Research
Question: Why don’t English teachers
read research in the field of English Education?
Quote: “However, we
also worry… that in the turn from the solving of problems to the studying of
issues, much of the perceived relevance and much of the functional purpose of
literacy research has been lost or obscured. Certainly the problem of
widespread impact by research on classroom practice predates the 1990s. For
example, although, as Hillocks notes, a long line of research concluded that
the teaching of school grammar was of little, no, or even negative value,
traditional school grammar continues to be widely taught. It is certainly also
true that for readers prepared to familiarize themselves with current social
theory and to read interpretively and critically there are many practical
insights to be gained from the New Research. Still, the social turn, at least
as it currently manifests itself in NCTE’s publications, has not seemed
effective in gaining the attention of, and changing the practices of, teachers
and policy makers.” P. 140..
Comment: The current emphasis in English education
research, NOT on solving teachers’ problems, but on social issues is not doing
much to help teachers. So teachers don’t read it. I would add that the emphasis
on social problems spills over into practitioner-oriented journals as well, and
I rarely read articles dealing with social issues. The focus on social issues
has been a trend in the NCTE for a long time. RayS.
Title: “100 Years of
Research”: Editors’ Introduction, M
Dressman, J McCarthey, P. Prior. Research
in the Teaching of English (November
2011), 133-140.
No comments:
Post a Comment