First of all, I thought I'd call upon some paragraphs in Sir Jim Rose's 'Final Report' (March 2006) which refer to certain 'giveaway' phrases that are commonly-used in the teaching profession (and beyond) which reveal a lack of full understanding - typical phrases which are based on misconceptions. In other words, Sir Jim Rose himself tackled such phrases and notions head-on where appropriate.
I pulled a few extracts together from Sir Jim's report way back in 2006 to address this and you can see them here:
http://www.syntheticphonics.com/pdf%20f ... 202006.pdf
Here are some of the most common notions/misconceptions revealed by 'giveaway' phrases taken directly from Sir Jim Rose's historic report:
See how he addresses the 'children learn in different ways' and 'one size does not fit all' notions:
33. ... It was clear from responses to the interim report that some believe its recommendations ran counter to the view that 'children learn in different ways'. These views were often expressed as 'one size does not fit all'.
34. However, all beginner readers have to come to terms with the same alphabetic principles if they are to learn to read and write.
... Moreover, leading edge practice bears no resemblance to a 'one size fits all' model of teaching and learning, nor does it promote boringly dull, rote learning of phonics.
It is quite common for people to suggest that 'dyslexic' children struggle with phonics and should therefore should be taught by different methods or approaches. Sir Jim has this to say:
46. ... it is generally accepted that it is harder to learn to read and write in English because the relationship between sounds and letters is more complex than other alphabetic languages. It is therefore crucial to teach phonic work systematically, regularly and explicitly because children are highly unlikely to work out this relationship for themselves. It cannot be left to chance, or for children to ferret out, on their own, how the alphabetic code works.
Regardless as to whether children have 'dyslexic tendencies', they still need to be taught, and learn, about the alphabetic code - there is no alternative method or approach that replaces this necessity. Teachers need to ensure their phonics provision is of the highest quality and effectiveness despite children's individual challenges and learning needs.
One very common anti-phonics phrase is 'barking at print', see what Sir Jim says about this....
49. ... children may appear, some would say, to be 'barking at print' without fully understanding what they are reading' Although this is often levelled as a criticism of phonic work, such behaviour is usually transitional as children hone their phonic skills. Given that even skilled adult readers may find themselves 'barking at print' when they are faced at times with unfamiliar text, it is hardly surprising that children may do so in the early stages of reading.
Sir Jim also addresses the notion of 'individual learning styles' in this way:
58. The multi-sensory work showed that children generally bring to bear on the learning tasks as many of their senses as they can, rather than limit themselves to one sensory pathway. This calls into question the notion that children are categorised by a single learning style, be it auditory, visual or kinaesthetic.
I encourage visitors to our forum to add examples they find in current articles, blogs, forums which demonstrate the prevalence of such common misconceptions. Our international teaching profession really needs to move beyond these notions to be able to provide the highest level possible of reading instruction. Teaching must surely be informed by both the body of research findings and leading-edge practice. To this end, also, I encourage people to spread the word about utilising the freely available, statutory Year One Phonics Screening Check - as England's phonics results are providing a benchmark for the teaching of phonics which is fundamental to reading acquisition.