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Knowledge of schoolteachers on learning disabilities in urban Vellore - A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Specific learning disability (SLD) is a cognitive neurobiological disorder caused by atypical brain functioning. SLD is recognized when the individual’s achievement in school is below that expected for age, schooling, and level of intelligence. Screening millions of students with SLD by...

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Autores principales: Jebakumar, Daniel, Marconi, Sam, Kattula, Dheeraj, Priscilla, Ruby A.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Wolters Kluwer - Medknow 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10521813/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37767410
http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_2018_22
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author Jebakumar, Daniel
Marconi, Sam
Kattula, Dheeraj
Priscilla, Ruby A.
author_facet Jebakumar, Daniel
Marconi, Sam
Kattula, Dheeraj
Priscilla, Ruby A.
author_sort Jebakumar, Daniel
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Specific learning disability (SLD) is a cognitive neurobiological disorder caused by atypical brain functioning. SLD is recognized when the individual’s achievement in school is below that expected for age, schooling, and level of intelligence. Screening millions of students with SLD by health personnel is a logistical impossibility. Awareness and knowledge about learning disorders among schoolteachers may play a major role in the early identification and management of children with these disorders. Therefore, the assessment of teachers’ knowledge and perceptions about learning disabilities (LDs) is relevant. METHOD: A school-based cross-sectional study was conducted among teachers in government/government-aided and private schools in Vellore, India. The participants were selected by a simple random sampling method. There was a total of 80 teachers included in the study. Data capture was done using a questionnaire. A Chi-square test was done to test the association and the odds ratio test helped determine the strength of the association. A P-value of <0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. RESULTS: The majority of the teachers (70%) had adequate general knowledge regarding LDs. When analyzed separately, 82.5% of government/aided teachers and only 57.5% of teachers were having adequate general knowledge regarding LDs. There was a significant association between the type of school and general knowledge regarding LDs. Government/aided teachers had better general knowledge regarding LDs and dyslexia than private teachers. CONCLUSIONS: Among 80 teachers, 70% (56) of them had adequate general knowledge regarding LDs. When analyzed separately, 82.5% (33) of government/aided teachers and only 57.5% (23) teachers were having adequate general knowledge regarding LDs. The government/aided schoolteachers had significantly higher levels of knowledge in most domains of the general knowledge section as compared to private schoolteachers. If teachers are having adequate knowledge regarding LDs, it will significantly increase the chances of children with LDs getting detected early and undergoing the treatment they require. Teacher education programs and workshops are needed to be conducted at regular intervals to improve the knowledge regarding SLDs among teachers.
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spelling pubmed-105218132023-09-27 Knowledge of schoolteachers on learning disabilities in urban Vellore - A cross-sectional study Jebakumar, Daniel Marconi, Sam Kattula, Dheeraj Priscilla, Ruby A. J Family Med Prim Care Original Article BACKGROUND: Specific learning disability (SLD) is a cognitive neurobiological disorder caused by atypical brain functioning. SLD is recognized when the individual’s achievement in school is below that expected for age, schooling, and level of intelligence. Screening millions of students with SLD by health personnel is a logistical impossibility. Awareness and knowledge about learning disorders among schoolteachers may play a major role in the early identification and management of children with these disorders. Therefore, the assessment of teachers’ knowledge and perceptions about learning disabilities (LDs) is relevant. METHOD: A school-based cross-sectional study was conducted among teachers in government/government-aided and private schools in Vellore, India. The participants were selected by a simple random sampling method. There was a total of 80 teachers included in the study. Data capture was done using a questionnaire. A Chi-square test was done to test the association and the odds ratio test helped determine the strength of the association. A P-value of <0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. RESULTS: The majority of the teachers (70%) had adequate general knowledge regarding LDs. When analyzed separately, 82.5% of government/aided teachers and only 57.5% of teachers were having adequate general knowledge regarding LDs. There was a significant association between the type of school and general knowledge regarding LDs. Government/aided teachers had better general knowledge regarding LDs and dyslexia than private teachers. CONCLUSIONS: Among 80 teachers, 70% (56) of them had adequate general knowledge regarding LDs. When analyzed separately, 82.5% (33) of government/aided teachers and only 57.5% (23) teachers were having adequate general knowledge regarding LDs. The government/aided schoolteachers had significantly higher levels of knowledge in most domains of the general knowledge section as compared to private schoolteachers. If teachers are having adequate knowledge regarding LDs, it will significantly increase the chances of children with LDs getting detected early and undergoing the treatment they require. Teacher education programs and workshops are needed to be conducted at regular intervals to improve the knowledge regarding SLDs among teachers. Wolters Kluwer - Medknow 2023-08 2023-08-29 /pmc/articles/PMC10521813/ /pubmed/37767410 http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_2018_22 Text en Copyright: © 2023 Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/This is an open access journal, and articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as appropriate credit is given and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms.
spellingShingle Original Article
Jebakumar, Daniel
Marconi, Sam
Kattula, Dheeraj
Priscilla, Ruby A.
Knowledge of schoolteachers on learning disabilities in urban Vellore - A cross-sectional study
title Knowledge of schoolteachers on learning disabilities in urban Vellore - A cross-sectional study
title_full Knowledge of schoolteachers on learning disabilities in urban Vellore - A cross-sectional study
title_fullStr Knowledge of schoolteachers on learning disabilities in urban Vellore - A cross-sectional study
title_full_unstemmed Knowledge of schoolteachers on learning disabilities in urban Vellore - A cross-sectional study
title_short Knowledge of schoolteachers on learning disabilities in urban Vellore - A cross-sectional study
title_sort knowledge of schoolteachers on learning disabilities in urban vellore - a cross-sectional study
topic Original Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10521813/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37767410
http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_2018_22
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