Letters to the Editor

Email from Tom Maguire, Barcelona, Spain, November 3, 2004

Hello Joe,

A little feedback on the Linguistics Relationship quote at: 
http://www.nurturingpotential.net/Issue15/NP15Theme.htm 

[Linguistic Relationships
It is well known among language teachers that pointing out the 
relationships between words in the target language (language to be 
learned) and the student's native language can be an aid to learning. 
The many English words that end in -tion, for example, which derive 
from Latin, are spelled exactly the same in French. These words also 
exist in Italian, Portuguese and Spanish with a slight but regular 
difference in spelling. This relationship has been and continues to be 
an extremely useful means of expanding vocabulary by students of these 
languages.]

This is an interesting point. It is highly probable that little is 
learned, as opposed to rote memorised, unless it can be integrated into 
the learner's own schema. This is why teaching has to start from the 
learner, not the content, in order to be effective. In some classes the 
learners are the content, but this is an extreme example. I would argue 
for maintaining a certain tension between stimulating objective content 
and learner experience. You can achieve this by pitching the task on the 
content so that pupils can relate to it. I would suggest starting with 
the Nlp categories of Visual, Auditory and Kinaesthetic as general 
guides to learner perceptions. To pitch a reading task, for example you 
would choose an adventure story, a descriptive story and a story with 
dialogue and do them in turn. Each would appeal to a different style of 
learning and at the same time teach it to the others. Another feasible 
framework for pitching lessons is through catering for multiple 
intelligences. Use content material that appeals to a certain type of 
intelligence, in turn.

Regards,

Tom
Carpe Diem.
-Visit Nlp in Education http://www.xtec.es/~jmaguire 
-Join Nlp-Education mailto:nlp-education-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Email from Mark Edwards, Devon, UK, December 17 2004

Hi Joe,

I've had a look at the article written by Penelope Waite. ^[1]

The fact that Penelope Waite retired from teaching some years ago is quite evident in her article about developing the gifted child. Anyone who has had the misfortune to be in a classroom teaching on a regular basis in the last couple of years or so will know that teachers have no freedom whatsoever – let alone the ‘freedom to employ a wide range of inventive strategies that meet the child’s intellectual needs.’ There is absolutely nothing wrong with the gist of the article in terms of meeting the ‘gifted child’s’ needs – it merely states, in Basil Fawlty’s immortal words, the bleedin’ obvious.

The article is another manifestation of the problem with education in the UK today – trying to provide an individualised curriculum within a cost effective system based on educating children in groups of thirty. Add to that a Government which is obsessed with a very narrow measure of educational attainment. The result is a pressure on the classroom teacher which is basically unendurable and the cause of the majority of newly qualified teachers leaving teaching within four years.

Unfortunately Ms Waites' article will not have served to reverse that trend. She will also not have endeared herself to teachers by suggesting that most of them are not professionally qualified enough to be able to spot a ‘gifted and talented’ child. I suggest that her energies, rather than criticise the shortcomings of state schools in meeting the needs of these very special children (whom I suspect will be quite OK in later years – Einstein and Churchill managed it)  might be better spent challenging the Government over why a quarter of eleven year olds are still failing to reach the expected targets in reading and writing.

Yours sincerely

Mark Edwards

[^[1] Find it at http://www.nurturingpotential.net/Issue16/Education16.htm. Penelope Waite's response will be published in the next issue of Nurturing Potential.  In the meantime, readers (particularly those involved in education) are invited to contribute their own comments via e-mail to letters@nurturingpotential.net.]