Modelo De Gestión Educativa De Calidad

Before examining the results of research which investigates the relationship between dyslexia and self-concept, it is important to define this concept. In a meta-analysis of research into the effects of learning difficulties on self- concept, Zeleke (2004) points out that self-concept is multi-dimensional. Terms such as ‘self-esteem’, and ‘self-worth’ could be used interchangeably with ‘self-concept’, in describing “one’s global sense of well-being as a

40 person and general satisfaction with oneself” (Zeleke, 2004, p.146). A particular area of interest for research focusing on dyslexia is its effect on academic self-concept. Whilst there may be a number of factors that

contribute to a person’s overall sense of self, individuals with dyslexia, may feel particularly inhibited with respect to academic performance. In Zeleke’s (2004) meta-analysis of research into dyslexia and self-concept, whilst only 30% of the studies included found a difference between those with learning disabilities and their normally attaining peers on general self-concept, 89% of studies found lower academic self-concept in the learning-disabled groups. Therefore, while this overview of the research will explore the effect of dyslexia on varying aspects of self-concept, the research will aim to examine its effect on academic self-concept.

Slee (2011) argues that in the global West, academic achievements are held in more esteem than other forms of attainment, for example, being practical or creative. This expectation may interact with the individual’s academic ability and consequently, it may be expected that those with dyslexia hold a lower academic self-concept, or general self-concept than those who are not struggling in academia; this has been reinforced by various research studies. From examining the literature, there appears to have been two key research methods that have been employed to study this phenomenon. The first of which is interviews. Glazzard (2010) conducted semi-structured interviews with nine 14-15 year olds who had received an official diagnosis of dyslexia. He reported the key themes that emerged from these interviews were students feeling stupid, disappointed and

isolated due to their dyslexia. However, he also suggests that early diagnosis is necessary to alleviate low self-esteem. Lithari (2018) conducted

interviews with 20 participants of various ages who had a diagnosis of dyslexia. She concluded that “dyslexia has a profound effect on identity construction, since it fractures academic attainment, which is a cultural expectation” (Lithari, 2018, p.13), therefore, suggesting that the negative experiences of those with dyslexia are due to, as Slee (2011) suggests, the cultural emphasis that is placed on academic performance in our society. Doikou-Avlidou (2015) also conducted interviews with dyslexic university students in Greece. He questioned their academic experiences and found that dyslexia had given rise to negative feelings at all levels of the

41 participants’ education, but they also mentioned strengths and coping

strategies that they had developed to help to deal with their dyslexia.

Additionally, Leitão et al. (2017) interviewed 13 children with dyslexia and 21 parents of children with dyslexia. They suggested that those with

dyslexia had “negative self-perception centring on lack of academic skills and frequent comparison to their peers” (Leitão et al., 2017, p.326). Participants particularly reported experiencing this before their dyslexia diagnosis.

In addition to interviews, the second key research method to emerge from the literature is research employing standardised questionnaires to compare different aspects of self-concept between those with dyslexia and a ‘non-dyslexic’ control group. Alesi, Rappo and Pepi (2012) compared 56 children who had “specific reading decoding disabilities of both accuracy and speed” (p.955) with those who had comprehension difficulties, maths difficulties and a ‘normal’ control group. Those with any of the

aforementioned difficulties showed lower ratings of scholastic self-esteem on the ‘Multidimensional Test of Self-esteem’ (Bracken, 1992) than the children whose learning was normal. However, there were no significant differences between the ‘dyslexic’ group and the other learning difficulties, suggesting that low self-esteem may be a product of struggling

academically, rather than the dyslexia itself. Furthermore, Eissa (2010) conducted both interviews and questionnaires (Youth Self-Report Inventory; Hamilton rating scale of depression; Hamilton rating scale of anxiety) with 35 adolescents who had either been diagnosed with dyslexia or had shown consistent poor reading. Their results were compared with a group of ‘typical readers’. Results showed that those with reading

difficulties had lower feelings of self-esteem and well-being. However, again, these results cannot be attributed to dyslexia exclusively, but rather show the negative effects of struggling academically.

Results from both qualitative interviews and quantitative

comparisons with ‘typically developing’ peers suggest a negative effect of struggling academically. However, the results do not add weight to the dyslexia debate, as it is not clear whether the negative effect is due to being diagnosed with dyslexia, or whether it is a result of struggling academically. Therefore, in an attempt to isolate the effects of a label, it is necessary to

42 compare groups who are labelled with dyslexia to those who are showing the same academic performance levels but are not labelled. A few studies have attempted this; for example, Polychroni, Koukoura and Anagnostou (2006) compared 32 10 to 12-year olds with their peers. The non-dyslexic peers were split into low-performance and high-performance subgroups. Results showed that the dyslexic group showed significantly lower academic self-concept than both the high-performance and the low-

performance comparison groups. This suggests that there may be a negative impact of the label which is not due to low-performance alone. The authors suggest that further research should investigate this by looking at the impact of the label. Yet they also highlight that there were only a small number of participants in the low achieving comparison group, therefore, further research should replicate this study using a larger comparison group. Riddick, Sterling, Farmer and Morgan (1999) matched 16 dyslexic

university students with 16 controls. Students were matched on the subject that they were studying at university and social background (father/

mother’s occupation). This design assumed that similar academic success and strength are needed to study each course. Results showed that compared to the control group the dyslexic group showed lower self-esteem, reported feeling more anxious, and less competent in their written work and

academic achievement. This again suggests a negative effect of the dyslexia label, as opposed to underperformance academically. This is particularly interesting as the participants studied here had succeeded in getting into university, and yet still had negative feelings towards their academic ability.

However, in contrast, Rimkute et al. (2014) found that those with dyslexia had lower academic expectations and aspirations than those

without dyslexia, however, once academic achievement had been controlled for, this relationship was no-longer significant. Thus, they stated that

“adolescents with dyslexia have higher risk for lower academic

achievement, which then leads to lower expectations concerning their future education” (Rimkute et al. 2014, p. 1,249). These results, strengthen the argument for the cause of the lower expectations being associated with previous academic achievement, as opposed to the dyslexia label directly.

Therefore, while the majority of research that controls for academic ability shows a relationship between the dyslexic label and low self-concept

43 the picture is far from clear. In order to better understand this relationship, it is important to consider factors that may be involved in the relationships. One potential within-child hypothesis as to why there may be a relationship between dyslexia and self-concept is that the biological precursors of dyslexia, share a biopsychosocial pathway with lower self-concept or wellbeing (i.e. an interdependent relationship between the biology and social aspects of dyslexia and wellbeing). However, Whitehouse, Spector and Cherkas (2009) compared monozygotic and dizygotic adult twins and found that there was no shared genetic origin for any link between dyslexia and anxiety. Therefore, concluding that environmental causes are the likely explanation for high correlations between dyslexia and low wellbeing. This is supported by, Jordan and Dyer (2017) who used data from the

Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) to examine the well-being development of those with dyslexia. They compared those with dyslexia to those with dyslexia alongside another special educational need (SEN), those with SEN but no dyslexia, and those with no SEN at age 11. They found that those with dyslexia alone showed normal wellbeing before entering school, but upon starting school, their wellbeing worsened. This suggests that the negative effects of dyslexia become apparent on interaction with the academic environment. Yet, for other SENs, issues with wellbeing coincided with the indicators of the SEN prior to starting school. This therefore advocates that dyslexia alone is not a risk factor for low self- concept, rather, it is how the dyslexic individual interacts with their environment that results in a negative outlook.

Yet caution needs to be taken when attributing negative effects to environmental factors alone. Rimkute et al. (2014) found that dyslexia had a larger impact on the academic expectations of boys in particular. As boys are more likely to be diagnosed with dyslexia than girls (Arnett et al., 2017) differences could be simply be driven by males having lower academic self- concept than females, rather than as a result of dyslexia. Furthermore, there may be other correlates of dyslexia that may also correlate with self-concept that are not due to academic ability alone. For example, both social class (Rogers, Smith & Coleman, 1978; Trautwein, Lüdtke, Marsh & Nagy, 2009) and gender (Cokley, 2002; Marsh & Yeung, 1998; Rimkute et al., 2014) have both been found to be associated with differing levels of

44 academic self-concept. Therefore, it could be argued that if dyslexia is not evenly distributed amongst these populations it may impact the significance of the relationship between dyslexia and academic self-concept.

Consequently, it is also important to take into account the other social demographic factors, not simply academic ability, that could also correlate with dyslexia, as these may also influence the relationship between dyslexia and self-concept. Thus, it is important to investigate what demographic factors, and environmental factors may impact the relationship between dyslexia and academic self-concept.