John Bald/language and literacy

National Languages Conference 2022. Introduction to panel comments, extended version.

This is a more detailed version of my introductory remarks to the panel presetation, 19t Oct 2022. 

 

Download National Languages Conference 2022

Insetcourses.com Amsterdam, SATIPs, YPO, Languages Show.

I'm pleased to be working once again with Rod Smith, Director of Insetcourses.com, on a two-day conference at the British School in Amsterdam on 20 and 21 October. I'll be leading two half-day seminars, respectively on tackling dyslexia and the new national curriculum for languages.

SATIPs (Support and Training in Prep Schools) is offering two seminars on languages this term, on Eliminating Failure in Language Learning (Nov 7) and on Teaching Languages to Dyslexic Pupils (Oct 10).

Yorkshire Publishing (YPO) offers a seminar in Wakefield on Tackling Dyslexia in the Primary School: Getting our Retaliation in first, on 24th September.

I'll also be offering a seminar on Successful Language Learning for Pupils Assessed as Dyslexic at the Language Show, Olympia, on 17th October.

 

Memory, abuse, neglect, and use...

Not the easiest of lessons with bsyo this week - other commitments had left a gap of three weeks between lessons, and it showed in her ability to recall what we had learned last time (ight), as well as in a slowing of her use of phonically regular information from letters. A litte revision, plus the technique of having her select words written on slips of paper as I called them out, brought us back into line by the end of the lesson. As a weakness in memory had been identified by her school, the experience reminded me of the need to build up memory in weak readers by keeping on flashing back to new material until it is automatically recalled from long term memory. The flashbacks can and should be turned into whatever games and activities the child enjoys.  Finished the lesson with a choice between some medieval art and Audubon's birds. Bsyo chose the birds, and we looked at around a dozen plates - I have the original water colour edition, not the £20m version - and read the names, which included regular and irregualar words. This is the double-tracking idea, in which the learner is engaged at their full intellectual level as well as tackling basic reading. Bsyo is indeed bright, and enjoyed this.

This was another reminder of the road education continues to travel in its use of memory. For millenia, memory has been abused by mindless rote learning - although the ancients did leaves us two very useful techniques, the room and the journey (you attatch what you want to learn to familiar contexts, which provide prompts.) Then, from around Thomas Dewey onwards, we had a revolt against this that led to a total neglect of memory, which deprived learners of useful knowledge, such as multiplication tables and grammar.  This remains prevalent. Brain research, which is giving us genuine insight into the role of memory in thought, is beginning to redress the balance, but it takes decades for such knowledge to work its way into the education system, where so much is determined by the balance of political forces, and by sheer force of habit.  

Memory is a key tool, without which the brain cannot function. Investigate....

 

Training for Teaching Assistants - Frederick Gent and Abbs Cross Schools

Many thanks to the teachers and assistants at Frederick Gent (Alfreton, Derbyshire) and Abbs Cross (Hornchurch, Essex) for their warm welcome and excellent participation in two training days this week (April 08). As promised, here is a link to the updated powerpoint file that was the basis of the course.

Download synthetic_phoncs_and_the_child_with_special_needs.ppt

Some colleagues asked for more guidance on helping children with modern languages. Here are some key points on that area:

1. Try to make sure you understand the aspects of the language you are supporting. You might find Collins' Easy Learning grammar books helpful. If you're not sure, ask.
2. Get the clearest possible idea of what the child does and doesn't understand.
3. Slow things down, unpack and explain. You may well find a Language Master (Drake Educational) helpful. Colleagues may call this an old fashioned device, but it is amazingly versatile and useful for this purpose. I'll do a separate post on it over the next week, but check to see if your school has one. It may well be stuck in a cupboard.
4. Develop little practice routines for children to work on - don't go on to one thing before they've learned the last.
5. You'll see from other posts in this weblog that I have grave concerns about the National Curriculum for languages, and that I have no confidence in the ability of the QCA and DCFS to improve it. The basic problem is going too fast and not explaining things enough. I've given a presentation to heads of department in Havering on the subject, and am happy to do more work in this area on request.

Thanks once again for making these two of the most satisfying days' work I've ever done.

Institute of Education, London.

I'm very pleased to have a new client in the Institute of Education, which has asked me to offer the following two day courses:

Using Phonics to Tackle Literacy Problems           Friday October 10th

Using ICT to Teach Languages                             Friday October 3rd

For details, contact the Institute of Education CPD department, cpd@ioe.ac.uk
Tel: 020 7612 6589/6987

Current activity

I've contributed seminars on languages to The Education Show and BETT this term, and have several days' work training teaching assistants to teach reading, as well as a day with a primary school on classroom observation techniques. I'm offering a course next term with the Lighthouse organisation on teaching languages to dyslexic students. I've recently helped an Academy  recruit a head of modern languages, and continue to lead on primary languages for The Learning Trust (Hackney).