Developing a stakeholder led stuttering resource for teachers in New Zealand

Abstract

ABSTRACT Students who stutter at school often have difficult school experiences. Teachers play a pivotal role in students' lives but need the skills to support those who stutter in the classroom. The overall goal of this study was to develop and evaluate a stuttering resource for New Zealand teachers. In Phase 1, semi-structured interviews with four adolescents who stutter and three teachers revealed six themes: (1) stigma and the impact on the child, (2) things that helped – teachers, (3) things that helped – others, (4) things that did not help, (5) resources / support and (6) difficulties. In Phase 2, six adolscents who stutter were asked to complete an online survey of their preferred classroom strategies. In Phase 3, a draft resource was developed and the most effective strategies were added to the resource including ‘teachers understand the difference between struggling and stuttering', ‘teachers give you time' and ‘teachers create a safe and relaxed learning environment’. In Phase 4, 16 stakeholders provided feedback on the draft resource and as a result, additional elements were included in the resource: learner examples of teacher-student Individual Education Plans, a New Zealand video resource, and a supporting document to use alongside the Individual Education Plan. Finally, in Phase 5, 21 teachers responded to an online survey to judge their confidence in working with students who stutter before and after receiving the teacher resource. Results showed their confidence improved and 90% of teachers would use the Resource and Individual Education Plan.