Primarily what I experienced as a consultant was the same horror you are
envisioning with phonics mandates. School boards were thrilled because they
could stop buying expensive basals with supporting workbooks and saved a lot
of money by buying the teachers 5 Big Books for the year- no exaggeration-
and they could share them among all first grade teachers since the kids
didn't need them! And I remember lots of circles of 20 children choral
reading after the teacher holding the Big Book. And I got lots of teachers
telling parents that one day, their child would read- don't worry- it would
just happen. Just like one day they talked. I think you would be as
appalled as I was at viewing this as what whole language was all about.
What teachers told me and I observed was that no training or understanding
went with this mandate. Their books and materials needed to be put away or
taken away and they were supposed to improvise on creativity. Most were
embarrassed to take out a basal, even if it contained a good story, or a
phonics worksheet, even if the child expressed a request to learn about a
phonogram. It was the same disaster I have seen whenever any one system of
reading instruction is mandated.
What I learned was that teachers need in-classroom, ongoing support to adopt
new practices and that mandating a teacher to use one thing doesn't work for
kids or teachers.
I have taught kids reading successfully for over 25 years. I have been
fortunate to have supervised experiences with flexible instructors who
taught me to put the learner first and learn many techniques.
I share your outrage at mandating anything but agree to disagree about
phonics.
Ilda