Re: Re[2]: phonics politics
Phil Agre (pagre who-is-at weber.ucsd.edu)
Sun, 12 May 1996 07:28:32 -0700 (PDT)
I must reply briefly to Ken Goodman. He likens me to a Holocaust apologist
for suggesting that he write an op-ed column. Opponents of whole language
teaching, though, are not Nazis who are rounding up and killing educationalists.
They are debating the issues fair and square in the public sphere. They may
be wrong, but people who will not stand up for their beliefs in an open debate
deserve to lose the fight. What's the alternative? Believing that you are
entitled to win without explaining why? A dozen articles in academic journals
about the rhetoric of the debate are good and useful in their way, but they
are no substitute for answering people's questions in an open forum. Leaving
a vacuum in that forum can only make things worse.
Phil Agre