Let's Show Kids HOW Writing Works...
UPDATED July 2021 Education consultant Dr Peter Knapp was quoted in an article by Janine Ferrari in The Australian, November 29th, 2014 as saying, ‘Kids come out of primary school without mastering the technical aspects of writing and yet secondary schools aren't equipped to teach writing or, in many cases, prepared to teach it.’ Let's examine that statement a little... There appears to be a persistent belief that Primary Schools are expected to teach students to read and write, and Secondary School can then focus on reading and writing to learn. This falsehood has been around since my teacher training days –more than four decades ago! It denies the developmental nature of learning. It fails to recognize the influence of immigration on the school system, and it certainly shows a disregard for students as learners. We learn at different rates. We don’t all learn to tie our shoe laces on a predetermined day. Why would we assume that all learners r...