The Causes of Illiteracy - Is it As Simple As a "Proper Education"?

Have you ever thought what it would be like if youTeachers Aren't Learning.'"
were unable to read or understand a word of thisPHONICS READING SCHEME
blog? Doubtless you would be feeling the sameThis was the feeling of award-winning teacher Phil
shame and isolation as the people I wrote about inBeadle in the UK Channel 4 series mentioned above.
my post: Reading Between the Lines last month.Throwing out the national curriculum for adult literacy
Tears were aplenty as they shared their stories inas unworkable because it required people to be able
the TV series Can't Read; Can't Write - and theyto read (work that one out) and was designed for
weren't solely those of the participants! There weimmigrants, he found innovative and diverse ways of
learned that in Britain, alone, over five million adultsteaching his class. Different people need different
have a reading age of 12 or less, or are unable tomethods of learning, he said. Which makes you
read at all. UNESCO reports one in five adults unablewonder why the UK government is refusing to fund
to read, two thirds of them women, and 72 millionsynthetic phonics as a means of improving the
children out of school, with many more attending onlysituation. If it works, say I, then bring it on.
irregularly. Ironic then, to be told by the DagSynthetic phonics has been proved, in some schools,
Hammarskjold Library (the UN website) that "close toto have a near miraculous effect on the majority of
four billion literate people in the world" is cause forchildren who have previously failed to learn to read.
celebration.The system is simple. Children learn the basic sounds
ILLITERACY IN AMERICAof language as it is spoken. These sounds are made
In the USA, The Illiterate Digest claims that 23 millionup of combinations of letters; thus igh becomes the i
Americans are illiterate (though MeriNews has thatsound as in slight or fight, rather than the sounds
number as a mere seven million). A dedicated websiteproduced by each individual letter i g h.
lists the percentages of illiterates in each town, whilstGiven that reading opens up the world in a way that
attributing the following quote to George W Bush:nothing else can, and that without it the whole basis
"One of the great things about books is sometimesof learning is denied children who might otherwise be
there are some fantastic pictures."bright, it is a scandal that we should question any
EDUCATION A HUMAN RIGHTproven method. What is the point of testing children
Monday 8th September was designated Internationalthroughout their schooling to see if they have
Literacy Day by the United Nations General Assembly.attained the required level in all subjects, if we don't
In their Universal Declaration of Human Rights, theensure that they have the most basic means of
right of every individual to education is recognized aslearning them?
"inalienable". With more than a billion adults worldwideEASY COME, EASY GO
unable to read or even write their name, according toBut is it that simple? Education, it has been said, is
Book Aid International, all attempts to achieve thiswasted on the young. And herein lies the rub. In the
Right must be seen as both a worthy cause, and adays when the only means of clambering out of the
daunting task.gutter of poverty was through learning (and that still
The UK based National Literacy Trust has a numberapplies to many parts of the world today), the very
of events in its calendar which anyone can sign upscarcity and elitist nature of education was what
for. USATODAY points to the classic Why Johnnymade it so attractive. Today, in the Western world,
Can't Read: And What You Can Do About It, writtenat least, its commonplace nature, combined with easy
half-century ago by Rudolf Flesch, and cites themoney in the form of benefits, and the great wealth
answer to the illiteracy crisis as being "within". It goesachievable by celebrity status, makes it a less valued
on to say: "The Knowledge Deficit by E. D. Hirschoption. Perhaps, one might almost say, despised. Until,
provides an equally persuasive analysis of thethat is, you've acquired the wisdom of hindsight and
educational weakness of the USA." And: "Anybodymaturity and are faced with the shame of not being
who doubts Hirsch's devastating critique should lookable to read your gas bill. Or the label on your
at the recently released report of the National Councilmedication! Or worse - you're technical savvy enough
on Teacher Quality, "What Education Schools Aren'tto operate your mobile phone, but 2 stoopid 2 spl th
Teaching About Reading - and What Elementarywerds 2 txt ur frend!