When School Is a Struggle

Agnes C. Farrell is a public-school teacher in Richmond, B.C.

Dudley-Marling was trained to teach students with learning disabilities
at a time when it was assumed that it is possible to “reduce learning
and teaching to sequences of fundamental building blocks or skills.”
In his work with students he has learned not only that this assumption
is flawed but also that it can have severe consequences for students who
have learning difficulties. The author writes from the perspective of an
educator who happens to be the father of a struggling child. He hopes
that this book will “present a concrete alternative to educators of
children who struggle.”

In fact, this book should be required reading for all educators. The
premise that a student learns to read by being required to learn a
series of discrete skills is still widely held by many teachers and most
parents. That most do learn to read without difficulty through this
method is given as proof that it works. However, it is probable that
most children learn to read in spite of, not because of, this method.
Dudley-Marling suggests that this method of teaching focuses on learning
how to do a task rather than on actually doing it. Students who learn
quickly go on to the richer experience of reading and writing on their
own. However, students who have difficulty with these tasks are given
more of the same meaningless exercises and soon become both bored and
discouraged.

All but the most severely handicapped learn at least one complicated
language system before entering school. They accomplish this not by
being subjected to meaningless drills but by practicing and
experimenting with language in a supportive environment. While
differences in learning to speak are accepted as normal, all children
are expected to learn to read within a few months of entering school.
Those who need more time are given remedial help, which often means
meaningless phonic exercises instead of more time being immersed in a
literature-rich environment. This book was written in the hope that all
children who must struggle to learn will be given the opportunity to
learn to read and write at their own rate, just as they learned to
speak.