“A” for Attitude—Attitudes towards Dyslexia in Higher Education

Jonathan P Beckett,Judith A Darnell

doi:10.22158/grhe.v3n2p52

Abstract

This paper makes the case for the importance of an empathetic approach to understanding dyslexia, in educational establishments, especially in Higher Education. An awareness of the implications that having dyslexia and how this affects both study skills (concentration, organisation, revision and so forth) and presentation skills (completion of assignments within academic language and structures and without grammar, punctation and spelling errors) is accentuated in this article.This research employs meta-ethnography, the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) and a grounded theory overlay to thematic critical analysis. In so doing, UK literature of both quantitative and qualitative format was examined through specifying inclusion criteria and using a filtering approach.The justification for this work is to challenge any institutional or individual indirect discriminatory practice towards students with dyslexia.Conclusions indicate the need for enhanced institutional understanding of dyslexia and associated provision for individual dyslexic learners within Higher Education in its entirety. For example, access to digitalised resources, individual tutorials, assistive technology and adjusted expectations in marking criteria (as not to penalise for issues concomitant with dyslexia).

Highlights

Attitudes towards dyslexia in universities have been widely studied and introduces some surprising findings
71.8% of teachers reported that dyslexia was not well covered during their initial teacher training programme
These staff might have chosen to lecture based on their high level of subject knowledge but may have a less rigorous training programme in HE lecturing than school teachers

Summary

Introduction

Attitudes towards dyslexia in universities have been widely studied and introduces some surprising findings. A considerable variable in the success of these students in obtaining a good degree outcome might well be related to where they choose to study as it is likely that there are differences for students regarding the amount and kind of support offered to students with dyslexia between institutions. Dyslexia support at university is a important area of study, since most assessment within HEis related to literature searching and essay writing which can be a struggle for many students with dyslexia, even if student knowledge and understanding is evident. Dyslexia can be defined in different ways and have different effects for individual students but rates of dyslexia within the population are reported to be up to 20% (Knight, 2018)

Methods

Findings

Discussion