04. Inclusive Education
Paper
How Do Children with Dyslexia Read Syllables in the Czech Language? An Eye-Tracking Evidence
Nicol Dostálová
Masaryk University, Czech Republic
Presenting Author: Dostálová, Nicol
Developmental dyslexia is a specific reading disorder which manifests itself by reading difficulties. These difficulties, such as errors in spelling or decoding letters and words, can impact and subsequently reduce the whole reading process and overall text comprehension (Gabrieli, 2009). Nowadays, a large amount of information is presented in text form, which influences knowledge uptake and further vocabulary expansion (Rello & Ballesteros, 2015). Repeated failures in reading can lead to reduced motivation, problems with behaviour and anxiety in children with dyslexia (Spafford & Grosser, 1996). Early diagnosis and therapy of dyslexia would subsequently improve pupils' adaptation to the school environment, mainly in their social and emotional development (Nilsson Benfatto et al., 2016). Several theories try to explain the neurobiological origin of dyslexia and some of them are closely related to visual perception and eye movements while reading (Jošt, 2011). Eye movements can be measured via eye-tracking. For elementary school, it is crucial to follow an appropriate method for learning how to read. The syllabic method is most commonly used in the Czech environment to learn reading. However, there is a research gap in the field of eye movement processes when reading different types of syllables in the Czech language. The main aim of this paper is to present the results of the eye-tracking study focused on eye movement aspects of dyslexic children during syllables reading in the Czech language environment.
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedThis paper presents results from the eye-tracking study focused on syllables reading of Czech dyslexic children. The paper's main goal is to present the results responding to the main research question: “What are the differences in eye movements between dyslexic children and ordinary children when reading the syllables in the Czech language?”. The eye-tracking study uses the quantitative methodological approach. For these purposes, we created a stimulus consisting of a set of syllables (N = 90) usually used for diagnostics of dyslexia in the Czech Republic. This set of syllables was initially developed for children in the 3rd and 4th grades of elementary schools.
Additionally, we adjusted the syllables for appropriate eye-tracking measurement (letter size, line spacing). The research was realized in collaboration with the Psychological Centre in Brno which provided the selection of appropriate participants. A primary school pupil aged 9-10 years old who was diagnosed with dyslexia, was considered an appropriate participant. The control group consisted of primary school pupils aged 9-10 years old who did not show any symptoms of dyslexia. The recruitment of the control group was realized in collaboration with elementary schools in Brno, Czech Republic. Data collection was performed between November 2022 and February 2023. For the data collection, we used the text from a standardized diagnostic set created by Psychological Centre in Brno which was adapted for the eye-tracking measurement, eye-tracker SMI RED 250, screen, and chinrest. The data will be analyzed during spring 2023.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsPrevious research focusing on eye movement patterns of dyslexic readers showed significant differences in saccades and fixations between dyslexic and ordinary readers (e.g., Hutzler & Wimmer, 2004). Specifically, readers with dyslexia show higher fixation duration and a higher number of fixations, shorter saccades, and a higher number of regressive saccades than ordinary readers (Rayner, 1998).
In conclusion, eye movement analysis of syllables reading from the Czech environment can bring new knowledge into the field of the reading strategy of an individual. This information can subsequently lead to the improvement of educational processes in elementary schools. Second, the reading patterns of dyslexic readers can improve their reading skills and have an impact on the overall school performance, and social and emotional development of dyslexic pupils. Finally, these results can also help the practitioners in the psychological centres focusing on children with reading disabilities with a selection of appropriate therapy methods.
ReferencesGabrieli, J. D. E. (2009). Dyslexia: A new synergy between education and cognitive neuroscience. Science, 325(5938), 280–283. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1171999
Hutzler, F., & Wimmer, H. (2004). Eye movements of dyslexic children when reading in a regular orthography. Brain and Language, 89(1), 235–242. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0093-934X(03)00401-2
Jošt, J. (2011). Čtení a dyslexie. Grada.
Nilsson Benfatto, M., Öqvist Seimyr, G., Ygge, J., Pansell, T., Rydberg, A., & Jacobson, C. (2016). Screening for Dyslexia Using Eye Tracking during Reading. PLOS ONE, 11(12). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0165508
Rayner, K. (1998). Eye Movements in Reading and Information Processing: 20 Years of Research. Psychological Bulletin, 124(3), 372–422. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.124.3.372
Rello, L., & Ballesteros, M. (2015). Detecting readers with dyslexia using machine learning with eye tracking measures. W4A 2015 - 12th Web for All Conference. https://doi.org/10.1145/2745555.2746644
Spafford, C., & Grosser, G. (1996). Dyslexia. Allyn.
04. Inclusive Education
Paper
Access to Literacy: Literacy Knowledge and Attitudes of Professionals Working with Children with Language and Communication Needs
Sara Zadunaisky Ehrlich1,2, Rachel Yifat1
1University of Haifa, Israel; 2Beit Berl Academic College
Presenting Author: Zadunaisky Ehrlich, Sara
Literacy is a fundamental skill that is necessary for children to develop in order to learn, participate and integrate fully in society. However, the development and promotion of literacy in children with speech, language and communication needs (SLCNs) is particularly challenging (Dockrell, et al., 2017(. Regardless of the variety of needs that this population may have, the opportunities to learn and develop intersect also with issues of equity and literacy (Lafontaine, et al., 2015) allowing better inclusion (Frey & Fishcer, 2018). However, to implement a policy or apply new conceptualizations of literacy in practice, it is necessary to investigate the position, training/knowledge and attitudes of educators and health professionals as relevant agents of change. In Israel, the official voices as the Ministry of Education or the National Israeli Association for Speech, Language and Hearing – have suggested that tailored literacy programs should be built and implemented in every class to enable access to literacy for all SLCNs. Nevertheless, in terms of educators’ and health practitioners’ in the field, who implement policies, this issue is not self-evident. Hence, the goals of the present study were a) to investigate the professionals’ abilities in terms of training and knowledge of both - special educators (SEs) and speech and language therapists (SLTs) – in their work in the field of literacy and b) to study the professionals’ attitudes regarding access to literacy for SLCNs. The current presentation seeks to compare quantitative findings with qualitative findings, in order to focus on areas of convergence and divergence on the aforementioned study goals. While some of the quantitative findings have been published (Zadunaisky-Ehrlich & Yifat, 2022), the focus here will allow us to get a more comprehensive picture and look for internal coherence.
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedThe current study adopted mixed methods with a convergent parallel design that combines quantitative with a qualitative tools and analysis (Creswell, 2008)
The participants were 67 Special Educators (SEs) and 72 Speech and Language Therapists (SLTs). All of them worked in special education settings with more than 5 years of experience.
Both cohorts completed a Likert-based survey (quantitatively delivered and analyzed) and a semi-structured interview (qualitatively analyzed) as it follows: a) The Likert-based scale survey was developed to examine the self-reported knowledge of the participating SEs and SLTs in the domains of literacy development, assessment and intervention and emergent literacy. The last part consisted of statements to elicit participants’ rating their degree of consent with items pertaining their approach to literacy and their roles in the promotion of literacy. b) Personal semi-structured interview were conducted to get a deeper understanding of the positions of the participants on the issues addressed
Paired sample t-tests were conducted to compare SEs and SLTs in the different dimensions of literacy and chi square tests to compare the distribution of responses in both groups. Content analysis was applied to the personal interviews to identify common themes and in order to compare between the quantitative and qualitative analysis
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings
Main findings indicated that the qualitative analysis brought up points that the quantitative analysis blurred indicating some divergences. To illustrate, the quantitative analysis showed that both groups agreed that access to literacy should be enabled for all children, however, in the interviews, most of the participants found it difficult to explain or even exemplify how it is put into practice or to indicate shifts in literacy practices to allow access to literacy. Some perceived aspects of literacy as irrelevant to the population they worked with and discussed meaningful gaps between policy and practice. Contrasting the quantitative findings, the qualitative analysis indicated in both groups an attitude of "deficit thinking" that views the population as deficient and within a self-fulfilling cycle of low expectations by teachers and low performance by students (Davis & Museus, 2019). Similarly, other inconsistencies were also found between the quantitative and qualitative findings regarding participants' self-reported knowledge and skills to promote literacy with the SLCN population. Among other things, during the interviews, the participants had difficulty describing or demonstrating the actual use of literacy practices (both in assessment and promotion), in contrast to the self-reported knowledge that was stated in the quantitative survey.
Although in the last decades different conceptualizations of literacy have been promoted to sustain a position of inclusion allowing and promoting access to literacy to different and varied populations (e.g. “New Literacies” in Knobel & Lankshear, 2014; or “Multiliteracies” in Kalantzis et al., 2010); our findings indicate that these reconceptualizations, as well as understanding the attitudes and meaning of access to literacy for populations with a wide variety of needs, still remain as constant topics for discussion, elaboration and translation of conceptualizations into practice.
ReferencesCreswell, J. W. (2008). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson
Davis, L. P., & Museus, S. D. (2019). What is deficit thinking? An analysis of conceptualizations of deficit thinking and implications for scholarly research. NCID Currents, 1(1), 117–130. http://dx.doi.org/10.3998/currents .17387731.0001.110
Dockrell, J. E., Howell, P., Leung, D., & Fugard, A. J. (2017, July). Children with speech language and communication needs in England: Challenges for practice. In Frontiers in education (Vol. 2, p. 35). Frontiers Media SA.
Frey, N., & Fisher, D. (2017). Toward equity through opportunities to learn literacy. In Addressing diversity in literacy instruction (Vol. 8, pp. 1-15). Emerald Publishing Limited.
Kalantzis, M., Cope, B., & Cloonan, A. (2010). A multiliteracies perspective on the new literacies. In E.A. Baker (Ed.), The new literacies: Multiple perspectives on research practice. New York, NY: The Guilford Press
Knobel, M., & Lankshear, C. (2014). Studying new literacies. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 58(2), 97–101. doi:10.1002/jaal.314
Lafontaine, D., Baye, A., Vieluf, S., & Monseur, C. (2015). Equity in opportunity-to-learn and achievement in reading: A secondary analysis of PISA 2009 data. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 47, 1–11.
Zadunaisky‐Ehrlich, S., & Yifat, R. (2022). Self‐reported knowledge on literacy of Israeli speech‐language pathologists and special education teachers. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 22(2), 147-157.
04. Inclusive Education
Paper
Moments of Inclusion and Equity in the Mathematics Classroom
Anette Bagger1, Helena Roos2
1Örebro University, Sweden; 2Malmö University, Sweden
Presenting Author: Bagger, Anette;
Roos, Helena
This paper presents findings from a pilot study on equity and inclusion in the mathematics classroom. The pilot study is part of the project: Mathematics education for Inclusion and Equity (MInE) and has been ethically approved by the Swedish Ethical Review Authority. Moments of inclusion and equity is a concept that we explore and develop during this pilot. By inclusion and equity in mathematics we imply teaching that contributes to student empowerment, and their ability and agency to learn through striving for every student’s opportunity to participate (see Bagger 2017; Roos, 2019).
Aspects of equity and inclusion are core for sustainable learning in mathematics for all students (Atweh, 2011; Skolverket, 2019). At the same time, these values and goals in education is highly challenged both at a classroom level and a national system level in the Nordic countries and Sweden (Frønes et al. 2020). The trend of declining results in mathematics and an increasing proportion of students in need of support in mathematics are connected to if the student's parents are born abroad, gender and disabilities. The lack of equity is seen between groups of students, classes, and schools (Skolinspektionen, 2014; Skolverket, 2017; 2019). Neither research nor governmental reports can give advice on what the teacher need do in each classroom. At the same time, teachers work with this every day and often intuitively with not time to develop a professional language or form ideas of strategies or principles that can support them.
Inclusion and equity in mathematics has furthermore been shown to be complex (Kollosche et al., 2019). We understand these phenomena as deriving from a system and draws on Ainscows (2020) framework for inclusion and equity in education systems in order to understand how these come to be. The system is understood as consisting of “five interrelated factors” (p. 9): School development, equity and inclusion as principles, administration, community involvement and the use of evidence. In addition, we apply the Inclusive Inquiry Approach (IIA) for demarcating and exploring opportunities of moments and inclusion and equity (Messiou & Ainscow, 2020). This means that we have built the study with three focus points; reflections on teaching, learning from difference and development of teaching practices (Messiou & Ainscow, 2020), Following this, inclusion and equity are considered as principles which aims at promoting meaningful participation for all students. This means that we target both classroom level and the system behind which materializes in the classroom.
The study at hand aims at contributing knowledge on prerequisites for moments of equity and inclusion in the mathematics classroom. This also means that we demarcate some of the prerequisites for moments of inclusion and equity as an analytical concept. Questions posed are: What moments of inclusion and equity can a teacher identify in her teaching? What kind of? Following from this: What underlying values and principles is displayed regarding inclusion and equity.
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedThe school’s principals, additional teachers who may participate and a mathematics developer participated in the development of the project’s aims and scope. The school has a development project ongoing regarding inclusive learning environments. Hence, they are familiar to ideas of inclusion and equity and are designing teaching and classrooms that works for a diverse range of students. The school, North school, is a F-6 school located in a middle-sized city with a blended socio- economic living area surrounding it, and it has approximately 300 students and eight mathematics teachers. One teacher, Maria (not her real name), also the coordinator of one of the schools participating in our project, has been taking notes for a period of three months directly after her teaching. Maria has noted what she understood as moments of inclusion and equity during her planning, teaching, and evaluation of lessons. In other words: moments in which teaching aims at or managed to empower students, their ability and agency to learn, and participation in learning. To spot these aspects, we also asked her to especially reflect in her notes on reflections on teaching, learning from difference and the development of teaching (Messieu & Ainscow, 2020).
The analyze took place in three steps: Maria first analysed and thematized her notes, this meant that her perspective on and understanding of inclusion and equity was asserted. She then coded things that could be understood as moments of inclusion and equity and also answered the question “why” is this one or the other. Thereafter the researchers analyzed the notes and themes noted down by the teacher. Initially, moments of inclusion or equity that appeared was coded by searching for aspects of student’s empowerment, abilities, agency, and opportunities to participate. Thereafter reasons, possibilities and obstructions for inclusion and equity was searched for in the teachers answer on “why”. Finally, we summarized and concluded what kind of moments of equity and inclusion was displayed and how these were conditioned.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsMoments of inclusion and equity often co-existed, and one conditioned the other. Moments of inclusion was often mentioned as a differentiated classroom and way of approaching students and their learning. To value all kinds of knowledges and ways of learning, was an attitude pointed out as a prerequisite for inclusion. Inclusion was expressed as something of a value to aim for and as also a practical thing, when including students in learning and interaction. When instead searching for moments of equity, the teacher’s opportunities to and ability to create access, adapt material and teaching was highlighted. Knowledge of the student’s personality and learning needs, trust and relations was highlighted as key in this. Here, it is important to pay attention to the opportunities part- at times the teacher knew what do to but lacked the organizational or material means of doing so. Results indicate that equity and inclusion is rather something that is generated in the moment of indecision, in the implicit of social justice and can be seen as moments of pleasure, enjoyment of math and in the moments in which students also feel free to express their meaning. We conclude that inclusion and equity reach far beyond standards and achievements, it rather concerns a teaching which allows students to do maths far beyond the calculating of their own worth or worthlessness seen through the lens of achievement.
ReferencesAinscow, M. (2020). Promoting inclusion and equity in education: lessons from international experiences, Nordic Journal of Studies in Educational Policy, 6(1), 7-16
Bagger, A. 2017. “Quality and Equity in the Era of National Testing: The Case of Sweden.„ In World Yearbook of Education 2017: Assessment Inequalities, (eds). Julie Allan & Alfredo. J. Artiles, 68–88. London: Routledge.
Frønes, S, T., Pettersen, A., Radišić, J., & Buchholtz, N. (2020). Equity, Equality and Diversity in the Nordic Model of Education (1st ed. 2020.). Springer International Publishing.
Kolloshe, D., Marcone, R., Knigge, M., Gody Penteado, M., & Skovsmose, O. (Eds) (2019). Inclusive mathematics education. State-of-the-art research from Brazil and Germany. Cham: Springer.
Messiou, & Ainscow, M. (2020). Inclusive Inquiry: Student–teacher dialogue as a means of promoting inclusion in schools. British Educational Research Journal, 46(3), 670– 687. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3602
Roos, H. (2019). The meaning(s) of inclusion in mathematics in students' talk. Inclusion as a topic when students talk about learning and teaching in mathematics. Avhandling. Växjö: Linnaeus University Press.
Roos, H., & Bagger, A. (2021). Developing mathematics education promoting equity and inclusion: Is it possible? In D. Kollosche (Ed.) Proceedings of the Eleventh International Mathematics Education and Society Conference (Vol. 1, pp. 107–XX). Springer.
Skolinspektionen. (2014). Kommunernas resursfördelning och arbetet med segregationens negativa effekter i skolväsendet (Rapport 2014:01).
Skolverket. (2017). Grundskolan: Slutbetyg årskurs 9. Uppdelat per svensk och utländsk bakgrund. Hämtad 31-08-2017 från Skolverkets Internetbaserade Resultat- och kvalitets Informations System (SIRIS)
Skolverket (2019). PISA 2018. 15- åringars kunskaper i läsförståelse, matematik och naturvetenskap. Stockholm: Skolverkets publikationsservice.
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