Re: phonics and/or whole language (was Schmidt and Klonsky)

[Rick Parkany <rparkany@BORG.COM>]

Oh, my! Bonnie:        I've been to much engaged across this list all day, I'm
averse to chime in once more--but...

...here's a reference I'd negelected to make from off th' Bre'r Rabbit
motif...    ;-} rap.

Whole Language Umbrella :
http://www.ncte.org/wlu/
The Whole Language Umbrella is a group of action. From our conferences and
publications, to our Interest Action Groups, WLU represents the voice of whole
language education. Together we make a difference.

[See below for more on this consortium of like-minded action researchers...]

Bonnie Blustein wrote:

> Has anyone reflected much on why the reading debate gets polarized into
> phonics "versus" whole language?  My mom was a reading specialist for
> decades, and she believes that it's self-evident that students learning
> English need both (maybe it's different in Spanish, which is much more
> phonetic).  English is not simply phonetic, so kids need to learn a certain
> vocabulary of "sight words" but it would be ridiculous to have them memorize
> every word as a sight word (without using phonics as a decoding device) so
> they need phonics too, and they need to be able to use context + phonics to
> decode words they are encountering for the first time.
> I am not an expert, but I wonder how anyone could actually teach "pure" one
> or the other (I gather that phonics folks have long lists of "exceptions"
> which are basically sight words).  And I wonder even more how and why the
> debate got so sharply polarized.
> Is it because of the prevailing working philosophy we've all absorbed, which
> leads us constantly into mistakes that are either mechanical or idealistic?
> (That is, would a healthy dose of good dialectical materialism help?)

...SNIP...
A healthy dose, indeed! as in: *the patient survived the disease, but died from
the cure.* As I alluded this afternoon: couldn't we all read a bit more of
Engles and a bit less of Marx, and then reinvestigate Vygorsky (banned and muted
by Stalin as DeChardin was by the Pope--and in the same Time)?..    ;-} rap.

 Whole Language Umbrella :
http://www.ncte.org/wlu/
The Whole Language Umbrella is a group of action. From our conferences and
publications, to our Interest Action Groups, WLU represents the voice of whole
language education. Together we make a difference.

                         You can be a part of our organization by becoming a
member and receiving our news/journal, Talking Points, by participating in one
or more of our Interest Action Groups which meet at our Annual Convention, by
networking with other whole language educators in your areas, and by attending
our Annual Convention.

                                                How Does WLU Serve Whole
Language Learning?


                              Promoting research and the study of Whole Language
theory and practice in teacher support groups, teacher education programs, staff
development programs and conferences.

                              Publicizing, publishing and disseminating
information on Whole Language to teachers, administrators, parents and other
decision makers and participants in education.

                              Facilitating collaboration among teachers,
researchers, parents, administrators and teacher educators.

                              Promoting Whole Language theory, curricula and
policies at the federal, state, provincial, territorial, and local levels.

                              Fighting against policies that disempower teachers
as decision makers in their own classrooms.

> --

"Dein Wachstum sei feste und lache vor Lust!
Deines Herzens Trefflichkeit / hat dir selbst das Feld bereit',
auf dem du bluehen musst." Peasant, Richard A. Parkany: SUNY@Albany
Prometheus Educational Services - http://www.borg.com/~rparkany/
Upper Hudson & Mohawk Valleys; New York State, USA