[Fwd: In defense of phonics]
Ken Goodman (kgoodman who-is-at u.arizona.edu)
Fri, 07 May 1999 07:55:45 -0700
Ken Goodman wrote:
>
> http://www.uniontrib.com/news/uniontrib/thu/opinion/news_1ed6reading.html
> --
> Kenneth S. Goodman, Professor, Language, Reading & Culture
> 504 College of Education, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
> fax 520 7456895 phone 520 6217868
>
> These are mean times- and in the mean time
> We need to Learn to Live Under Water
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
>
> [Coleman College] [Prudential]
>
> Union-Tribune Editorial
>
> In defense of phonics
>
> Reading 'experts' and the whole-language muddle
>
> [Image]
>
> May 6, 1999
>
> It's hardly surprising that many of the "experts"
> attending a reading convention this week in San Diego are
> deploring California's back-to-basics campaign to promote
> literacy in schools.
>
> Scolds at the annual conference of the International
> Reading Association have rallied around Kenneth Goodman,
> professor emeritus at the University of Arizona. Goodman,
> who extols the supposed virtues of whole-language
> instruction, is miffed at the Legislature for mandating
> that phonics be stressed in the early grades to help
> students comprehend the written word.
>
> His sentiments are reflected in the sale of black T-shirts
> with bright red letters that shout: "BANNED in California.
> Freedom to learn. Freedom to teach. Social Justice."
>
> This pejorative slogan suggests a gaggle of ill-informed
> lawmakers got together and prescribed a reading curriculum
> that was anathema to conscientious teachers. In fact, the
> Legislature acted in response to a 1995 task force report
> that concluded California's kids were being shortchanged
> by an undue reliance on the very whole-language approach
> the critics are defending.
>
> This trendy approach, which was in vogue for several
> years, suggested that children needn't concern themselves
> with such mundane matters as spelling and grammar. Give
> them good stuff to read, the whole-language devotees
> insisted, and they would learn to read.
>
> When thousands didn't and California fourth-graders ranked
> near the bottom nationally in reading comprehension, the
> standard rationalizations began to flow: Reading teachers
> were deficient in presenting this concept. Principals were
> not providing enough in-service training. Parents were
> dropping the ball at home by not reinforcing what was
> being done in the classroom.
>
> These and other lame excuses evaporated in light of
> California's determination to overhaul its sluggish school
> system, where far too many students are reading below
> grade level. That lawmakers got into the act was not
> surprising, because the so-called curriculum specialists
> had made such a mess of things.
>
> It doesn't take a specialist to see that children are best
> taught to read by blending good literature with basic
> learning skills. And veteran classroom instructors will
> tell you there is no foolproof method of introducing
> youngsters to the wonders of the written word. Rather, it
> requires a variety of strategies. The International
> Reading Association concluded as much in a position it
> endorsed earlier this week.
>
> Instead of lamenting the intervention of lawmakers into
> the classroom, reading teachers in California and
> elsewhere should be ensuring that all of their students
> are literate.
>
> [Image]
>
> Copyright 1999 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
--
Kenneth S. Goodman, Professor, Language, Reading & Culture
504 College of Education, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
fax 520 7456895 phone 520 6217868
These are mean times- and in the mean time
We need to Learn to Live Under Water