The following letter was submitted to The Courier-Mail for possible inclusion in the edition of Saturday 30 April 2016 but it was not selected for publication.
Dyslexia not a clear cut thing
Fiona Brady (Letters, April 28) wrote that her Year 3 son cannot read and that he has dyslexia. She has my sympathy.
No doubt many readers believe that the term dyslexia has a precise scientific meaning backed by widely agreed research and that experts at least, if not all ordinary classroom teachers, know exactly how students with this condition should be supported. That is certainly what I used to think. Many readers might be interested to learn that a 2014 book entitled The Dyslexia Debate argues that this is not so. The authors are Professor Julian Elliott from Durham University in the UK and Professor Elena Grigorenko from Yale University in the US.
They acknowledge that "many believe that a diagnosis of dyslexia will shed light on a reader's struggles and help identify the best form of intervention". However, their comprehensive and critical review of the available research literature leads them to the conclusion that use of the term adds little value.
All students should be supported to learn to read effectively. It should not depend on parents paying to have their children officially diagnosed as dyslexic.
Garry Collins
Tags: General news |
March Seminar 2021: Challenge and Change: Doing things differentlyWe are delighted to announce that we will be back with face to face professional learing events in 2021 - usual format but with some important changes: the March Seminar will be a full day event; the AATE-ALEA National Conference will be held in Brisbane in July and consequently there will not be a state conference. The Program Our fi... |
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Grammar at Hervey BayA grammar workshop will be held at Hervey Bay State High School to assist attendees to develop their understandings of grammar in order to fully comprehend and to effectively teach the Australia Curriculum: English (AC:E). Also highly relevant to Years 11 & 12. This will be an updated re-run of the activity conducted in both 2018 and ... |
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May Masterclass 2021THE CHALLENGE OF TEACHING ANALYSIS: DO WE NEED TO CHANGE OUR PRACTICES? Teaching the process of analysing texts in order for students to produce a spoken or written response remains amongst the most exciting and difficult challenges we face as a community of English teachers. Building on lessons from ETAQ's 2020 student and teacher ev... |
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JCU SpectacularJoin Dr Claire Hansen for a two-hour session on teaching Macbeth. We'll dive into an exploration of the language of Macbeth and teaching strategies to engage students with Shakespeare's Scottish play. The workshop will also explore learning activities for Macbeth created by the Shakespeare Reloaded project. This session will... |
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Grammar DayETAQ will be conducting another of the very successful grammar days on Saturday 29 May 2021. The venue will be Elanora SHS; any one who wishes to come is welcome. |
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Jennifer Alford, QUT
The six practices of English teachers who effectively exercise their agency.
Tristan Bancks, author
Keynote: A future-facing method for inspiring young writers
Workshop: Vision boarding
This is the first time I have been to an ETAQ conference and it was really sensational to get so much at all of the sessions.
ETAQ conferences always have sessions that make me excited to be a teacher.
I know that ETAQ conferences in the past have never disappointed - valuable, relevant, practical, inspiring so I came again.
Read AllConnect to a great range of people who are passionate about English and have their finger on the pulse.