WHY THE ANTI-PHONICS NONSENSE?

An interesting email from a reader below. It may be worth noting that the actual origin of the whole language instructional theory goes back to an observation first made in Wilhelm Wundt's psychological laboratory in Germany around a century ago -- the observation that adults recognize whole words in their reading. The marvellous resultant theory that children should be taught that way would soon have been knocked on the head by its poor results if schools had been run as for-profit companies who were paid by results. Being protected by governmment, however, schools had no incentive to abandon what did not work. They just carried on in their love of their theory -- which seemed "obvious" to them. It is a pity that the obvious (such as the flatness of the earth) is sometimes wrong. So the Whole Language people are essentially flat-earthers.

Why did Whole Language methods persist? Why did the phonics versus Whole Language dispute divide along political lines? I have four tentative partial explanations.

1) Drill, past the point at which the student "gets it", is boring. Worksheets can be crutches for lazy teachers. Drill beyond the point of boredom may provoke an allergic reaction in students. I see this as a reasonable consideration, but it should not have been decisive. I use worksheets and drill in math instruction.

2) To academic theorists, it is more important to be original than correct. Tried-and-true is uninteresting to Professors of Education.

3) Ineffective methods of instruction enhance employment in the education industry, which has no incentive to be efficient.

4) The publisher of a the popular Hooked On Phonics program, Regnery/Gateway, was also a publisher of numerous anti-Clinton titles, which other publishers refused. The US government sued Regnery/Gateway over Hooked on Phonics and so reduced their revenues from this product. I suspect that this was retaliation for their Clinton criticism. Professors of Education provided ammunition to their ally.

One day someone will write a history of the Whole Language fraud. Too bad no one will read it. Over the entire population, this deliberate lobotomization probably reduced overall longevity as much as a minor disease like pancreatic cancer. It probably reduces productivity over an afflicted worker's lifetime as much as all the illnesses for which s/he takes sick leave, put together.






Student Debts, Stunted Lives

I have edited out the fanciful polemics of this article and left below just the case-studies but you can find the original here if you prefer speculation to facts. There is no doubt however that the student loan fiasco is a black mark on the record of the GOP. See here for the actual politics of the matter

The Democratic Party did not find her. The Hollywood liberals did not find her. The reactionaries are not looking for her. But the Chicago Tribune did find Margo Albert and did understand how significant her plight is. The paper wrote, "Margo Alpert is on the 30-year plan. Every month between $500 and $600 is automatically deducted from her salary to pay off college loans. By the time the 29-year-old Chicago public-interest lawyer is in her mid-50s and thinking seriously about retirement, she will finally be free of college debt."

The newspaper also found Carrie Gevirtz, a 28-year-old social worker with a degree from the University of Chicago, a $55,000 school debt and an annual salary of $33,000. She is quoted as saying, "I can't afford my lifestyle. I'm not in a position to buy a place. I can't buy a condo and don't know when I would, unless my income changed dramatically.... I was not prepared for this.... It really freaked me out." To make ends meet after deducting her $250 monthly payment on her student loan, Gevirtz has a second job at a health club and does baby-sitting.

Starting July 1 the interest on student loans taken out by students will rise to just less than 7 percent. Loans taken out by parents for students will shoot up to 8.5 percent.....

Whenever the subject of the high and ever mounting cost of tuitions and the student loans needed to pay for them comes up, the focus falls on individual financial hardship. We're invited to pity or empathize with Margo Alpert, and she certainly deserves it, but our attention is not drawn to the consequences of these arrangements.

The most important consequence of the financial hole the Margo Alperts are in, thanks to their education, is that many of them are going to be childless. Many others will have one child at most. How can a young couple, each with $40,000 or $50,000 of debt, think of having three or four kids? They will have to wait until they are in their late 30s to have a family and by then, when they think of college costs, they will feel compelled to limit themselves to one child.

How many young people turn away from low-paying but vital professions because they can't earn enough to pay back their loans? How many potential social workers, pro bono lawyers, journalists, environmentalists, teachers, artists, secondary medical professionals and community workers are we losing?







Strange homework in Australia: "Doing the dishes, aromatherapy and shopping with mum are all considered homework under a new policy adopted by some Victorian schools. Known as the Homework Grid, the policy has been tried in at least a dozen primary schools across the state. The grid defines homework as not just studying, but incorporates meditation, sport and housework. St Joseph's School in Chelsea is one school that has assigned it to grade 5 and 6 students. Principal Christine Ash said the school decided to use the grid after surveying parents on their expectations of homework. The school's grid recommended 10 minutes a night of reading and 20 minutes a night of other activities such as sport, housework and shopping. A weekly grid is given out on a Monday and parents are required to sign off on it. Ms Ash said there had been a positive response from parents, students and teachers".

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For greatest efficiency, lowest cost and maximum choice, ALL schools should be privately owned and run -- with government-paid vouchers for the poor and minimal regulation.

The NEA and similar unions worldwide believe that children should be thoroughly indoctrinated with Green/Left, feminist/homosexual ideology but the "3 R's" are something that kids should just be allowed to "discover"

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