Peers are an important part of social integration and, consequently, of the inclusion of pupils with dyslexia in primary schools. However, children are often not well informed about this specific learning disability, which can lead to negative opinions, not accepting children with dyslexia, and poor interrelationships. This is precisely why the awareness of strengths, difficulties, and possible assistance methods for pupils with dyslexia is so important. For this purpose, experiential workshops on raising awareness on dyslexia were carried out. Experiential workshops enable pupils to learn about dyslexia in an easy-to-follow manner, give them first-hand experience through different activities about the difficulties these pupils face in school, and help them discover different methods of helping their peers. The theoretical background of this master’s thesis encompasses the definition of inclusion and a description of methods on successful social integration of pupils with dyslexia in school. At the same time, the importance of raising awareness and different methods to achieve it are emphasized. The main goal of this master’s thesis is the development and evaluation of experiential workshops on dyslexia. At first, 133 pupils were included in the survey, however, the final sample included 93 pupils attending the 7th and the 8th grade of a nine year programme. Within this research, 4 meetings were carried out with each grade. These meetings included workshops and two questionnaires, one before the beginning of these workshops and another afterwards, in order to compare the pupils’ pre-existing and acquired knowledge on dyslexia. The questionnaire distributed before the workshops was intended to check the pupils’ knowledge on dyslexia and at the same time, it helped verify the level of obtained knowledge through a comparison of these results with the results of a questionnaire that pupils filled out approximately one month after completing the workshops. For a better retention of information, a leaflet on dyslexia was printed and distributed among pupils. For this thesis, the findings on pupils’ knowledge and understanding of dyslexia were very important, as well as the significance and the need for raising awareness on dyslexia among pupils. The most important findings that are a result of this thesis are the differences that can be observed in pupils’ understanding of the difficulties and the strengths of their dyslexic peers before and after the workshops. The difference in knowing various methods and strategies for helping pupils with dyslexia before and after the workshops is also statistically important. This master’s thesis helps encourage the organization of different awareness raising methods on general and specific learning disabilities and at the same time offers ready-made workshops and other chosen methods for carrying out talks on dyslexia and learning disabilities in general. By using these, schools can contribute to a broader inclusivity and acceptance.
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