Åsa Lyrberg
Contact
Name and title: Åsa Lyrberg
Workplace: Department of Special Education Länk till annan webbplats.
Visiting address Room 426Albanovägen 28
Postal address Specialpedagogiska institutionen106 91 Stockholm
About me
I have a background as a special education teacher and has previously worked in grundsärskolan, the Swedish compulsory school for students diagnosed with intellectual disability (ID). As a PhD candidate, my research interest is early literacy instruction and how it can be designed to optimize literacy learning among students with ID. In my dissertation project, I have conducted research lessons collaboratively with teachers in a school for students with ID. The analysis focuses on aspects of the enacted lessons that can promote students' learning of emerging and early literacy skills. Previously I was affiliated with the Swedish national research School in Learning study, a collaboration between the universities of Jönköping, Stockholm and Gothemburg. A common research approach is Learning Study - teacher-driven, practice-based and practice developmental research.
My research is about literacy instruction for students with intellectual disability and draws on my own experience as a teacher, on research and national evaluations which indicate these students are often struggling with learning to read and write - which makes it hard for them to fully participate in society. Moreover, the research on literacy instruction for these students is sparse - there are very few studies done in this area.
The focus of the study is on the development of literacy instruction by designing and implementing a series of lessons in a group of young children with ID. The lessons are designed and conducted by me and two other teachers together. We focused on a specific curricular content, an object of learning - i.e. what the students are supposed to learn. In this case, the object of learning was the ability to distinguish between a word and a letter, when these are integrated in a connected text.
When analyzing the enacted lessons, the focus was on the interaction between teacher, students and subject content - and on what was possible to learn - what kind of tools and actions seemed to promote the intended learning? We also focused on what actually seemed to limit and obscure learning opportunities for the students.
Drawing on tentative results, I want to argue for a shift of focus in the design and conduct of teaching: From the achievements of individuals and training on isolated skills to actually scrutinize the practice of teaching. How can teaching be improved in order to increase students' learning about the functions and use of literacy?