"A lot of the smartest people have learning disabilities": teacher candidates with identified learning disabilities on literacy learning and teaching

This dissertation is written in a three-manuscript format. Through the lenses of Vygotskys (1978, 1986, 1997) sociocultural theory and Bakhtins (1981) dialogism, it explores teacher candidates with learning disabilities and their experiences in literacy learning and literacy teaching. The first manuscript looks at one of the six teacher candidate participants literacy experiences. An after-class informal conversation with her was the catalyst for this study. The findings include how feeling connected to students and their learning needs is an important part of and benefit for teaching. But for teacher candidates with learning disabilities, these connections are more important since they are experts at understanding why and how students struggle. Even when they experience a lack of confidence in their teaching skills and may not be open about their learning disabilities and/or difficulties in academics, teacher candidates with learning disabilities may still find success with the necessary support from mentors and peers.The second manuscript examines six teacher candidate participants with learning disabilities and how they came to teaching as a profession, negotiated their learning disabilities in academia, and envisioned themselves engaging in literacy teaching. Findings showed the importance of small group collaborations, support from both peers and mentors, and self-efficacy. While small in participant pool size, this study could have an impact on the fields of literacy and learning disability studies as a springboard to further research with larger participant pools or a refocus on graduate students with learning disabilities who are also educators. Both the expansion and refocus would maintain the original exploration on the voice of the participants and advocacy for their learning and teaching needs.The third manuscript focuses on methods used in narrative data analysis. The purpose of this article is to present the narrative analysis methods used in the dissertation study, based on Polkinghornes (1988, 1995, 2005) analysis of narratives and narrative analysis, while speaking to the differences between the four modes. The process used to analyze the narrative data was constructed through research into Polkinghornes work and honors his recursive analysis strategies. This article could be used as a demonstration of the modes of analysis mentioned while working through the elements of the method to more fully understand participant data.