Effective Teaching: The Different Approach and Motivations of

Teachers in Teaching Dyslexic Students under Special

Education Program in Selected Schools in
Cauayan City, Isabela

Introduction

One of the challenges for every student is to

understand and study his/her lessons especially when there is no

teacher to guide them or when a student needs to pursue his/her

lessons as he/she was not able to attend their class during the

lesson’s discussion.

It is difficult for a student to understand his or her

lesson if he or she is not familiar with the new words, terms or

jargons that he or she encounters. Especially if that student is

not like the other students who easily understand the lessons in

school; or when that student is not the same as a typical student

able who is able to read and has a high level of comprehension;

or perhaps that student is experiencing Dyslexia - a reading and

writing difficulty.

Dyslexia was first discovered by Dr. Pringle Morgan in

1886. He wrote a report on a wise teenager who had difficulty

reading. He supposed that the boy was suffering from something he

called "word blindness".

 So, what does dyslexia mean? The word dyslexia is

derived from the Greek word 'dys' (meaning difficult or

inadequate) and the word 'lexis' (meaning words or languages) and

over the past 100 years there has been a lot of controversy and

debate how to define dyslexia.

According to Orton Dyslexia Society (1994, p.5) Among

the notable symptoms of dyslexia are the difficulty in different

forms of language, often accompanied, or besides reading

problems, another noteworthy The problem with which is the

writing and spelling skills. Considering the fact that two of the

five macular skills in learning is affected by Dyslexia, it would

be difficult for a teacher to teach a Dyslexic student especially

whe he/she does not have any experience to teach one.

According to Kimberly R. Freeman, PhD, Executive Chair

of Social Work and Social Ecology at Loma Linda University, San

Bernardino, California, if Dyslexia is to be tolerated, it can

affect an individual's ability to achieve his or her total

potential at work, but most especially his capability to learn.

 Not only do the students find it difficult to deal with

this kind of problem. It is also a challenge for teachers to

educate learners who experience this learning diability. So in

response to this kind of situation, the government has come up

with the Special Education Program where it is aimed at educating

young people with mental disabilities.

Special Education Programs are designed for students

experiencing anxiety or problems in their mind, physical, social

and / or emotional aspects. The term "delay," which is broadly

categorized as a developmental problem, implies one aspect of the

overall development of the child (physical, cognitib, learning

skills) that puts them behind their homes.

In 1975, the Congress adopted the Public Law 94-142,

better known as the Education for All Child Handicapped Act

(EHA). The purpose of EHA is to ensure that children with

disabilities have access to a free and appropriate public

education. This law provides local and statewide support and

protection for children and adolescents with disabilities, as

well as their families

 The Education for All Child Handicapped Act (EHA) was

approved in 1997 and is now known as the Individuals with

Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Entries made at IDEA provide

youth with disabilities to meet the higher quality of education-

related services, ensuring that all students have complete access

to the most appropriate education at within the least restrictive

environment.

Among the disabilities covered by IDEA are the

following: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Deaf-Blindness,

Deafness / Hearing Impairment, Developmental Delay, Emotional

Disturbance, Intellectual Disability, Multiple Disabilities,

Orthopedic Impairment, Other Health Impairment (s) , Specific

Learning Disability, Speech / Language Impairment, Traumatic

Brain Injury (TBI), Visual Impairment (Including Blindness) and

Dyslexia.

Teachers have different strategies for these learning

disabilities. But it seems a challenge for them to teach students

with the said disabilities. Thus, the researchers decides to

investigate how teachers under the Special Education Program

teach students experiencing Dyslexia and plans to analyse their

different approaches and motivations in teaching the said

students.

Statement of the Problem of the Problem

This study seeks to analyze the different approach and
motivations made by the teachers in teaching Dyslexic
students under Special Education Program. It also aims to
answer the following questions:

1. How do teachers under SpEDP formulate strategies/lesson

plans in teaching their Dyslexic students?
2. How do they approach or manage their student when it
comes in the following learning areas?
a. Reading
b. Writing
c. Speaking
3. How do they test the skill of their students when it
comes in the following learning areas?
a. Reading
b. Writing
c. Speaking
4. How do they motivate their Dyslexic students in their
studies?
5. How do these motivations and strategies of the teachers
in SpED schools contribute to Dyslexic students in the
improvement on their learning areas?
Conceptual Framework

Special Education Program comprises both the teacher and the

learner. It caters students who experience developmental delay

(mentally, physically, socially and/or emotionally) such as

Dyslexia. Teachers under this program are called Special

Education Teachers who adapt general education lessons and teach

various subjects or learning areas in accordance with his/her

student’s IEP.

Individualized Education Program (IEP) refers to a document,

mandated by the IDEA, which clearly defines the individual goal

and objectives set for a child with a disability. These programs

are written documentation of the special education program and

academic modifications required to meet the child’s individual

needs. Its two main purpose are to set reasonable learning goals

for the student set reasonable learning goals for the student,

and State the required services that the school district needs to

provide for said child.

 Dr. Gavin Reid (2008) defined Dyslexia as a processing

difference, often characterized by difficulties in literacy

acquisition affecting reading, writing and spelling. It can also

have an impact on cognitive processes such as memory, speed of

processing, time management, co-ordination and automaticity.

There may be visual and/or phonological difficulties and there is

usually some discrepancies in educational performances.

While he mentioned in his article “Effective Learning and

Motivation – Ideas and Strategies for Independent Learning” that

it is also important to ensure that the learning experience and

the learning skills of students with dyslexia can be extended

through ‘constructivist’ approaches to teaching and learning

(Reid,2008,para 1). So it is vital for a teacher to approach or

teach his/her students in a step-by-step manner.

He also tackled in the same article about the factors that

dyslexics encounter in learning. According to him, dyslexic

persons have a high visual skills compared to its other cognitive

skills so it is advised for them to learn kinesthetically

(learning by firsthand experience). He also said that self-esteem

and motivations will boosts the likelihood of a dyslexic to

learn.
 The statement of Reid that Dyslexic persons excel in their

visual skill is supported by psychologist Howard Gardner’s Theory

of Multiple Intelligence.

According to Cherry (2018), Gardner first outlined his

theory in his 1983 book "Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple

Intelligences," where he suggested that all people have different

kinds of "intelligences." He proposed that there are eight

intelligences, and has suggested the possible addition of a ninth

known as "existentialist intelligence”. People do not have just

an intellectual capacity, but have many kinds of intelligence,

including musical, interpersonal, spatial-visual, and linguistic

intelligences.

As cited by the researchers, one of the Multiple

intelligences is called Visual or Spatial. It was summarized that

people who exhibit this intelligence have a high skill in visual

and spatial judgment. People who are strong in visual-spatial

intelligence are good at visualizing things. These individuals

are often good with directions as well as maps, charts, videos,

and pictures. Some of the characteristics of persons who excel in

this intelligence includes: enjoyment in reading and writing;

good at putting puzzles together; good at interpreting pictures,

graphs, and charts; enjoys drawing, painting, and the visual arts

and recognizes pattern easily (Cherry,2018).

Reid (2008) stated that there will be individual differences

and individual variation on dyslexic individuals and it is

therefore important to consider learning styles and the learning

and work context when planning intervention and accommodations.

There are important factors to be considered in approaching

and teaching Dyslexic students. The first one is the context that

refers to the nature of the learning and teaching provision and

the age and stage of the individual; the second one is the the

assessment (in what way does the assessment inform teaching, can

the individual’s strengths and difficulties be readily identified

from the results of the assessment); the third one is the

curriculum (how can the teaching programme be related to the

curriculum –are any gains made by the programme readily

transferable to other aspects of the curriculum), and the last

one is the learner (what are the individual factors which can

help the learner make appropriate gains from the programme –is

the programme suitable for the individual’s learning style?)

(Reid,2009).
 From this statement, the researchers assumed that there are

different approaches of SpEd teachers when teaching students of

the said condition. A special education teacher must practice a

constructive approach in teaching. As a step-by-step manner,

he/she can or may formulate different approaches, strategies and

motivations.

Every approach and strategy/activities must be in lined

with a kinesthetic type of learning to ensure that learning

amongst the students is effective. When there is an improvement

on the students’ learning areas specifically in reading and

writing, ultimately, it reflects that the teaching approach and

strategy is effective.