"This is not a Deficit, it’s a
Difference" - conversations
with students about their
diagnostic reports
Barbara Kelly & Bob Burwell
University of Hull
ADSHE Conference Presentation 2014
Rationale for Reframing Feedback
• Feedback on EP Report is an important first
stage in teaching & support process.
• Guidance on feedback seemed limited,
overlooked and unexplored.
• Students going through the process of
undertaking a diagnostic assessment can find
it a challenging, bewildering and stressful
experience.
Rationale cont.
• Assessment process is Technicist;
something ‘done to them’, by an expert.
• Assessment reports by nature highlight
student’s literacy and cognitive deficits.
• Tutor challenges: how can we make
feedback an informative, positive and
empowering experience?
Aims
• To provide practical guidance - understanding the test’s
rationale - summary/synthesis of test scores – 3 broad
themes.
• Reframe interpretation of the report’s findings.
Perceive SpLD profile as less of a deficit but more in
terms of a Specific Learning Difference.
• Explain how support recommendations/DSA package
relates to the SpLD profile, supporting students to
become confident and independent learners.
• Create an SpLD ‘Assessment Feedback Map’ – a userfriendly summary of the student’s SpLD profile.
A question of Identity
The dyslexia assessment process
is usually about identifying a deficit –
‘this is what I can’t do’, ‘this is what is
wrong with me’.
Many students understanding of who
they are is based on bitter experience of
failure.
Underlying issues to consider when
feeding back report outcome
Underlying issues might include:
• Stress & Anxiety (feeling overwhelmed by
the complexity of recent assessment and with
HE/life)
• Low self-esteem & feeling incompetent.
• Limited understanding of learning
abilities and difficulties/differences.
• Learned helplessness.
• Reliance on inappropriate coping
strategies.
• PANIC
Who am I?
• ‘born with’ vs ‘acquired’ disability
• When you are born with a disability, that is
part of your identity
• Most people born with a disability wouldn’t
want to change it
• Acquired disability requires adjustment to
new situation
• Dyslexia falls between ‘born with’ &
‘acquired’
A reminder of the
bigger picture
To understand dyslexia is to accept that
there is a pattern of difficulties that has
an effect:
• neurologically
• socially
• physically
• intellectually
Conversations Matter
Central, rather than peripheral issues
• How have you found academic/learning
experiences so far?
• Unpacking and loosening of previous conceptions
about their capability – ‘I’m stupid’.
• How support in school made them feel –
inappropriate support/lack of support.
• Beginning to identify patterns in learning
behaviours which might be explained by the
report.
How to engage with student
•
•
•
•
Relaxed & exploratory process
Close listening
Unpacking the learning journey
Engage student in dialogue about their styles
of thinking, learning & writing – relate to
report
• Personalised construction of meaning
• Explore the nature of dyslexia and reframe the
past and present learning differences
Listening Skills
Active Listening
Attending Maintaining eye contact &
open posture
Actively
listening
+ actively paraphrasing
what they are saying
Empathetic + notices & reflects back
listening
non-verbal cues (tone of
voice) & acknowledges
their emotion.
This person is
interested in me
This person hears &
understands what I
am talking about
They understand
my reality
‘Close Listening’
Listening •Maintain eye contact.
•Open posture.
with
intuition •Active paraphrasing.
This person
helps me
understand
•Reflect back non-verbal
my
position
cues (tone of voice,
posture) & use of emotion. more fully
than I can by
•Acknowledge their
myself.
emotion.
•Intuition + Insight = ability
to acknowledge /express
the impact of what student
is saying.
Promoting positive messages
about different styles of learning
A different way of thinking
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Holistic
Non-verbal thinking
High speed
‘Random’
Instantaneous
Interconnected
Going off at a tangent
Complex
Developing students‘
understanding of
the test rationale
Teach students rationale for tests:
3 broad themes.
• Attainment in Literacy
• Underlying Ability
• Cognitive Processing
• Summary helps students have a working
understanding of their scores and its relationship
to their SpLD profile.
Task: Assessment
Feedback Map
Feedback
To sum up ......
• Decoding/reframing the report can lead to
ownership & understanding –
empowerment rather than alienation +
opportunity to allay their fears
• Potential to engage the student & provide a
platform for development of confidence &
self-esteem
• Bridge between psychological assessment &
practical learning guidance/specialist tuition
When you get it right ........
“For
the first time in my life it felt
as if someone had actually
articulated what I had felt my
whole life and explained the
reasons why I would get
frustrated.” (DB 2010)