Drama, Performance Ethnography, and Self-Esteem

Abstract

Self-esteem affects learning, performance, self-worth, and quality of life, particularly in persons with dyslexia, or rather how students with dyslexia are mis/understood and supported. Dyslexia does not only affect literacy but also affects emotional well-being. Webb concludes that for children to feel successful, they need to become aware of their unique learning strengths to apply them effectively to strengthen weaknesses. Drama and Performance Ethnography (PE) can be support strategies. Workshops were carried out with a group of adolescent youngsters with dyslexia. The aim was to provide a safe environment where they could find their voice and gain self-confidence through drama and PE to provide opportunities to address self-esteem and to provide insights for policies and practice. This article intends to listen to these youngsters’, also co-authors, and their parents’ narratives of this experience.

“It’s a Battle!”: Parenting and Supporting a Child with Dyslexia

“…They search for affirmations that there are benefits in the label, looking to their peers, media sources and celebrity role models for a sense of their child's potential [41]. Spaces in which parents could make sense of dyslexia and its impact are a key theme noted [15,42]. Through the reframing of dyslexia positively and inclusively, "to include more affirmative, strength-based perspectives" [13], parents' can embrace their child's dyslexia, and see benefits as well as its drawbacks.…”

“…Dyslexia has a profound impact on parents and other members of the family alike. As noted in [42], views shared with young people about dyslexia may be negative. Young people's self-esteem can be adversely affected by negative discourse, such that they are in need of positive messages about dyslexia.…”

“…To do this, parents draw on their internal conceptualization of a 'positive dyslexia' so that they can present this to their children. Parents provide context, safe spaces and advice [42][43] for their children, to support them in positively reframing their own dyslexia, to construct a positive sense of self and their potential. Thus, parents' internal sense-making at the 'institutional level' serves to empower them in supporting their children via their exchanges at the 'interactional level' .…”

“…Where parents had professional experiences working with teachers or as teachers themselves, it was often easier for them to discuss their children's support with professionals [15]. This is echoed elsewhere [12][13]42]. Knowledge and experience build parents' confidence, which can form part of an embodied habitus that aligns well with teacher's professional habitus.…”

Voices of the Young So-Called Vulnerable

“…Further, literacy became more widely available to all and was given more prominence around 160 years ago, when nations started to focus on education and literacy for all as opposed to the few elite (Collins & Blot, 2003). Literacy now pervades every part of our lives and affects wellbeing (Antonelli et al, 2014;Burden & Burdett, 2005). This chapter builds on four basic premises: (a) Literacy is a fundamental human right (b) literacy is vital for access to education, employment and wellbeing; (c) non-access to literacy leads to poorer quality of life; and (d) for those who find difficulty accessing print, the use of technology must be considered.…”