Dyslexia is a condition which often finds its way into the headlines for a variety of reasons – its association with famous people (hello Richard Branson and Jamie Oliver), the connection with contentious, unproven treatments (did someone mention Arrowsmith?) and the involvement with debates about what evidence-based research really means.
A changing view
Dyslexia has often been associated with a negative view of learning print-based skills, and is seen in terms of deficits in reading, writing and spelling. Happily, more recent research is seeing a change in this framework of understanding. Educational researchers are now identifying other traits which are perhaps seen more frequently in children who are diagnosed with dyslexia compared to those who are not.
Researchers from the University of California’s Dyslexia Center examined emotional reactivity to video stimulus. They highlighted the social and emotional skills and ability to make social connections and higher level social awareness amongst the children who had dyslexia. They suggested that effective approaches in the classroom could include adopting small group or paired teaching for some learning tasks, as this allows them to use their emotional capacities to greater effect than in a large group.
Building on strengths
The research from the University of California builds on a larger program seeking to identify a range of characteristics which are associated with dyslexia, called the Dyslexia Phenotype Program. This program focuses on supporting people who have dyslexia to manage their weaknesses in areas of learning, as well as making the most of their strengths. They work alongside partner schools to support academic research applied to classroom and school wide learning experiences for children.
It is all too easy to become frustrated, overwhelmed and confused about the scientific literature and how it relates to the teaching and learning of academic skills. The life of a teacher is busy enough without having to delve deeply into the murky depths of educational research journals, websites and blogs to sort the evidence based scientific data from the headline grabbing photo opportunities which do not. Teachers are generally so busy that they are not always in a strong position to read, research, reflect and consider just how the work of scientists applies to what they do with children, texts, curriculum and tasks.
Time to learn
If the key take away from researchers relates to a need to focus on holisitic teaching and learning, building connections and forging strong links with children so they can learn well, perhaps many teachers are already well on the way. What is needed now is time for teachers to spend learning from experts and collaborating at the school level to decide the best way in which to apply the evidence to their own settings. Time to meet, time to learn, time to reflect – just as our students do.
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