Dr Louise Long, a senior lecturer in Education, has had a research article published in the most recent issue of the journal “Support for Learning”.
The research was conducted in collaboration with Therese McPhillips (St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra), Michael Shevlin (Trinity College, Dublin) and Ron Smith (Queen’s University Belfast).
The paper, “Utilising Creative Methodologies to Elicit the Views of Young Learners with Additional Needs in Literacy”, examines the dominant ‘assessment’ and ‘participation’ stories of Key Stage 2 pupils with long standing and marked literacy learning needs. It explores their views on increasing the level of participation they have towards the assessment and remediation of additional needs. It also questions how they perceive themselves as literacy learners. The research adopted a case study approach and utilised creative methodologies within a focus group setting to investigate sensitively the views and experiences of pupils with additional literacy needs. The results are based on the outcomes from four schools in Northern Ireland that participated in the original cross-border study. Findings are discussed in the context of strategies for promoting holistic and empowering pathways for learners with additional needs in literacy.