The participants were Marie Donovan of the Erikson Institute for Advanced Study in Child Development and Joseph Layng, director of the Personalized Curriculum Institute at Malcolm X College. Among the many points that Joseph Layng and I agree upon is the critical need for the school system to provide more relevant, more truly helpful means for teachers to amend their practices. I question, however, the depth of teacher change after undergoing such an indoctrination.
Teachers work from a script and are trained to follow that script to the letter.
I wonder what it does to the exchange between teacher and student. What concerns me most about the reintroduction of DI is the manner in which it is being handled, which has nothing to do with Joe Layng and everything to do with the current School Board's handling of instructional issues. It was clear to all of us in the field that Mr. Chico either hadn't spent any significant time in classrooms before making his remark, or, if he had, he didn't pay close attention to what he saw. The next time he plans a visit to a whole language classroom, I suggest he first spend time alone with the teacher to learn in detail how a whole language curriculum works. Should the board disagree with my interpretation, I implore it to issue a position statement soon.