Most Twitters have a herd mentality and wear blinkers

 

Here is a tweet I commented on and was questioned and my replies:

Evan Robb @ERobbPrincipal Aug 15

To have a great team you must surround yourself with like-minded people!

@MichelLuqman

Where do I find people who can think?

Most of the educators on Twitter have a herd mentality and wear blinkers. They base everything on research reports and rarely think. Read what Daniel Kahneman said about research reports. LINK 

Note:

Since 2010, I have been questioned on my credentials and asked for research reports when common sense should prevail. This over-reliance on research reports as if they are the gospel truth is one of the main problems facing education. 

@DisruptEdToday then tweeted as follows:

I’m not sure you’re winning friends with your comment about “most educators” on Twitter.  I’d suggest a humble apology from you and then use this platform to introduce the work of the author. Educate us without insults. Be the teacher.

Note: I don’t blame the guy who twitted the above as he had not read my tweets or my blog posts. His tweet is acceptable.

@MichelLuqman

Thank you. I am not here to win friends. I said most and not all educators. I want the truth to be discussed. I have been sharing what I have learned from my students since 2010. Educators disagree without reason. We should be able to discuss matters openly.

After a while, I decided to explain.

@MichelLuqman

Perhaps you are right and I should apologise but please let me know to whom I should apologise.

Sally Shaywitz who left my comment on her Yale website for a few years without commenting and pulled down her post together with my long comment that I did not agree with her?

I wrote a long comment on Sally Shaywitz’s post on the Yale website that said it was a phonological awareness deficit that causes kids to be unable to read. I disagreed with what she said and I explained why I disagreed. My comment was left there with no reply for a few years until later when the whole post was taken down. I expect a responsible person to correct her mistake and move on.

@MichelLuqman

David Boulton who in 2015 blocked me for saying his promoted videos are teaching the wrong sounds of the letters and then immediately after that deleting his videos?

Note: Yes, David Boulton, the interviewer of the Children of the Code, blocked me on LinkedIn when I told him that his 2 videos teaching the sounds represented by letters were wrong and detrimental to kids. I believe this is the main reason why many intelligent kids disengage from learning to read and leave school as illiterates. David Boulton deleted both  his videos after blocking me. Should he have left the videos there for others to think for themselves? Read about this on my blog post here.

MichelLuqman

Timothy Shanahan, for saying he disagreed with me in 2015 for saying I disagreed on his statement that Phonological Awareness Deficit is the cause of kids being unable to read; who then made an about-turn in 2017 when new research reports surfaced?

Note: I respect him for not blocking me or deleting my comments, unlike David Boulton who deleted all my comments where I disagreed with him on the Children of the Code website. David should have left the comments there for others to decide for themselves if my comments are acceptable.  I had spent time (part of my life) commenting and he deleted them. This should be considered a crime.

@MichelLuqman

Dr.Sam who continues to call all struggling readers 'Word callers' despite having been given research reports on what are word-callers? LINK

Note: Many teachers swallow hook, line and sinker what teachers like Dr. Sam say. He should therefore be careful with anything and everything he tweets. If he believes he had made a mistake he should correct his mistake and move on. We should be responsible Twitters or stay away from social media.

@MichelLuqman

To Tim Rasinski, who says that learning to read is not natural and then not discussing the matter after having given him new research reports in addition to what I had researched? LINK

Note: His tweet is based on what David Boulton and his interviewees said more than 15 years ago. David and his interviewees did not teach kids in more than one language to understand that millions of kids can learn to read in transparent languages in 3 months. David in his latest video debating with Andrew Johnson said at minute 27:49 ‘the thing about the Italians that kids and Italians can read and learn to read in three months.’ This is what I have said for a decade. Kids can be taught to read in Malay in 3 months just by sitting them beside you and asking them to repeat sentences in books as you read to them. This then should make us ask what must we do to make students learning English to be able to read in 3 months. It can be done because I have done it.

To Faith Borkowski for saying 'Why aren’t more men following my Facebook High Five Literacy page?' after blocking me for asking questions?

Note: The following is what Faith Borkowski tweeted: I blocked Luqman and suggest you do the same. Faith Borkowski blocks me and then ask ‘Why aren’t more men following my Facbook?’ LINK

 

@MichelLuqman

To EminaMcLean and all her supporters whom I disagreed with when they said that learning 10 sounds of letters will get one to read 26,000 words?

Please look at the number of educators who said the same thing as Emina McLean. LINK

Why discourage teachers who teach kids to memorise the Dolch words? Memorising 220 Dolch words can get a child to write between 50 to 70 % of his essay correctly.

There are many more educators – Melanie Brethour, Debbie Hepplewhite, Sue Lloyd, Pamela Snow, Jo Anne Gross, Sara J Peden, Gale Morrison, Jennifer Buckingham, Peter Blenkinsop and many more who have blocked me for asking questions. How do we progress if we block others who ask questions?

Michel Luqman:

My friend, for 5 years I debated that phonological awareness deficit is not the cause of kids being unable to read. Did anyone of the educators here agree?

Why not?

If Phonological Awareness Deficit is not the cause of kids being unable to read, then what is? I have asked this question for several years now.