Teacher experiences, awareness, and beliefs about the children with reading and writing Disability Dr. Samudra Senarath Department of Educational Psychology Faculty of Education University of Colombo

Overview Rational of the Study Research objectives of the Study Methods and Sample Results and Discussion Conclusions and Suggestions

Rational of the study Dyslexia related literature stated that some children have great difficulty in learning to read and write despite normal intelligence. Dyslexia literally means difficulty in reading, writing, spelling and pronouncing words. Prevalence in school children 4-8%

Contd. Research in this field highlighted that appropriate teaching and support dyslexia children can make progress, but - teacher’s less knowledge and experiences - inadequate teacher training program - lack of time -being overloaded with daily school routines and responsibilities prevent helping for these children - focuses on competitive three national exams,

Research objectives of the Study Identify teacher experiences towards dyslexic (reading and writing problem) children Examine teacher knowledge, and beliefs relating to the dyslexic children. Examine teacher job satisfaction Examine teacher emotional status when working with reading and writing problem children

Research Design Sample survey study Sample: purposive sample method,80 postgraduate teachers Primary teachers: 62 Special education teachers: 18 Instrument : Standardized test with five subscales (German version) Dyslexia subjective knowledge : Smith, Fabriger,Macdougal,Wiesenthal (2008); test reliability Cronbach α=.892

Contd. Dyslexia objective knowledge: Wadlington &Wadlington (2005); α=.536 Job satisfaction test ; Kopp (2009), α=.876 Emotional test ; α=.932 Data analyzing methods: Mean and SD, percentage, and t-test,

Teaching Experience

Experiences in Teaching Children with Reading and Writing Difficulties

Teacher Training Experiences on Dyslexic Children

Self-learning experiences about LRS children

Level of knowledge - reading and writing difficulties of children(subjective knowledge) 1 = No Knowledge 7 = Higher Knowledge

Dyslexic characteristics

Teacher beliefs about dyslexic characteristics Teacher beliefs (Dyslexic Characteristic s) Teacher Group Correct % Incorrect % Have a low IQ level Primary 96 4 Special298 Same word is written in differently in each and every time Primary2773 Special8218 Mix up consonants when they read and write Primary3466 Special1000 Children of any social level could be affected by this condition Primary3466 Special1000 Have a good memory Primary1387 Special8515

Teacher Job Satisfaction

Teacher’s Mental status * ** ** * * *

Conclusions and Suggestions special education teachers have higher subject knowledge about dyslexia than primary teachers through their teacher training and postgraduate diploma professional courses. Special education teachers have higher job satisfaction level compare to the primary teachers There is significant differences between primary and special education teachers’ emotions when they are working with reading and writing problem children.

Suggestions Teachers need more training on dyslexia; more facilities; teaching –learning aids, collaborative works, additional assistant teacher for primary grades etc. Necessity of increasing teacher job satisfaction factors. Teacher student ratio should be suitable for the primary grades.

Thank you !!!