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?

 

A selection from Stockholm University publication database

• Teaching to Promote Emergent and Early Literacy Capabilities Among Students with Intellectual Disability

  2021. Åsa Lyrberg.

  Conference

  This ongoing thesis project deals with literacy teaching for students with intellectual disability; how it could be designed and conducted to promote students’ learning of emergent and early literacy capabilities, rather than focusing onstudents’ individual characteristics as an explanation to learning difficulties. Cultural Historical Activity Theory (Vygotsky, 1978) in combination with subject-specific theories of reading and writing (Clay,1991) as well as Variation theory (Marton & Booth, 1997) offered a conceptual apparatus for discussing capabilities of emergent and early literacy as well as identifying, analysing and describing - at micro leve l- how these capabilities were expressed in joint classroom interaction.The study was strictly focusing on the development and implementation of teaching, in a process similar to action research,involving teachers in the design,implementation and evaluation of research lessons(Elliot, 2012;Marton & Booth, 1997). Initially, to find out about the specific learning needs among the students, a mapping of emerging literacy knowledge was carried out, asa basis fordesign ofthe first research lesson. The mapping showed that none of the four students were able to distinguish between a letter and a word, when asked to do so during shared reading of a picture book. Students’ opportunities to develop understanding of this specific object of learning-Being able to distinguish between words and letters when these are parts of acontinuous text - was in focus for the design and analysis of three lessons. Between lessons, the teachers jointly analysed video recordings of the enacted lessons and decided on adjustments for next lesson. These adjustments were related to how students’ joint interaction, in relation to the intended object of learning, could be optimized. During the course of the study, the teachers’ theoretical understanding of emergent and early literacy concepts developed and critical aspects of the intended object of learning were gradually refined and specified.

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• Developing a shared practice for reading and writing instruction

  2015. Åsa Lyrberg. NoFa5 - Nordic Conference on Subject Education, 96-96

  Conference

  This presentation is based on an intervention, conducted in the Swedish compulsory school for children with intellectual disability, grundsärskolan. Previous research (Berthén, 2007; Reichenberg, 2012; 2013) and a report from the Swedish Schools Inspectorate (2010) indicate that students in grundsärskolan are not given adequate opportunities for literacy learning in social interaction with their teachers and peers. The aim of this study was to design, implement and analyze lessons, focusing on a certain object of learning: The capability to distinguish between words and letters in continuous text. Another interest was to investigate whether analyses of research lessons, planned by teachers and researcher together, might increase students’ opportunities to develop literacy capabilities. A theoretical framework combining sociocultural theory, variation theory (Marton & Pang, 2006; Runesson, 2006) and Clay’s (1991) theory of early reading and writing instruction was used in order to design a series of three lessons, following the method of Learning study. Results show that variation of content and participants’ interaction are mutually related in the process of costituting the object of learning. Thus, learning opportunities depend on how the object of learning is focused by variation and how the participants’ interact in relation to this.

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• On the importance of theory in creating a practice for literacy teaching – a Learning study in a special school for children with intellectual disability

  2015. Åsa Lyrberg.

  Conference

  This paper is based on a Learning study, conducted in särskolan, a Swedish school for children with intellectual disability, Previous research (Berthén, 2007; Reichenberg, 2012; 2013) and a report from the Swedish Schools Inspectorate (2010) indicate that students in särskolan are not given adequate opportunities to participate in meaningful literacy learning in social interaction with teachers and peers. The aim of this study was to design, implement and analyze lessons, focusing the capability to distinguish between the concepts of word and letter in connected text. Another interest was to investigate whether analyzes of research lessons, planned by teachers and researcher together, might support further attention to students opportunities to learn subject-specific competences within the field of literacy. A sociocultural framework (Vygotskij, 1978) along with variation theory (Marton& Pang, 2006; Runesson, 2006) and a subject-specific theory of reading and writing instruction (Clay, 1991) were used in order to design, analyze and revise a series of three lessons, following the method of Learning study. The notion of learning in this Learning study can be described both in terms of changing participation in a social practice and being able to discern certain aspects of the object of learning, as a result of the complementary theoretical framework being used. As the study progressed, the critical aspects were slightly developed and refined. The object of learning did not change fundamentally between lessons, but the critical aspects were specified by an abductive process, where theories were used to understand practice. The joint analyzes of the lessons meant a renegotiation of the design, through a repeated theoretical screening of empirical data. Results show that teachers’ theoretical understanding of the object of learning is crucial in order to make learning of the intended object of learning possible. Access to the object of learning depended on how critical aspects of the object of learning were made visible in the lessons and how the students were offered opportunities to participate in relation to this. variation, and participation, in joint interaction were regarded as mutually related and as constituting each other throughout the learning process.

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Show all publications by Åsa Lyrberg at Stockholm University