Perceptions of Dyslexia in Primary Education: A Study of Teachers in Rajasthan

Abstract: Dyslexia is one of the most common learning disabilities. Dyslexia is still not well recognized and understood in the education sector, where teachers play a very important role in its early identification and timely interventions. This study was carried out to understand and examine the knowledge and misconceptions of primary school teachers in Rajasthan, India. This study was carried out with 135 private school teachers from Rajasthan, India. This study uses a structured questionnaire to examine the understanding of dyslexia in terms of definition, causes, symptoms, and interventions of dyslexia. The results indicate that most teachers (73%) recognized dyslexia as neurological disability and all (100%) understand dyslexia as reading related disorder, but there are still misconceptions that exist among the teachers. Nearly half (50%) of the teachers assume that dyslexia is curable by medicine, and nearly half (53%) of the teachers believe that dyslexia affects general intelligence. It is encouraging to note that most of the teachers (88%) acknowledged the importance of early identification of dyslexia. Teachers (97%) supported the idea of learning teaching methods that would reduce the difficulties and help a dyslexic child to learn better. The results highlight a critical gap between conceptual understanding of the illness and surface-level awareness about dyslexia among teachers. Practical Implications: This field work find out the gap that points to the urgent need to equip teachers with the right teaching strategies, training, and continuous professional support to better understand the needs of dyslexic students. By doing so, teachers will be more prepared to identify and create inclusive classroom environments, which will support a dyslexic student’s emotional and academic well-being.