Three Reasons You Should Know About Dr. Paul Thomas, by Robert Hankes

Robert Hankes blogs every Friday. 

Surfing the ‘net, “Teaching reading” the worm on my hook, I learned of Dr. Paul Thomas. Some of you probably know of him, particularly if you disbelieve in the Science of Reading and believe in Reader’s Choice. He’s an Education professor at Furham University in South Carolina. More importantly, he taught high school English in rural South Carolina for 18 years before becoming a teacher of Education. He’s written many books and articles and has spoken long and loud about the problems with the Science of Reading. Here’s a fuller list of his accomplishments. https://www.furman.edu/people/paul-thomas/

Reason One: He’s willing to tell the truth to the power. In an article called “Reading as a First-Mile Problem: Recognizing the Role of Poverty and Inequity in Literacy Development,” he says this about what really causes reading problems: what we refuse to recognize is that measurable reading achievement is a marker for the disadvantages of poverty and inequity in both the lives and schooling of vulnerable populations of students (students in poverty, black and brown students, English language learners, special needs students).” Reading achievement doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Where does the inequity come from? Trace it back to 1619. It’s as though slavery put a curse on the United States, and until that wrong of slavery, with all its bias and discrimination, is righted, some problems will persist. “ . . . reform in reading must start with addressing poverty and inequity in every child’s life. Alleviating poverty, addressing food security, improving work opportunities and security, adopting universal health care — these are issues of equity that would allow all students to acquire reading in ways that are now common for affluent students (often before entering formal schooling).” Read Thomas’s whole 2020 article at https://plthomasedd.medium.com/reading-as-a-first-mile-problem-250853afac27

When will politicians address these root problems, and stop making producers of educational “cure-alls” rich?

Reason Two: He takes the long view. In “Misreading the Reading Wars Again (and Again)” (https://plthomasedd.medium.com/misreading-the-reading-wars-again-and-again-d76d4491e568 ) he writes that the Reading Wars “are into their twelfth decade of crisis rhetoric.” Why? Who is affected by whether phonics or Whole Language is taught? For one, producers of reading instructional materials. In last week’s blog I cited that Maryland is spending multi-billions of dollars implementing the Science of Reading, and that’s just one state. Thomas also cites NCTQ—National Council on Teacher Quality—writing, “NCTQ is a partisan think tank exclusively committed to discrediting teacher education. Their reports, when reviewed, are deeply flawed in methodology and typically misread or misrepresent research in order to reach the only conclusion they ever reach — teacher education is a failure! (Like reading instruction, apparently, has always been.) " For more information on the Reading Wars, see Thomas’ article, tracing the rhetoric back to 1942 https://radicalscholarship.com/2023/01/28/the-long-and-tired-history-of-media-driven-reading-wars/

Reason Three: He can laugh about it. At his website radicalscholarship.com, you’ll find his satire on the Reading Wars. Scroll down to where you read about the newest old invention in reading education, something called Fun-X. https://radicalscholarship.com/2024/06/26/new-product-fun-x/ Based on “The Science of Phonics,” practitioners and students will enjoy this refreshing approach:

That’s right, the program is 100% nonsense words:

·       No thinking!

·       No meaning!

·       Just learn the rules and say the nonsense words.

·       Cultural differences? Doesn’t matter!

·       Dyslexia? No worries, the Science of Phonics^® shows we are all dyslexic!

 

Fun-X^® insures that

·       Everyone memorizes the same rules.

·       Everyone learns the same rules on the same day and the same way.

·       Everyone pronounces the same nonsense words.

·       Everyone takes the same nonsense word test, BABEL^® (available in the suite of support materials below).

 

It’ll be a great day when Fun-X is taught across the United States. Everyone starting on the same day.