Om konsten att möta elever i läs- och skrivsvårigheter : En retrospektiv fallstudie

The development of five individual pupils’ writing abilities, as reported by six of their teachers, is analysed. The thoughts and reflexions inspired by the everyday interaction between the teacher and the pupil suffering from some kind of reading and writing disability are presented. The purpose is to capture what was unique and characteristic in the measures that triggered a positive response in the pupils. Some of the questions answered in this study are: How does the phenomenon of reading and writing disabilities manifest itself in the classroom, and what are the consequences for the individual pupil of the various pedagogical measures available? One conclusion that may be drawn from this study is that there is no cut-and dried method for working with pupils suffering from reading and writing disabilities. Nor is there any such thing as a standard pupil with this disability. Instead, both the type and the extent of the problem vary greatly, and individual pupils develop their own personal strategies to cope with them and take in new knowledge. Also the skills of the individual pupils vary widely, and the possibility to use and develop them is dependent on the pedagogical context he/she is part of, on the actions of the individual teacher and several other interacting environmental factors. It also becomes clear that the ’capacity’ of the individual pupil, rather than being a fixed constant, is entirely dependent on the context. There is a strong correlation between the successful development of the pupil and the sensitivity, empathy, imagination, competence and ability of the teacher to capture opportunities as they arise. Some common features of the teachers involved in this study were that they helped their pupils to structure their thinking and involved them in their own acquisition of knowledge, and that their education was focused on the process rather than the goal. The methods they used were based on both theoretical knowledge and practical experience. They were well versed in many different theories and methods, and prepared to try different things till they found the best solution for the individual pupil. The communication between teacher and pupil was the cornerstone of their tuition. The classroom situation was characterised by a mixed group of pupils where individual measures constituted a natural component. The borderline between ‘ordinary’ and remedial teachers was deliberately blurred. Instead a spirit of constructive co-operation prevailed where all available resources were used in the work with the pupils. Events that promoted progress in the individual pupil were episodes where he experienced success and stood out in a positive sense among his class-mates. On these occasions the teacher had succeeded in identifying some specific skill possessed by the pupil, and made it visible also to the pupil himself and the people surrounding him. It was also a matter of identifying and challenging the individual weaknesses of the pupil, and of making him conscious of the progress he made. The social context surrounding the pupil did, of course, play a vital part in these positive events. This study demonstrates that a thorough linguistic diagnose followed by carefully tailored tuition is far superior to other kinds of remedial tuition in enhancing the reading-and writing abilities of the individual pupil. The common method of lumping together a group of pupils with widely varying types of reading and writing disabilities into a ’remedial class’ did, by contrast, appear to be an unfortunate strategy.