Education: The Only Profession Everyone Thinks They Can Run

The following tweet captures a maddening truth: 

Education is one of the few fields where people with no training feel entitled to dictate methods, policies, and “best practices.” Nobody would let a passerby advise a surgeon mid-operation or redesign an engineer’s bridge. Yet in classrooms—especially in reading instruction—voices from policymakers, academics, influencers, and even trainers who’ve never sat with a failing child often carry more weight than those who have.

Confusion due to many sounds of letters

The second reason why many kids shut down from learning to read, is that teachers do not tell them at the onset that most letters of the English alphabet represent many sounds.

Having learned one sound of a letter and then when a second sound is introduced without the kid being informed that that same letter represents more than one sound, the kid shuts down. Kids predisposed to shutting down disengage from learning to read and are then wrongly classified as dyslexic.

India too has been afflicted with wrong phonics

Last year the parent of one of my past students requested me to help her sister in India whose child was not reading at grade level.

I spoke with the mother, via Whatsapp, and asked her to record how her daughter read a few of the consonants I gave her.

Here is an audio of the sounds (now converted into a video) of the few consonants I had sent her to have it recorded.

If a child can speak

On 27.12.2019, I came across an excellent blog by Mark Anderson @ Manderson. The author had taken great pains to write the article. He has done extensive reading but is still groping in the dark as to why many children cannot read in English.

Unfortunately, he is looking for research reports and is unable to think for himself. He is not going to find any research reports telling him the wrong ways the letter sounds are taught. He has to wait for research students doing research based on what is in my blog.

Following are a few excerpts from his article with my comments as usual.

Is phonics the culprit

Yesterday, 23.1.2020, I read a post by one Amy Gibbons which stated the following;

There is 'little or no evidence' that phonics improves reading, study finds.

Academic says we should consider 'alternative methods of reading instruction', despite minister's support for phonics.

Empirical evidence

An educator who had worked in several positions for 45 years and who is 80 years old and now retired – said on 11.1.2020 in a comment on one of my posts;

“As long as it is empirical, Americans are comfortable

but if it isn't empirical it is suspicious stuff.”

What has happened to the common sense of the American people?

Letter sounds taught in Malaysia

Here is one of several video clips I received from a teacher in Malaysia on how letter sounds are taught in most Malaysian schools.

Adding extraneous sounds to consonants

This is a follow up to my post yesterday.

This is how consonants are taught all over the world. 

Beating Dyslexia

Many of the YouTube videos I had complained about have been deleted.

Corroborative evidence – from the horse’s mouth -David Boulton

The following is what is extracted from a YouTube video by David Boulton 

Unnatural confusion?

                                                 Image taken from Children of the Code.

The following is the departing message from David Boulton to me on LinkedIn in 2017.

Dr. David Boulton:

I have been bombarded over the years with people 'certain' that if only their way was adopted (spelling reform to instructional method) everyone would be great readers. I don't have the time or interest in being the object such people want to stroke themselves with. I am clear and on the record for decades re what is the reason children struggle to read English. If as you say you have been through my work you'd know that. I appreciate that you help people. I don't want to engage further with you. I am not interested in being a platform for self aggrandizing. I wish you all the best.