[senco-forum] Re Reading research project

I should advise anyone thinking of participating in my research project to read the very revealing comments on the RRF website (www.rrf.org) about my proposal. They make much of  the notion that they support evidence-based research but in reality,  are fearful of real, practical research. They favour searching the literature for and propagating anything that supports their own ideas. And of course, almost you can find 'evidence' in the literature to support almost anything. Remember the literatti who fell over themselves to support the 'Peter and Jane'  approach. I certainly do.
They claimed that my project (1) will give children dyslexia, carefully ignoring the fact that participating children will already have an average five/six year record of failure to learn to read (funny kind of logic that!)  
They claim (2) that this research has already been done (!!!) in spite of having no inkling of what the project involves 
and (3) that it is about getting children to learn list of words. The reality is that it is not about getting children to learn any words, singly or in lists but small details like that dont phase fundamentalists one bit. Theirs is the true path. If you don't beleive them, just ask and they will tell you so.
and (4) that it is just the usual 'balanced literacy/mix of methods'(???)  that is already being carried out (I dont uderstand that one myself).

They offer the usual kind of pseudo-intellectual 'proofs' that are used by all fundamentalists in every walk of life. They carefully avoid reference to the fact that I have the hardest kind of evidence of having already completed a very large scale published research project which did not include any phonics teaching yet mysteriously and  undisputably, turned literally hundreds of virtual non-readers into competent readers and earned the praise of their current president before she became president (I still have the emails). But of course, the prevailing wind has changed since then!
One leading contributor asks "Will the parents be warned that a possible outcome of the experiment?" and this from the group that proposes the impostion of SP irrespective of the views of all teachers, headteachers and parents. Additionally they make no bones about the fact that they would have it taught as a compulsory component of NURSERY Education. Beware all fundamentalists.

I defy anyone to read their mails and not think about the three witches in Macbeth sitting round their cauldron, stirring their foul brew.

I welcome and distribute their contribution which I suspect may be at least partly responsible for the good response I am already having to my request for participation (14 enquirers after about two hours) I wonder if, after the one-term project, participating teachers confirm that no dyslexics have been created, they will apologise. That would be the reponse of any responsible person with any degree of intergrity and intellectual honesty. My expectations are not high.

Keep them coming.

Eddie C.