Professors are teachers too

 

Here is a blog post entitled ‘Professors are teachers too’ that I read yesterday. It is a very well thought out post and should be read by anyone interested in education. As usual, I have copied a few extracts and added my comments. This is one of the very few blogs where comments appear on the blog without being moderated and removed after being left under moderation for months. 

 

Ask and empower teachers to tell their stories.

My response: I have told my story for more than a decade. When the discussion on LinkedIn and Twitter comes to a point when I ask questions that cannot be answered I am asked for my credentials and blocked saying they are not interested in anecdotal evidence. This happens despite my having taught more than 80 so-called dyslexic kids on a one-on-one basis since 2004.

It can’t be anecdotal if mothers/grandmas/teachers in other parts of the world have used my free-of- charge lessons to successfully teach their kids/students/grandchildren to read but who wants to think? 

Here is a post of 3 different teachers teaching kids to read using my book.  LINK 

I have, after research, written a book explaining why kids disengage from learning to read and I am told that my reasons are simplistic. How do I prove otherwise?

 

Do not shame and blame teachers.

 

My response: How not to blame teachers when they do not think for themselves and blindly accept what they have read. From 2010 to 2015 I wrote extensively that phonological awareness deficit cannot be the cause of ‘dyslexia’. I gave logical reasons for my disagreement but no one listened. That theory was debunked in 2017. This may be incredible but please google ‘phonologicalawareness deficit Luqman Michel’ and read some of my articles from 2010.

If phonological awareness deficit is not the cause of kids being unable to read, then what is? I have answered this question in my book above. 

 

Sure. I agree. We should absolutely ask questions and share research and challenge their ideas.

 

My response: I did my own research. I observed so-called dyslexic kids whom I taught on a one-on-one basis since 2004. I interviewed them and found out why they were unable to read when they first came to me for tuition. (I am not a trained teacher and did this because I was curious why intelligent kids were unable to read.) I have the answers but the researchers/professors/teachers are not willing to think. 

 

Two days ago I read a Tweet - Brad @BradleyKBusch

 

Dear lovely Twitter people, can you help?  (Yes I am talking directly to you dear reader). I am trying to create a list of education interventions that were popular, but in hindsight were built on correlational not causation studies.

Does anything come to mind?

I replied to it in my blog yesterday but will I get a reply? LINK