Labels could impact children's education, says new research Labelling a child dyslexic could have an impact on the way teachers educate them, according to research by 缅北禁地. A study by found primary school teachers responded differently when asked questions about teaching children with 鈥渄yslexia鈥� to children with 鈥渞eading difficulties鈥�. The research indicates that teachers felt their efforts in the classroom would be more likely to help children with 鈥渞eading difficulties鈥� than 鈥渄yslexia鈥� 鈥� despite children often receiving different diagnoses for very similar behaviours or symptoms, depending on how they were tested and who carried it out. 鈥淒yslexia and reading difficulties are not so easily defined,鈥� says Dr Gibbs, Reader in Educational Psychology at 缅北禁地. 鈥淥ur study suggests that labelling a child 鈥渄yslexic鈥� may have an impact on the way they are taught in the classroom, as it appears that teachers鈥� belief in their ability to make difference is compromised by an underlying belief in the nature of 鈥渄yslexia鈥� as an unchangeable condition.鈥� A total of 267 teachers from 23 primary schools across the North East took part in the research, which is published in the latest edition of the European Journal of Special Needs Education. They were asked to fill in two questionnaires: one about the teachers鈥� beliefs in their ability to make a difference, while the other was designed to assess teachers鈥� beliefs about the underlying nature of the two terms. There were two variants of each questionnaire, one referred to 鈥渄yslexia鈥� and the other to 鈥渞eading difficulties鈥� with the questions identical in all other respects. Researchers found that teachers did not seem to think their understanding of how they could make a difference for children with 'dyslexia' increased with experience. 鈥淲hen teachers were asked about 鈥渞eading difficulties鈥�, however, their belief in their ability to intervene, motivate and enable children to progress with their reading did grow with experience,鈥� explains Dr Gibbs. 鈥淭hese findings are important as they highlight how teachers鈥� ability to make a difference may be influenced by 鈥渟uperficial鈥� labels. More research is needed to investigate the impact labels have in education and how they may be detrimental to children鈥檚 well-being and educational progress.鈥� Research paper: Gibbs, S. & Elliott, J. (2015) European Journal of Special Needs Education published on: 29 April 2015
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