No abstract

There is a growing body of literature which marks out a feminist ethics of care and it is within this framework we understand transitions from primary to secondary school education can be challenging and care-less, especially for disabled children. By exploring the narratives of parents and professionals we investigate transitions and self-identity, as a meaningful transition depends on the care-full spaces pupils inhabit. These education narratives are all in the context of privileging academic attainment and a culture of testing and examinations. Parents and professionals, as well as children are also surveyed. Until there are care-full education processes, marginalisation will remain, impacting on disabled children's transition to secondary school and healthy identity construction. Moreover, if educational challenges are not addressed, their life chances are increasingly limited. Interdependent caring work enables engagement in a meaningful education and positive identity formation. In school and at home, care-full spaces are key in this process.

This paper examines identity construction for young people with dyslexia, based on their educational experiences during and after their transition to mainstream secondary education. The study is based on interviews with 20 English individuals who contributed their perceptions of how their identity was shaped by their experiences. Some of the most important experiences for dyslexic young people and the main themes discussed here are: experiences of support (or the lack of it), their perceptions around literacy and academic achievement and important others. Symbolic interactionism is used as a theoretical to further understand academic performance in a western society, where this is a highly significant aspect of life for many learners and their parents. In a society where literacy and academic achievement are highly privileged over any other form of achievement, academic identities are 'fractured' a notion explored here, alongside other factors that contribute to that academic identity development process.