An investigation of the awareness of dyscalculia amongst primary school educators

Abstract

Dyscalculia is a learning difficulty that affects a person's ability to understand and work with numbers. The term “dyscalculia” forms part of the umbrella term of specific learning difficulties, which encompasses numerous difficulties that students might experience. Research shows that teachers’ awareness of dyscalculia varies significantly. Educator awareness of dyscalculia is essential for early identification, intervention, and support for students with this learning difficulty. In the context of primary schools, where fundamental mathematics skills are introduced and developed, dyscalculia can present significant challenges for affected students. This qualitative study sought to investigate the level of awareness of dyscalculia that primary school educators working within State-run schools in Malta, who participated in this study, possessed. This phenomenon was investigated by interviewing five primary educators working in different state schools. These semi structured interviews, which aimed at gathering rich, nuanced and in-depth data about participants’ beliefs, experiences, attitudes, and behaviour, investigated participants’ definition of dyscalculia, their awareness of the key indicators that are associated with this learning difficulty, as well as whether they had attended any training courses on the subject. All educators were able to define dyscalculia. However, when asked to state whether they had attended any training in the topic, all participating educators expressed concerns on the over limited training opportunities they had been provided with in order to widen their knowledge on dyscalculia. Similarly, educators expressed lack of confidence in identifying students with dyscalculia, and providing tailormade and timely interventions.