My comments on a Substack Article by David Didau
Luqman Michel
Dec 16, 2025
Here are comments on Substack that I made on 16.12.2025 which has not received any response.
David Didau wrote: “We discount evidence that challenges us and overvalue evidence that confirms what we already think. The aim of research should not be to prove ourselves right but to find out where we are wrong.”
Since 2010, when I started my blog, I have been told numerous times that I should read research reports. Of course, I read research reports but I don’t accept them if they don’t make sense. We should think if research reports make sense and discard those that don’t appeal to our senses.
I am reminded of what Daniel Kahneman wrote in his book ‘Thinking fast and slow’:
Let us continue with the tweets by Dr. Sam and my replies on 8.10.23.
Dr. Sam:
You are at the starting stage of research. You need carefully designed research around this issue. You have promising practices. But at the end of the day yes we need peer-reviewed research for ideas to become widely accepted.
I am not sure if I am at the starting stage of research. As far as I am concerned, I have finished my research. We'll leave this for another day. Anyway, here is my reply.
Luqman Michel @luqmanmichel
Beginning stage of research? Perhaps you are right. I gave up employment in 2004 to learn why kids could not read in English but could read in Malay. I taught > 80 'dyslexic' kids and read incessantly any article on dyslexia. There is hardly anything new on dyslexia to read.
When is anyone going to teach kids Malay or Hanyu Pinyin and at the same time teach them English to research why they can read in 2 languages but not the third?
When is anyone going to do research on why kids disengage from learning to read?
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.
Evidence-based practices have been gaining ground since the formal introduction of evidence-based medicine in 1992 and have spread to the allied health professions, education, and other fields.
Many educators continue asking for research reports for
everything. Daniel Kahneman in his book –Thinking fast and slow - said, ‘We
are far too willing to believe research findings based on inadequate evidence
and prone to collect too few observations in our own research.' LINK.
Once a researcher says something everyone jumps on the bandwagon and repeats what he says without the slightest bit of thought. This is exactly what happened about 45 years ago when one researcher said that it was Phonological Awareness Deficit (PAD) that was the cause of dyslexia. More than a hundred so-called educators repeated what he had said.
I disagreed with the above theory and explained why it cannot be PAD which is the cause of dyslexia. Timothy Shanahan said that there were no research reports to support what I said.
Common sense will tell that if a kid can read in Malay and Hanyu Pinyin but not in English then the cause of that kid being unable to read in English cannot be because of phonological awareness deficit.
When educators cannot respond to my questions they ask me for ‘data’ and ‘peer reviewed’ reports.
Dr. Katherine Garforth Twitted the following:
“I have a long list of papers & books to read that are peer-reviewed and published. I would be happy to read your posts if you pay me for my time.’ (Dr. Katherine Garforth).
What Greg Ashman wrote in his post is relevant:
‘…peer review is a relatively new idea. Pretty much all of the science we teach in school was developed in the absence of peer review and so to insist that it is a fundamental component of the scientific method is stretching things somewhat.’
Here are two tweets from Dr. Kathryn Garforth that I wanted to ignore but in less than a week I read a blog post by Greg Ashman that I think I should share.
First, here are Dr. Kathryn Garforth’s tweets:
Kathryn Garforth, Ph. D.@GarforthEduc Oct 17 Replying to @GarforthEduc and @luqmanmichel
I have a long list of papers & books to read that are peer-reviewed and published, forgive me for not putting yours at the top of the list because of your aggressive & insulting manner in attacking my intelligence. I have paying clients that are my priority not boosting your ego.
As far as I know, your posts have not gone through the peer-reviewed process and published in a reputable journal. It is unrealistic to expect anyone to read absolutely every article they are interested in. I would be happy to read your posts if you pay me for my time.
Here are extracts from Greg Ashman’s blog post.
I could not have put it half as well as he has.
