An Investigation into Teachers (Sic) Beliefs About the Challenges They Face in Teaching Students with Reading Difficulties in a Primary School in the Port of Spain and Environs District

Abstract

Through interviews with four teachers, this qualitative study examined teachers’ views about reading difficulties and the challenges they encountered in dealing with their students at a primary school in Trinidad and Tobago. The findings revealed that the teachers attributed reading challenges among their students to: 1) a lack of interest and inability to read among some parents, which inhibited their ability to assist their children; 2) the genetic make-up of some students; 3) phonological deficits; 4) neurological factors; 5) lack of motivation; 6) reading material that was beyond the students’ abilities; and 7) insufficient time to provide individual attention.