Hi there folks. I hope you're doing well out there. I'm going to use this post to offload a little. I hope you don't mind. I've got a few things that have been floating around in the old brain of mine, and one in particular has me preplexed. I've been mulling this over for a while now, but about a week ago, I had a dream that somehow reminded me of this concern, and now that I have such a wonderful place to air these concerns, I thought I might take the liberty to share it with you. As usual, I don't profess to have all the answers, and you may well be inclined to think that, in this instance, I don't have any, but I'd like to present my case anyway!
Before we get into it, let's analyse a scenario quickly, shall we? Assuming you have your drivers licence, and assuming that the methods for getting them are similar in most countries, this should work quite well. Now, in South Australia, when we get our driver's licence, there are a few hoops, I mean processes, we have to take. I'm old, well, older, so I know the process has become a little stricter since I went through it, but back in my day, we needed to first pass a written test. This allowed you to get onto your Learner's permit.
During this time, you would practice driving with a fully licenced person - such as your Mum, Dad, or other responsible adult - in the front passenger seat. You would also take lessons with a government appointed qualified driving instructor. These instructors have been appointed to these positions because they have passed certification that states they have an exact knowledge of the road rules and are able to instruct learning drivers how to safely and accurately use the roads.
Suppose, though, that these 'qualified' instructors had not been tested correctly. Suppose that they missed the test on how to negotiate a round-a-bout, and were released onto the public to teach young people. These learners, who have little to no experience in driving, are relying on the 'qualified' instructor to teach them properly, but because they missed the round-a-bout test, how can they possibly teach them the road rules with any real certainty? Because of a lack of correct certification, when they taught the hundreds of learning drivers that come into their care, thay taught them incorrectly, sending them into the path of other drivers. And I'm sure you don't need me to explain the rest.
Onto The Concern
So why the scenario, Steve? Well, I thought that it illustrates quite well the concern I have. As alluded to in the opening paragraph, this concern is growing on me, and has been for probably six or seven years now. I have also alluded to this in one or two of my other posts, but am thinking that perhaps it deserves a place all of its own. You see, the scenario above describes the problem with instructors - educators, if you will - being sent out into the wide world, and guiding pupils when they are underqualified, and as such, educating them poorly, or worse, incorrectly.
Now, before you jump up and down and become indignant, I'm not saying that you, or any teacher you know, is not doing a good job - I know the environments we find ourselves in each day, and the often difficult circumstances we can face, so I am definitly not saying that. And I'm certainly not going to be generically sweeping my hand across the entire education system worldwide. No, I'm referring to one very small aspect of only some teacher's kitbags. The bit that is concerned with spelling.
I think it would be fair to say that spelling is a problem today. The younger generations have been struggling with spelling correctly for quite some time now. I've noticed a steady decline since my inception as a teacher eleven years ago, and I fear that we may have reached a point of no return, one where there has been too much water taken on board and bailing is now of no consequence. I could be wrong on that idea, but it seems that spelling problems are so rife in our schools that we can possibly not recover from the damage that has been caused.
I found myself, just the other day, marking some assignments, and correcting every second or third word in most of the submissions, and I got to wondering, when did we turn the corner? When did we (students, adults, society) stop caring about something as basic as good spelling and grammar? Now, my disclaimer here is, that I know I'm using generalities in some instances, and that there are still plenty of us who do actually care about spelling, grammar, and basic educational concepts such as this, so please don't think I've comepltely lost all hope (why would I be writing this otherwise!)! It would also be fair to say at this point, that not all students are bad spellers. In fact, in my years as a teacher, I've come across some students who are darn good at spelling too.
How Did This Begin?
I think this is one of those problems that has slowly snuck up on us. It has been occuring slowly - so slowly, that it's not until it's almost too late that it is noticed. There is no real point at which we can stop and say: Oh! That was it. That's the exact moment that spelling and grammar went down the toilet! No, unfortunately, it's a little less black and white than that. However, I do have a couple of theories that I'd like to put forward. The first is that we are now seeing a generation of poor spellers moving into positions where they can teach their bad habits to others (much like in the scenario presented earlier). The second is that there is no (or little) accountabiliy for today's student(s). Let's unpack these a little bit more.
When I was a first year teacher, I remember being quite astounded at how poor spelling and grammar was amongst the student body in general (yes, even back then I could see that we might be in trouble). You can imagine the usual suspects: 'There over their!', 'I cant believe I got a pour grade', and the examples could go on! Some of those responsible for the poor skills I encountered were in Year 12 at the time, and some of those students graduated and went on to university to study teaching. They no doubt took their poor spelling and grammar with them, and desipte lecturer's (and earlier on, teacher's) efforts, have continued on into the education profession with the same poor skills I came across when they were in Year 12 only four years prior. Now, they are passing their poor skills onto entire new generations of young people. I hope I explained that concern in an understandable manner - does it make sense? I guess, to try and put it more succinctly: students that I've taught who had poor spelling and grammatical skills are now working as teachers, passing on those bad habits to new generations of kids.
I'm also concerned that there is not enough accountability for students today. When I was at school, I was terrified of failing, but today, there simply doesn't seem to be that fear. Students know that they will make it to the next grade at the end of each year, often regardless of how much work they've actually completed, or how much they've actually learnt. Where is the motivation? Where is the drive? Why would you try to improve if you don't have to? Especially when you are young. At that age, I don't believe, except for the really exceptional students, that there is the maturity needed to see the benefits of self-improvement. This means that often, students will spend their entire school life, not needing to rectify their bad spelling and/or grammar. And then the circle begins again, compounding the issue further.
Is There a Solution?
I'm sure there is a solution. I'm sure there is something that can be done, but I'm again, afraid that maybe the boat has sailed. Have we thrown the proverbial baby out with the bath-water? I know that in South Australia, at least, pre-service teachers are now required to pass a spelling and grammar test before they can graduate into the classroom. This is one solution, but I'm unsure as to how stringent they are in not allowing students to pass, and the other problem with a test is that it is a 'flash in the pan'. It's not difficult to remember something for a short period of time - long enough to pass a test, for example. And then what happens to that knowledge you crammed in? Research suggests that it is slowly pushed out as new knowledge replaces it.
I also fear that a culture of non-failure has invaded society to the point where reneging on automatic graduation at the end of each school year is now too difficult. But if that is the case - if it is just simply too difficult, and not a matter of legality - what's to say that experiencing failure wouldn't have students suddenly taking notice. If a school was to impliment failure at the end of a school year for certain 'infringememtns' that reasulted in repeating the current year level, is it likely to have students scrambling to rectify whatever it is they needed to, in order to ensure that they could remain with their classmates and friends the following year? Fail one for the greater good of the many - I don't think a school would need to do it too many times before students realised the seriousness of the threat. But then the question is, who becomes the example when you're dicing with a child's sensibilities? Research also shows that holding students back a year level can actually be more debilitating than helpful. Like I said - there are solutions, but at what cost, and are they actually viable ones?
Conclusion and Thanks
Just by way of wrapping up, I hope that you understand my concern here, and not misunderstand and think I'm having a dig at teachers. As I stated earlier, I understand the trials that teachers can face - I'm standing at that same coal face day in, day out. My concerns are that generations of students are not getting the basic spelling and grammar skills that should be so important - even (maybe especially) in today's environment of spell checkers, and easy solutions. There is no substitue for knowing how to do something rather than relying on others to do it for you. Who knows, by knowing how to spell, the person you may help could be yourself.
Thanks for reading. As mentioned at the commencement of this post - it was more of an offload than anything highly educational or intellectually stimulating, but if it managed to generate some conversation around what I really believe is a major problem in society now, then I'm glad.
Please feel free to have your say below. I'd love to hear from you and get your thoughts or ideas on anything you've read here. Maybe you have a solution to share? Or perhaps you completely disagree (or agree) with my concerns. Do you have experiences similar to what you've read here, or are you currently training to be an educator and have something to input? Whatever it is, I'd love to get your point of view or idea(s).
Of course, the irony is that I've probably missed some spelling errors, or something isn't grammatically correct! Feel free to point this out too. Thanks again for taking the time to read this - it is appreciated.
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