Teachers' Narratives of Elementary School Students' Learning Difficulties

The purpose of this study was to analyze teachers' narratives of learning difficulties of elementary school students. This research was conducted with a qualitative approach and using the method of narrative research. First, 6 male and female teachers of an elementary school in Bilesvar city, who were chosen based on purposive sampling, sat a semi-structured interview until data saturation was obtained. The interviews were analyzed using thematic (categorical) analysis. In the deep analysis and perception of teachers' narrative, three main themes including individual factors with subtopics of ‘lack of motivation for progress’ and ‘learning disabilities’, family factors with the sub-themes of ‘low socio-economic status of parents’ and ‘poor emotional relationships between parents and children’ and school factors with the sub-themes of ‘inappropriate assessment methods’ and ‘unfavorable atmosphere in the classroom’ were identified. Due to the fact that in this study, the effective factors on the students’ learning problems were identified from the teachers' narratives, the necessary training should be provided to the teachers and families depending on the nature of the problem. Early detection of learning disabilities in children will be an effective step in preventing academic failure.