Identifiying the awareness of primary school, middle school mathematics, and guidance teachers regarding dyscalculia

The purpose of this study is to examine the awareness level of primary school and middle school Mathematics teachers and school counselors who have one-to-one interaction with students suspected of having dyscalculia or diagnosed with dyscalculia since the early years of primary school and also to examine how their awareness has been achieved. The "case study scanning model" which is a type of quantitive research method was used in the study. Open-ended forms of the questions from the questionnaire developed by Dias, Pereira and Borsel (2013) and aimed at determining dyscalculia awareness were used as the data collection tool. The interview form consisted of a total of 22 questions, 7 general questions with demographic information and 15 questions focusing on determining dyscalculia knowledge, awareness and discrimination. The study was conducted with a total of 55 teachers, including 21 class teachers, 24 mathematics teachers and 10 school counselors, working in primary and secondary schools in the Etimesgut and Çankaya districts of Ankara using a non-random sampling method with convenience sampling. The awareness of teachers in different branches regarding the dyscalculia was conducted through face-to-face interviews. Data obtained from the interviews were analyzed with descriptive analysis and content analysis showing frequency and percentage distributions. The findings of the study show that a significance portion of the teachers from different disciplines stated that they were aware of dyscalculia. It was observed that the participating teachers mostly used the expression "difficulty in mathematics" when describing dyscalculia. However, a large proportion of participating teachers stated that they were not informed about this issue during their vocational training. It was found that knowledge of dyscalculia increased with higher education levels and years of experience; while 47% of bachelor's degree's holders were aware, this rate was 69 % among masters degree holders. All of the PhD graduates stated that they were knowledgeable. More than half of the participating teachers stated that they had encountered suspicions of dyscalculia in their professional lives and that they could distinguish dyscalculia. It has been observed that the criterion of "not being able to perform four operations and using fingers" is at the forefront in discrimination. Genetic factors emerges as the predominant cause of dyscalculia. In addition, half of the participants thought that dyscalculia could be confused with dyslexia. While more than half of the teachers think that difficulty in ordering items may be caused by dyscalculia, the majority believe that dyscalculia can cause restlessness and anxiety. In general, the participating teachers stated that they were more aware of the concept of "mathematical learning disability", that their rate of being informed was low, and that they could notice dyscalculia students and express their characteristics.