Cathy: I am very glad the conversation has turned to the program issue. The
"programs" to support surface structure and easy to develop and (suppposedly)
research - that is why they are so prevalent and are being cranked out and
marketed so ambitiously. Programs for deep structures are tougher - and
probably impossible - to create, because we have to let the kids take the lead.
Hard to follow a script when as soon as you ask a child what he knows about a
tornadoes, he tells you he used to live in Kansas and was in an F-5 one time,
etc..(This happened to me!) The teaching of the deep structures requires real
knowledge on the part of the teacher, and this may be the heart of the issue.
We have to work at helping teachers value their own knowledge enough to not
rely on the teacher's guide.
Bev:
The other thing about "programs" and their content is that if they can be
"measured" and measured in 4-6 weeks, they have to be itty bitty parts!! There
is no deep structure instruction that can be measured easily, quickly, cheaply,
"scientifically," and at close intervals.
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