From ears to experience: insights into living with long-term Glue Ear

Glue Ear is a common childhood condition which causes intermittent hearing loss. It is highly prevalent in children under 7 years, but is rarely discussed in teacher training. It is well understood in a medical rather than an educational context. Most of the research has been quantitative, by healthcare professionals seeking to understand and identify any potential long term effects. This has led to a focus on the ‘ears’ of the young person rather than the whole person in a life context, their experience. This paper explores how combining Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) with a modification to Photovoice enables a mother of a child with long-term Glue Ear to explain its day-to-day impact. The impact of this condition for the child in the classroom and how it can impact learning and relationships with peers is under-researched.