Saturday 9 April 2016

How to get 'grammar' wrong in primary schools

1. Create a system for describing human behaviour (in this case, 'language') which separates it off from what words mean and their social function (i.e. how we relate to each other using words).
2. Pretend that this system is water-tight, scientific, accurate, and produces right/wrong answers.
3. Pretend that good writing depends on inserting features of this system into writing.
4. Demand that teachers teach both the system and this method of writing to very young children.
5. Test children on it.
6. Judge teachers on the basis of the results of the test.
7. Call this rigour.