Cite
Levkovich, Inbar, and Zohar Elyoseph. “College Students With Adhd and Their Reasons for Becoming Teachers Despite Negative Childhood Experiences.” Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education 49, no. 4 (August 8, 2021): 387–402. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359866X.2020.1789912.
Jeremy
Synth
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FirstAuthor:: Levkovich, Inbar
Author:: Elyoseph, Zohar
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Title:: College Students With Adhd and Their Reasons for Becoming Teachers Despite Negative Childhood Experiences
Year:: 2021
Citekey:: levkovichCollegeStudentsAdhd2021
itemType:: journalArticle
Journal:: Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education
Volume:: 49
Issue:: 4
Pages:: 387-402
DOI:: 10.1080/1359866X.2020.1789912
LINK
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine perspectives on childhood, coping methods and reasons for deciding to major in education among undergraduates with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). While the experiences of children and adolescents with ADHD have been the focus of much research, empirical evidence is lacking regarding the experiences of education students with this disorder. This research seeks to correct this lacuna and in particular to shed light on what motivates students to return to a setting they experienced as so difficult and complex. We used qualitative-phenomenological research methods to examine 30 education students diagnosed with ADHD. Complex childhood experiences emerged during the course of the research. The study participants noted difficulties in remaining attentive, a high level of distractibility, a heightened need to move around and a lack of focus. These symptoms caused them difficulties at school, harmed their self-image and left them with feelings of frustration, failure and jealousy towards their classmates. The participants raised mainly altruistic considerations in explaining why they chose the teaching profession, alongside a negative view of the education system. .
Notes
Jeremy’s Review
This is a small study conducted in Israel inquiring as to why students who were diagnosed with ADHD as children would major in education. The sample size was small and other factors such as comorbidities were not fully considered. However, the general conclusion was that these students wanted to help provide a better experience for other students, or to help educate others about their own ADHD diagnosis.
Annotations
Imported: 2023-12-06 2:02 am
Quote
Adults with ADHD report a higher incidence of health morbidity, relationship problems, predisposition to addictions and employment instability (Fayyad et al., 2017; Klassen, Miller, & Fine, 2004).
Pg.1
- Adult ADHD is likely to open one up to more comorbidities.
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Many young adults with ADHD switch jobs frequently and have a higher unemployment rate due to their ADHD-related symptoms. They exhibit less job stability, more absences and poorer performance and productivity in the workplace (Barkley & Murphy, 2010; Shifrin, Proctor, & Prevatt, 2010).
Pg.2
- Working with ADHD is difficult. The symptoms of ADHD, if not managed well will lead to stressful and tumultuous working conditions.
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Studies of college students point to levels of attention difficulties and hyperactivity ranging from 2.9% to 13%, though only 4.5% to 11% acknowledge a current diagnosis of ADHD during their college studies (DuPaul et al., 2017a; Gluting, Sheslow, & Adams, 2002; Gudmundsdottir, Weyandt, & Ernudottir, 2016; Kwak, Jung, & Kim, 2015).
Pg.2
- There is a sizeable portion of students pursuing higher education that are affected by ADHD.
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Several factors have been found to help students with ADHD succeed in school, among them accepting their difficulties, being willing to invest in learning, self-belief and internal self-attribution of success and failure (DuPaul et al., 2017a; Honkasilta et al., 2016).
Pg.2
- Personal acceptance of a diagnosis and a willingness to invest in your own education will help a student with ADHD immensely.
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Many students with ADHD recall feeling frustrated, disappointed, unsuccessful, insulted, ashamed and guilty during their school years (Honkasilta et al., 2016; Ohan, Visser, Strain, & Allen, 2011).
Pg.3
- School with ADHD is hard!
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The Israeli Special Education Law legislated in 1988 determined that students with special needs should be mainstreamed in general classrooms wherever possible (Schanin & Reiter, 2007).
Pg.3
- Israel also has it’s own version of the IDEA
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Many students with ADHD earn bachelor’s degrees in the field of education (Green & Rabiner, 2012).
Pg.4
- Students with ADHD will often pursue education degrees.
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Qualitative analysis of the interviews revealed three central themes. The first theme – “Nobody understands me, not even me”: Childhood and adolescence under the shadow of ADHD – describes life under the shadow of ADHD, including feelings of being impaired, not understood, unmotivated, frustrated and strange. The second theme – “I was expected to be a failure”: Recollections of school experiences among education majors – deals with manifestations of ADHD in the students’ lives at school, such as feelings of distraction, delay and failure, and the impact on their relationships with parents and teachers. The third theme “I give them what I lacked”: Students’ choice of the teaching profession – focuses on the students’ professional choice to become teachers and return to school, the very place where they experienced difficulty and frustration
Pg.6
- Three themes
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The childhood recollections of education majors with ADHD are interwoven with a sense of strangeness, inadequacy and frustration emerging from their cumulative experiences of failure. The students described feeling inferior to their peers and even fantasising that one day their difficulties would disappear and they would be like everyone else, without the disorder.
Pg.6
- The experiences of students with ADHD were difficult in the education system.
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They described dealing with ADHD as a difficult and confusing experience that left its mark on various aspects of their personal, social and academic lives. Because everyone around them saw them as failures, the students developed low expectations of their own abilities. They believed they could not succeed and some even perceived of themselves as stupid:
Pg.6
- Poor experiences in the education system for those with ADHD go beyond educational impacts. They impact emotions, resiliency, and spiritual well being.
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In addition to describing their personal difficulties in dealing with ADHD, they also mentioned what their parents went through. Twenty participants told about how their parents had to deal with the loss of their “perfect” child and the consequent loss of themselves as “perfect” parents. The parents begin by denying that their child is having difficulties and gradually feel more and more helpless and hopeless. The participating students described their parents as struggling to understand their difficulties, expecting their child to be “like everyone else” and seeking tailored solutions and answers. Some parents adopted “ignoring” and “normalizing” strategies or struggled to accept how their children dealt with their difficulties
Pg.7
- The ADHD experience extends beyond the student’s own experience. It effects the students, and if a parent doesn’t understand the disability, it is likely to effect their emotions, resiliency, and spiritual lives.
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The participants’ learning experiences were also reflected in how their teachers dealt with their classroom difficulties. Some recalled teachers who were impatient and gave up on them, thus making them stop trying to stay in the classroom and learn. Others recalled one particular teacher who gave them a chance to start fresh. The acceptance, caring and desire for them to succeed on the part of this teacher were the main reasons for their success in school
Pg.8
- Teachers can have a huge impact on a student’s view of themselves. Those who were patient and caring, students did better.
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n deciding to study education, the participants made a conscious choice to return to a setting that had been difficult for them. Twenty-seven participants indicated that they wanted to help school students with ADHD feel capable, to offer them a variety of activities, understanding, and empathy, to provide them a sense of competence and success.
Pg.8
- Studying educaiton is entering back into the beast of the belly that made students feel less than. It is to be the good teacher they may have been inspired by.
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Working in teaching and special education can enable the participants to develop a new perspective on themselves and their personal and professional difficulties. Indeed, these education majors have begun to recognise their unique abilities in the teaching profession.
Pg.9
- Learning about education and studying education allows those with ADHD to recognize other unique abilities that come with being a teacher. Things like creativity, caring, and new experiences are a draw.
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The students’ descriptions also reflect their sense of embarrassment and inability to comprehend their ADHD symptoms. These descriptions are consistent with previous studies showing that teachers are often extremely frustrated by the classroom behaviour of children with ADHD, especially class interference, aggression and behavioural problems (Rutherford, DuPaul, & Jitendra, 2008).
Pg.10
- Teachers are frustrated by the symptoms of ADHD.
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These findings highlight that important adult figures in the lives of these students tend to underestimate the value of their own intervention, hoping that some other form of intervention will bring about change (Honkasilta et al., 2016).
Pg.10
- The words of adults in the lives of the developing minds they interact with are of paramount importance.
(look up amount of positive vs negative interactions)
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he main considerations the students voiced in the interviews were altruistic (contribution to society, student advancement). They see the role of the teacher in terms of being able to help children with difficulties. They also see the teaching profession as a means of self-expression and self-realisation through internal components of satisfaction, interest and meaning. In other words, the students recognise the value of education, but also understand its potential for self-realisation and for ameliorating their former negative educational experience.
Pg.11
- These students recognize how important education is in the lives of people, and also recognize how they can be the change they want to see in the system.
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Based on the students’ descriptions and on the literature, it appears that children with ADHD feel that adults, including the educators who worked with them, did not understand the manifestations of their disorder and tended to interpret their behaviour stereotypically. Therefore, programmes for training teachers and school counsellors as well as institutions engaged in teacher training must provide information and tools for dealing with ADHD and its educational, emotional, social and behavioural aspects.
Pg.12
- It is good that those in educaiton are aware that ADHD is a serious concern, but more must be done to understand how to deal with the dysfunction.