If Learning Is So Natural, Why Am I Going to School

Kelly L. Green is the co-editor of the Children’s Literature edition
of the Canadian Book Review Annual.

Controversial ex-Globe and Mail education columnist Andrew Nikiforuk is
willing to kill even the most sacred of educational cows in his search
for hard information that will help parents make tough decisions about
the education of their children. Never pretending to be unbiased, he
states his own opinions clearly, but always offers readers reasoned
arguments to support his views. A proponent of direct instruction and a
sequential curriculum, Nikiforuk takes on educational trends like
co-operative learning, invented spelling, and outcomes-based education,
and shows how ideas or concepts with some value can become debased by
inappropriate or overzealous application. He is not afraid to tackle
complex debates other writers avoid, such as the linguistic wrangles
over the effectiveness of French Immersion programs.

His enthusiasm about certain issues (phonemic awareness, for example)
does cause him to miss the boat occasionally. In the section on
children’s literature, he deals exclusively with the work of Theodor
Geisel (Dr. Seuss), a standard-bearer among phonically based,
intelligently written children’s books. While no one disputes Dr.
Seuss’s contribution, to limit a discussion of children’s literature
to his work (especially in Canada, where we have produced hundreds of
superb children’s writers) is ludicrous. Simply omitting a section
devoted to children’s literature and calling this essay “Dr.
Seuss” would have avoided this problem, and would not have been
inconsistent with Nikiforuk’s vision for this book. As he himself
states, the book contains no entries under the topics of music, art, or
sport, so there was no need to enter into a less than complete
discussion of children’s literature.

Such quibbles aside, parents with questions about their children’s
education (essentially all parents) will find this dictionary-style
educational reference book an exceptionally useful resource.