My thesis topic is “How well are teachers aware about dyscalculia in Kazakhstan”
I chose this topic because during studying for my bachelor degree I was majoring in Math, now I study the inclusive education and dyscalculia is one of the special needs which can be found in children who have difficulties with solving Math problems. Usually Math is considered to be one of the most difficult subjects in school and many students struggle with it, so sometimes it may be challenging to identify a child with dyscalculia, as teachers may mistakenly think that a child does not work hard enough. In, reality, however, these children need a special approach and different methods of explaining Math to them. In addition to this problem, not so many teachers are aware that dyscalculia exists. So, before developing and promoting different methods and strategies of helping to children to dyscalculia I think, we need to provide teachers with information about what it is and how such children should be treated. So, I decided to work on this question about to what extent Kazakhstani tutors are aware of dyscalculia as I think finding answer to this question would be the first step in tackling the problem of dyscalculia.
One of the sides who would benefit from my research will be children, because after the degree of awareness about dyscalculia among teachers will be found and some methods to increase the awareness about it will be proposed, children will have the special assistance in studying Math, which they really need. Teachers will also benefit from my research as they will be more confident after expanding their knowledge about dyscalculia and learning about how to help children with it.
I think that this problem of dyscalculia is really relevant for me because in searching the ways and methods of how to increase awareness about it I can apply both the knowledge which I received during my bachelor years and the knowledge that I am receiving now studying inclusive education.
As I am learning about how to be a leader in inclusive education, I think this research will be a useful practice for me. Doing this project I will create statistics on problem of dyscalculia in Kazakhstani schools. I will try to raise awareness about it among public. Finally, I will try to bring some changes to the existing system and focusing on children with dyscalculia I will try to find methods of including this group of children into inclusive system of education, protecting their rights and promoting their interests.
NUWG 
Excellent post, Dinara (5/5). Your post is insightful and well-developed. I found it easy to read and to engage with your ideas, as you presented them one at a time. Your ability to define dyscalculia and its challenges in simple and straightforward terms is extremely effective, and prepares the reader to follow you as you tackle the larger questions in your study. This approach will serve you well in your thesis. Keep it up!
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Dear Dinara,
I reckon you have chosen an interesting and beneficial topic to explore. Discalculia is not being paid much attention in our country indeed. At the same time, I think it is more than relevant in our local context nowadays. The reason is that Kazakhstan, as a developing country puts much emphasis on the economic prosperity and human capital development. That is being done through supporting and promoting the field of natural sciences compared with social sciences. We witness now, that there are more lyceums where natural sciences including Maths are prioritized. It is obvious that in such a competitive environment children with discalculia have more challenges and need more attention from teachers’ side. I am sure your work will contribute in that.
Personally, I would be interested in methodology part of your thesis as well as the results you will come to. Thank you for your post.
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Dear Dinara, I must confess that the term “dyscalculia” has been interested me since I visited an educational conference where I heard about the existence of such problem for the first time. It is absolutely true that many teachers in Kazakhstan do not have any knowledge and understanding of what it is. Often children who face with dyscalculia are not supported at all because the teachers cannot diagnose it as they lack of special knowledge. I am looking forward to reading your thesis and see how you will organize the methodological part of your paper and what findings you will come to in kazakhstani context. Will you examine teachers of maths during your research or you will also take into consideration the experience of teachers from different fields?
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Dear Sholpan, thank you for your comment. Actually before I was planning to work only with Math tutors, but now I am thinking about teachers from other fields as well, thank you for this idea.
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Dear Dinara,
Being a Math teacher I have to work with diverse students with diverse cognitive abilities in this field. It often happens that you should make proper differentiation for slow learners, and while it works for the majority of students, a minor number of students still stuck at the same point. Personally, before the previous spring I was not even familiar with dyscalculia term at all. Since then, I started to expect that some of my students might have that characteristic. Nevertheless, in my opinion, majority of teachers, including myself, cannot make identification of having dyscalculia for sure, we can just make suspicion. Thus, I would recommend you to conduct informational sessions for Math teachers as well. Moreover, if any of the teachers experienced working with students with dyscalculia, they can share some approaches for teaching those pupils. To add, I would like to read your findings afterwards. Best of luck to you)
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A great topic for thesis! it is very specific and significant to be aware of. I absolutely agree with you that the vast majority of teachers do not get enough information about this kind of problem which does not allow to find a right solution in case with chidren facing problems in math. The More concern about this issue, the more positive impact and,consequently, bigger results in making learning for children enjoyable.
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Thank you, Dinara, for this post! I found it very useful for our educational system, as the daughter of my colleague has this kind of difficulty, and you described exactly the same problem that this parent shared with me. It will be definitely an informative topic for our society. As for the content, I enjoyed how you stated your ideas about why you want to investigate dyscalculia in Kazakhstan and consequent benefits for the society. I appreciate that you connected your focused topic with your specialization and bachelor degree, it was clearly stated. I think your post is very well-structured and involve readers’ attention. Good job!
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