Dyspraxia - Awareness, Belief and the Maze.
2. Dyspraxia - Awareness, Belief and the Maze.
A little understanding can go a long away and awareness in dyspraxia is increasing however, knowing the term and knowing what it means are two different things. Dyslexia is a well known term, however one that is commonly misrepresented or poorly understood.
Consider this - what is in a name?
My answer - Ownership. An opportunity to exaplain a lot in one word.
I was lucky. I was diagnosed aged 7 with dyspraxia. I had an explanation for my frustration and why I found things more challenging than my peers. What, as a 7 year old I did not have was an ability to verbalise what it was. I struggled with handwriting, seqencing and PE in particular.
My understanding of dyspraxia was not everyone else’s understanding. I was already marked as slow and my formative years education seemed to leave me behind especially in mathematics and language. I was expected to perform poorly so therefore performance matched expectations held by others.
Undoubtedly some detriment to my education occurred. I think more issues would have arisen if I did not have early understanding and that “ownership”. If someone believes they are “thick” then where’s the motivation to challenge that?
Beliefs are hard to shift - I should know. Let me demonstrate.
In 1963, Robert Rosenthal, an experimental psychologist wanted to look at belief of the expected result and how this could unconsciously influence the outcome of an experiment. As an undergraduate psychology student previously, the study did stick with me. Bare with me as I geek out on my favourite academic topic - Social Psychology.
Two groups of students were recruited and given rats which they had to run through a maze. Group one were informed they had “Maze Bright” rats and were better at learning the route through the maze. Group two were told they had “Maze Dull” rats who had poorer ability to learn the maze route. In reality there was no difference in the rats - none had been put through the maze before nor were they specifically bred or picked for the task and were randomly assigned to each of the groups.
The result?
The group who believed they had the superior rats recorded better results in line with what they expected. The “Maze Dull” group recorded poorer results in line with the outcomes they expected to see. Both groups were remarked to have had an unconscious influence on the performance of the rats. This is referred to as the expectancy effect.
Rosenthal hypothasised that this same effect could be seen in the education system. The research was later to be extended using elementary school children in which those who were considered “ higher achievers” were inevertantly given more time and attention from than those considered “lower achievers.”. (Rosenthal, 1963)
Fascinating, but also important. In essence, if you expect a poorer outcome then you are likely to receive a poorer outcome based on a belief.
Where did this blog come from? The other day I came across a BBC news article entitled “Streaming at Five Set Me Up To Fail - Says Deputy Head.” Intrigued, I had a read and I could relate to many of the experiences that Sean Macnamara highlighted (link at the bottom of the page).
He argues quite strongly that “ability grouping” of students was more adverse to learning than mixed ability groups. I remember sitting in the “white group table” at primary. I knew and so did everyone else what the “white group” was the table for the less able.
Self esteem is an issue found in many people with the condition, however where positive outcomes are found, there was usually someone believing in the person that they could achieve and succeed.
That’s why awareness is important but also how the awareness is applied.
Want to know more about dyspraxia? - www.dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk
Rosenthal - https://psych.wisc.edu/braun/281/Intelligence/LabellingEffects.
BBC News - “Streaming at 5 set me up to fail” https://www.bbc.com/news/education-44289172
@DyspraxicCopper
A little understanding can go a long away and awareness in dyspraxia is increasing however, knowing the term and knowing what it means are two different things. Dyslexia is a well known term, however one that is commonly misrepresented or poorly understood.
Consider this - what is in a name?
My answer - Ownership. An opportunity to exaplain a lot in one word.
I was lucky. I was diagnosed aged 7 with dyspraxia. I had an explanation for my frustration and why I found things more challenging than my peers. What, as a 7 year old I did not have was an ability to verbalise what it was. I struggled with handwriting, seqencing and PE in particular.
My understanding of dyspraxia was not everyone else’s understanding. I was already marked as slow and my formative years education seemed to leave me behind especially in mathematics and language. I was expected to perform poorly so therefore performance matched expectations held by others.
Undoubtedly some detriment to my education occurred. I think more issues would have arisen if I did not have early understanding and that “ownership”. If someone believes they are “thick” then where’s the motivation to challenge that?
Beliefs are hard to shift - I should know. Let me demonstrate.
In 1963, Robert Rosenthal, an experimental psychologist wanted to look at belief of the expected result and how this could unconsciously influence the outcome of an experiment. As an undergraduate psychology student previously, the study did stick with me. Bare with me as I geek out on my favourite academic topic - Social Psychology.
Two groups of students were recruited and given rats which they had to run through a maze. Group one were informed they had “Maze Bright” rats and were better at learning the route through the maze. Group two were told they had “Maze Dull” rats who had poorer ability to learn the maze route. In reality there was no difference in the rats - none had been put through the maze before nor were they specifically bred or picked for the task and were randomly assigned to each of the groups.
The result?
The group who believed they had the superior rats recorded better results in line with what they expected. The “Maze Dull” group recorded poorer results in line with the outcomes they expected to see. Both groups were remarked to have had an unconscious influence on the performance of the rats. This is referred to as the expectancy effect.
Rosenthal hypothasised that this same effect could be seen in the education system. The research was later to be extended using elementary school children in which those who were considered “ higher achievers” were inevertantly given more time and attention from than those considered “lower achievers.”. (Rosenthal, 1963)
Fascinating, but also important. In essence, if you expect a poorer outcome then you are likely to receive a poorer outcome based on a belief.
Where did this blog come from? The other day I came across a BBC news article entitled “Streaming at Five Set Me Up To Fail - Says Deputy Head.” Intrigued, I had a read and I could relate to many of the experiences that Sean Macnamara highlighted (link at the bottom of the page).
He argues quite strongly that “ability grouping” of students was more adverse to learning than mixed ability groups. I remember sitting in the “white group table” at primary. I knew and so did everyone else what the “white group” was the table for the less able.
Self esteem is an issue found in many people with the condition, however where positive outcomes are found, there was usually someone believing in the person that they could achieve and succeed.
That’s why awareness is important but also how the awareness is applied.
Want to know more about dyspraxia? - www.dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk
Rosenthal - https://psych.wisc.edu/braun/281/Intelligence/LabellingEffects.
BBC News - “Streaming at 5 set me up to fail” https://www.bbc.com/news/education-44289172
@DyspraxicCopper
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