In this blog, Dr Sarah McLaughlin, MSc. Health Professions Education co-lead and Principal Investigator, reflects upon her team’s research project focused on the educational journeys of health professions educators with dyslexia. She shares insights into the importance of ensuring research methodologies are inclusive.
Inclusivity and how we research
Inclusivity in education research relates not only to what we research. It extends to how we research. Dyslexia – affecting 10 per cent of the UK population (Dyslexia – British Dyslexia Association) – is one example where traditional research practices may unintentionally marginalise participant voices.
Qualitative interviews are commonly used in education research to explore participants’ lives (Denzin and Lincoln, 2005; Kahlke et al , 2025). As a research tool, they may be considered a fairly simple process: ask questions, get answers which gain insights into people’s experiences. But what if that process unintentionally excludes some of the very voices we most need to hear?
For adults with dyslexia, traditional interviews may present significant hurdles. This is because dyslexia isn’t just about challenges with reading and writing—it can also affect working memory, processing speed, word retrieval and verbal articulation. Imagine being asked to recall complex experiences, answer detailed questions on the spot, or find just the right words while you’re feeling under pressure. That’s tough for anyone—but for someone with dyslexia, it can be especially draining.
Let’s break that down a little:
🧠 Working memory – This is about being able to hold and juggle information in your head in real time. This might mean remembering what the interviewer just asked while also formulating your response. It can be mentally exhausting.
⏳ Processing speed – It can take longer to absorb and respond to verbal information. This might make interviews feel rushed or stressful, leaving participants feeling they haven’t expressed themselves clearly.
🗣️ Word retrieval and articulation – Sometimes the words just don’t come. You know what you want to say, but getting it out—especially under pressure—can be frustrating.
These are not signs of a lack of insight or ability. But they do mean that traditional, fast-paced, Q&A-heavy interviews alone, might not be the best way to really understand the experiences of people with dyslexia.
But here’s the significant part: dyslexia also brings real strengths. According to the charity, made By Dyslexia, around 75% of people with dyslexia are above average when it comes to visual thinking. They often have an incredible ability to see the bigger picture, map out complex processes in their mind, and bring a creative, imaginative lens to problem-solving. Many are excellent communicators, especially in one-to-one settings, and are naturally skilled at building rapport and expressing ideas in rich, engaging ways (MBD-Intelligence-5.0-Report.pdf).
These challenges and characteristics were influential to our research project design. We needed to create a more inclusive research experience which aligned with the cognitive strengths of our participants, and our aim of exploring the learning journeys of health professions educators who have dyslexia. We sought an approach which gave participants space and time to think, process, and share their story in a format that works for their brain—not against it – this was significant to the voices we wanted to hear.
Journey Mapping
We turned to journey mapping—a creative research method that visually captures participants’ experiences over time. Participants created timelines, drawings, or diagrams to represent salient moments, transitions, emotions, and contextual factors. We gave them the interview topic guide to help guide their reflections and creations, three weeks before their interview. Allowing time and space for reflection was especially important given dyslexia’s impact on memory and processing speed.
Participants then used their ‘maps’ alongside semi-structured one-to-one interviews, as a reflective scaffold to help them articulate their narrative exploration.
Examples of participant maps (images have intentionally shared as low resolution):
Pearls of Wisdom from the Project
Here are four lessons we want to share from our project:
1. Mapping Can Be Fun and Engaging
Participants described the process as fun, enjoyable, and even therapeutic. One participant expressed relief at being able to ‘prepare my thoughts’. Another commented that the method helped them tell their story in a way that felt ‘natural’ to them. They were leading the narrative—and it showed.
2. Visuals Matter
The visual nature of mapping was crucial. The maps provided visual scaffolding, or ‘building blocks’ that helped participants structure their thoughts, reduced cognitive overload, and supported verbal explanation. Instead of trying to recall details under pressure, participants could refer to certain parts of the maps and build their story from there. The map became a conversational anchor.
3. Clarity and Reassurance Are Key
Clear instructions and creative reassurance made a big difference. Many people carry anxieties about being “not good at art.” We emphasised from the start that this wasn’t about artistic skill. Participants were given flexible guidelines, but encouraged to design their maps however they liked.
4. Be Prepared for Deep Emotion
Mapping gave participants space to reflect—sometimes more deeply than expected. While this led to rich data, it also meant navigating some emotionally charged stories. One participant reflected on feeling humiliated in school; another shared how long it took to feel confident as an educator. These moments reminded us that inclusive research is also about creating safe, caring environments. Researchers must be prepared and trained to hold that space.
Why It Matters
Our study adds to a growing body of work calling for more inclusive research methods. It also addresses a major gap in the literature: the experiences of health professionals with dyslexia—not just as learners, but as educators.
Journey mapping creates space for participants’ stories—through methods aligning to their cognitive strengths rather than highlight their challenges—we begin to shift the culture of research. Adopting more inclusive methods helps us move from doing research on participants, to doing research with them.
Methods matter. Inclusive research requires thoughtful design. Designing research for our participants was vital to the quality of our data—we did so respectfully. That might be the most important lesson of all, and this is significant to me as an academic because I, too, am dyslexic.
References
Berends L. (2011). Embracing the visual: Using timelines with in-depth interviews on substance use and treatment. Qualitative Report, 16, 1–9.
Denzin, N. and Lincoln, Y. (2005) Handbook of Qualitative Research. 3rd edn. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.
Kahlke, R., Maggio, L.A., Lee, M.C., Cristancho, S., LaDonna, K., Abdallah, Z., Khehra, A., Kshatri, K., Horsley, T. and Varpio, L., (2025). When words fail us: An integrative review of innovative elicitation techniques for qualitative interviews. Medical Education, 59(4), pp.382-394.
Made By Dyslexia (MBD) (2024) Intelligence 5.0 Report. Available: https://www.madebydyslexia.org/resources/
Moon-Seo, S. K., Campos, M., & Munsell, S. E. (2023). Exploring college students’ experiences drawing a journey map. Educational Research: Theory and Practice, 34(2), 57-61
Note…
The Dyslexia Journeys research team includes Dr Steve Jennings, MSc Heath Professions Education co-lead, and Dr Asim Ali, Health Professions Education Programme Director (Health Professions Education | Health Professions Education | University of Bristol
