difficulties can be overcome. At present the University of Sunderland is piloting the development of appropriate policy and support for trainee teachers with dyslexia.

* Learning disability is the North American term closest to specific learning difficuties in the UK.Wertheim, Vogel & Brulle (1998) estimate that 80% or more will have dyslexia.

References

Davis, C. (1990) What is empathy and can empathy be taught? Physical Therapy, Vol 70, No.11, 707-711.

Duquette, C. (2000) Examining autobiographical influences on student teachers with disabilities. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice. Vol. 6, No.2, 215-228.

Ferri B., Keefe C., and Gregg N.(2001) Teachers with Learning Disabilities: A view from both sides of the desk. Journal of Learning Disabilities Vol 34, No.1, 22-32

Goffman, E (1968) Stigma: Notes on the management of a spoiled identity. Harmondsworth, Pelican Books.

Jenkinson, J. (1997) Mainstream or Special Education? Educating students with disabilities. London, Routledge.

Knowles, G (1992) Models for understanding pre-service and beginning teachers' biographies in I.Goodson (Ed.), Studying Teachers Lives. London, Routledge.99-152.

Miles, T.R. and Miles, E. (1999) Dyslexia a Hundred Years On. 2nd edition. Buckingham, O.U. Press.

Morgan, E. and Rooney, M. (1997) Can dyslexic students be trained as teachers? Support for Learning, 12, 28-31.

Murray-Harvey,R., Slee, P., Lawson, M., Silins, H., Banfield, G. & Russell, A.(2000) Under stress: the concerns and coping strategies of teacher education students. European Journal of Teacher Education, Vol. 23, No.1,19-35.

Piotrowski, J., and Reason, R (2000) The National Literacy Strategy and dyslexia: a comparison of teaching methods and materials. Support for Learning. Vol.15, No.2, 53-57.

Riddick, B., Farmer, M. and Sterling, C. (1997) Students and Dyslexia: Growing up with a specific learning difficulty. London, Whurr.

Snowling, M. (1998) Reading development and its difficulties. Educational and Child Psychology. 15 (2), 44-58.

Stein, E. (1970) On the Problems of Empathy. The Hague, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.

Wertheim, C., Vogel, S. and Brulle, A.(1998) Students with Learning Disabilities in teacher education programmes. Annals of Dyslexia, Vol XLVIII, 293-309.