IN FOCUS: Explore the future of profession - 2022

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    Knowledge and attitudes toward children with specific learning disabilities among primary school teachers in the Mathugama Educational Zone; a preliminary study
    (University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2022) Kumari, H.R.G.M.; de Silva, M.D.K.
    Background: The teachers’ role in identifying Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) in primary grades is significant, and teachers play a unique role in this process. To make the education for the students with SLD successful, teachers require knowledge of different types of SLD and an understanding of their students with SLD.Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate primary school teachers’ knowledge and attitudes toward children with specific learning disabilities (SLD).Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with 248 primary school teachers. The self-selection sampling method was used to select participants from the Mathugama Educational Zone in Sri Lanka. An online questionnaire was used to collect data, and the questionnaire consisted of 3 sections: demographical details, teachers’ knowledge, and their attitudes toward children with SLD. Results: Most primary school teachers are conversant on some aspects of children with SLD such as characteristics of SLD and handling a child with SLD in the regular class. Teachers’ knowledge of SLD significantly changed according to gender (p < .05). This indicated that males have more knowledge about SLD than female teachers. However, there was no significant association between teachers’ knowledge with other demographical details such as age, teaching experience, educational level, teaching grade, training in special education, and having a student with SLD in the class. Overall, participants have positive attitudes about training programs.Conclusion: Overall, most of the study participants had average knowledge levels in areas such as management of children with SLD, risk factors, and some symptoms about SLD. However, knowledge level in some symptoms such as IQ level and aetiology of SLD were inadequate. Attitudes regarding their responsibilities in managing children with SLD were positive. On the contrary, a majority of teachers do not have positive attitudes to raise the quality of life of children with SLD and they reported that they felt more sympathy toward the student with SLD than the student without SLD. The study further revealed that most participants had not attended the training programs on teaching children with SLD. Therefore, the relevant institutes or authorities should implement frequent workshops to improving the above aspects regarding the knowledge and attitudes of SLD.
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    Teachers’ knowledge on symptoms, attitudes, and classroom teaching strategies for Specific Learning Disabilities: A study among Tamil speaking primary school teachers in the Nuwara Eliya Educational Zone, Sri Lanka
    (University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2022) Kanagendran, K.; Caldera, A.V.
    Background: A learning disability is a condition that is characterized by difficulties with listening, speaking, reading, writing or mathematics. Dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia are the most common learning disabilities. The primary level teachers carry a significant responsibility in identifying children with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD). Objectives: The objective of this study was to identify the teachers’ levels of knowledge and their attitudes towards children with specific learning disabilities, and their use of classroom strategies when working with children with specific learning disabilities in the Nuwara Eliya Educational Zone. Methods: A sample of 167 Tamil primary school teachers were recruited for the study. A descriptive cross-sectional quantitative study was used to collect information from the participants. The questionnaire was developed based on evidence-based research. In addition, a convenient sampling method was used. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Software was used to analyze the data. Results: The majority of the teachers were females (69.3%-n = 115). Most of the teachers were aware of SLD characteristics as 77.7% (n =129) of the participants believed that language-based learning disability is called dyslexia. Also, 23.5% (n=39) teachers reported that students with dysgraphia mix up upper/lower case/cursive writing. More than 42.2% (n = 70) teachers believe that pupils who have difficulty in measuring (weight/distance/time) have dyscalculia. Most of the teachers had a personal experience of at least one student with SLD who has difficulty taking notes in the class. Although most of the teachers understand the challenges, nearly 121 out of 165 primary teachers agree that they have insufficient time to teach students with SLD. Conclusion: Most of the primary teachers had a basic understanding of SLD identification and characteristics. Teachers are also aware of how to use classroom strategies for students with SLD. However, teachers frequently use those strategies for the entire class and are unaware of specific strategies like Individual Education Plans. In addition, the majority of the teachers had a reasonable understanding of the difficulties experienced by children with SLD.