Session Information
SES G 03, Paper Session
Paper Session
Contribution
Research on adults with dyslexia has increased over the last decade although it is only recently that researchers have begun to listen to the voices of dyslexic adults themselves and view dyslexia as a social construct. My qualitative, narrative study adds to this body of research as it is focused on the narrated experiences of dyslexic teachers and how they have created their professional identities. In this article I continue this theme of looking at one aspect of the findings of my research, namely the coping strategies those teachers within further and higher education employ and how the strategies support the development of professional identity.
As I view dyslexia from the perspective of the social-interactive model (Herrington &Hunter-Carch, 2001) along with a number of other researchers, such as Cooper (2006) and Anderson (2009), my aim is to incorporate it into the theory of socially formulated self. The theoretical framework to make sense of the findings in teachers’ narratives, a sociological perspective of symbolic intearctionism (SI) as expounded by Plummer (2000) was utilised. SI was seen as particularly pertinent for this study as it regards the ‘self’ as essentially social, consisting of a subject ‘I’ and objectified sense of the ‘me’ (Pollard & Filler (1999) p.4 cited in Anderson, 2009). This provides humans with the unique capacity to see themselves from the perspectives of others, an interesting consideration when thinking about the position of dyslexic teachers at work. Additionally, the ideas on presentation of self and the notion of impression management provided by Goffman(1959) is used as a lens through which to view the compensating strategies used and hence gain a deeper understanding of the strategies and their effect on the professional identity of dyslexic teachers. In his book ‘The presentation of self in everyday life (1959) Goffman develops his ideas on how any individual within social, work contexts presents themselves and their activities to control the impression others will form of them. It is Goffman’s ideas of impression management and the socially situated self that provided the theoretical framework to elucidate the findings reported in this article
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Anderson, R. (2009) Interested reader or uninterested dissembler?: the identities constructed by upper primary aged dyslexic pupils during silent reading session. Literacy, 43 (2), 83-90. Cooper, R. (2009) Dyslexia, in D. Pollak (ed) Neurodiversity in Higher Education. Positive Responses to Specific Learning Differences. Chichester:Wiley-Blackwell. Goffman. E. (1959) The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Reading: Penguin Books. Goldberg,R.J.; Higgins, E.L.; Raskind, M.H.& Herman, K.L (2003). Predictors of success in individuals with learning disabilities: a qualitative analysis of a 20-year longitudinal study. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 18 (4), 222-236. Herrington, M & Hunter-Carch,M. (2001) A social-interactive model of specific learning difficulties e.g. dyslexia, in M. Hunter-Carch (ed) Dyslexia: A Psychosocial Perspective. London: Whurr. McNulty, M. (2003) Dyslexia and the Life Course. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 36 (4), 363-381 Plummer, K. (2000) Symbolic interactionism in the twentieth century, in B. Turner (ed) The Blackwell Companion to Social Theory, 2nd edn. Oxford: Blackwell Riessman, C.K. (2008). Narrative Methods for the Human Sciences. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications.
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