Lunde, Peter  says many true, and perhaps troubling things:

>Grammar is like playing a musical instrument: if you do not learn or
>practice it, you will not be able to play. Of course grammar is hard.
>Nothing of substance in the classroom is easily gotten. Those who engage in
>a basic discipline like grammar, without complaint, benefit all along their
>educational path.


The analogy with musical training rings very true, especially to me, since
my Bachelor's degree was in music theory, which perhaps explains my
fascination with grammar. Practice IS essential for success.

Also:

>Today, much of what passes as basic education has been stood on its head.
>Students are "customers" and teachers are "suppliers." Everyone is urged to
>be "practical" and only learn what is needed to get a job.

Yes, I think the "job training" attitude toward education is overemphasised
in society, often to the detriment of school systems and its 'customers'.

However, I don't agree that:

>The educationalsystem has been dumbed down to its lowest common
denominators so that the
>weakest minds can graduate from school. English  as a subject is very much
>glossed over to the point where many students cannot write a simple,
>sensible paper let alone sentence.

Most of the English teachers I know (here in Connecticut) hold rigorous
standards regardin WHAT they teach. The only issue I see being misapplied is
the teaching of grammar, which has been negated by the NCTE! What are
teachers to do with "information" given them by the main source of policy
and procedure, of content research, of information about the state of the
art? It is not easy to see that such an organization has made a serious
error - that's why it is so important for ATEG to be connected with them,
and for it to do its work. I just don't think it helps anyone to blame
teachers for following the line that has been "proven by research" and
supported by the NCTE; they haven't been shown enough to proof (yet) that
they SHOULD change.

>Also, Teachers coming out of colleges are incredibly weak in the
disciplines
>that they teach. Instead of strong fact-based knowledge about subjects,
they
>excel in child psychology and sociological "understanding."

I would like to know just how many child psychologists are actually teaching
English!

>Should I have been amazed when my daughter was marked wrong for identifying
London as the
>capital of England instead of Glasgow, which the teacher thought was the
>correct location?

I think you should be furious - but that teacher ought to be the exception,
not the rule (I have yet to meet a teacher of geography who would make such
an error).


>The fact remains that all levels of the secondary
>educational system have gotten weak and non-committed.

All I can say to this is: "Sweeping generalizations are NEVER true."


>The ultimate responsibility for the failure of grammar studies lies with
teachers and
>their professors.

Yes, and with the NCTE, and with societal attitudes, and with the
market-place, and ......., etc.!

>On the student side, learning responsibility  remains with
>parents who should demand excellent performance from their children. ....
>Nothing replaces the value of high standards, hard schoolwork, and
>perseverance.

Yes, absolutely; and parent involvement is invaluable in most cases - but in
our present social structure (e.g., with two working-parent families, or
with single parents working two or more jobs) this is not always possible.
Guess whom we need to help make change: politicians and business leaders!
They're also the ones whi blame the "education elite" for all the problems!

>There should be no excuses for poor teachers and lazy performance by
>students. Engaging in research-based cop-outs allow Americans to lean back
>and do nothing. The real world needs the strong standards of subjects like
>grammar back in the classroom, and it needs it now more than ever.


I always cringe when I'm told that we need to go "back" to something.
Especially when my own memory of "back then" proves that it wasn't so hot
(see my previous posting). I'd rather see better research than less. I'd
rather see improvements in teacher training than in complaints and
accusations of "copping out." I'd rather see innovation and growth than
"standards" (what an awfully dangerous thing that is!) and rigid rules.

And yes, the world needs improving. Let's move in a forward, dynamic,
positive, and (yes) rigorous direction towards better instruction.

Paul E. Doniger
The Gilbert School

"Reason enslaves all whose minds are not strong enough to master her." - G.
B. Shaw