How German Teachers in Special Education Perceive and Describe Children with a Learning Disability

The main characteristics of and the classification process for students with a learning disability in Germany are presented [intellectual disabilities in most English-speaking countries]. In a quantitative content analysis, 128 reports written by German special education teachers about children with a learning disability were analysed. The content analysis showed that the reports were quite heterogeneous. A cluster analysis of the 34 most frequent statements led to five clusters that differed clearly with regard to the descriptions of the pupils given. No significant correlation between the children's characteristics (gender, age, IQ) and membership of a cluster could be found. The descriptions of children in the reports roughly follow current definitions of learning disability in the United States. The authors concluded that the textual focus of the clusters obtained was likely to be a result of the special education teachers' perspectives or implicit definitions of learning disability rather than a result of the children's characteristics. Proposals for further research on the diagnostic process in the examination of students with a learning disability are offered.