This is the Reading Instruction Show.
I'm your host, as always, Dr. Andy Johnson.
The topic of today's podcast is related to reading and it is banishment.
Now I've been blocked from posting comments on some literacy Facebook group pages and
on other websites related to reading instruction.
They don't want my words to appear on their pages.
Nope.
And why is that?
Have I said something offensive?
Am I trying to sell products?
Have I posted pictures that have sexual comment?
Have I posted pictures of some part of my body that no one wants to see?
Have I made remarks that a racist or homophobic sexist, ableist, or insulting, abusive, rude,
or offensive in some way?
Am I making political or religious statements?
No.
So what in Heaven's name have I done to get blocked?
What heinous act have I committed?
What ungodly sin or vile deed have I done to become permanently banished?
This is what I did.
I had the temerity, the audacity, the nerve to post thoughts with which they did not agree.
Imagine that.
I had an idea that was a bit different than theirs.
As a matter of fact, it pointed out some of the possible science of reading shortcomings
and they would have none of that.
They needed to protect their members.
What about the children?
They said, we must protect the children.
They cannot abide by anything that does not align with their very fragile science of reading
paradigm.
Their science of reading paradigm shudders and cracks if it encounters ideas that do
not fully align.
It is oh so brittle.
So they create a protective bubble so that new or differing ideas will not be encountered.
They won't get in.
And thus I am shunned, banned, disallowed, exiled, expelled, spit out, regurgitated.
How dare I disagree?
I must think with the group.
As a matter of fact, I must not think at all.
Just believe what the science of reading group tells me.
Happy happy.
Believe believe.
Phonics phonics.
Science of reading.
Who could possibly disagree with anything that has science in the title?
Who could possibly find fault with anything followed by the word research?
How can one dispute data?
I mean it's data.
It's right there.
You can quantify it.
Numbers don't lie.
And research is conducted by scientists.
They wear white lab coats.
They know more than you and I.
So what's wrong with me?
This protective barrier guarantees permanent happiness for the jolly inhabitants of this
quaint little bubble world.
It protects them.
They never have to encounter a thought that would anyway disrupt their orderly view of
reading reality.
And in this way, they can guarantee that their thinking will stay the same forever.
Glory hallelujah.
In five or ten years, they'll be believing exactly the same things in exactly the same
way.
And what could be more wonderful than that?
The same simple answers can be continually applied to all the complex reading questions
that will ever arise.
And the same solutions can be applied to all struggling readers.
And who wouldn't want that?
And since they've been ensconced in their hermetically sealed world, wrapped in their
science of reading blanket, everything makes sense.
Their world is perfectly aligned.
We just need to buy the right science of reading approved curriculum, they think.
And this will lead to a glorious new era of reading instruction.
All children will be reading above average.
All reading problems will disappear and unicorns will be prancing about on school playgrounds.
So what do you do with people who say things that are contrary to your way of thinking?
Well, duh, everybody knows you shout louder.
You talk over them.
You silence them.
You demean them.
You call them names.
That's the way to win an argument.
And if that still doesn't work, you distort and pervert their views.
You misrepresent what they advocate.
You argue against something nobody believes in.
And then you point out how wrong they are and how right you are.
Now I wish this were an exaggeration.
It's a slight exaggeration.
But the reality is my thoughts are not wanted on a variety of Facebook pages and other sites.
That's why on my Facebook page, just like on my YouTube channels, LinkedIn and other
media posts, I will never block someone or delete any thoughts as long as they are respectful.
That is when people start calling names and making derogatory marks, I will give a warning
and then I will block.
Attached to this podcast is a link to my Facebook page, International Literacy Educators Coalition.
And here I welcome all ideas related to education and literacy.
If you have a different idea, let's bring it up.
Let's talk about it.
What about this podcast?
You say, aren't I being a bit snarky?
Yes.
Is snarky the same as name calling and derogatory?
Hmm.
I don't think so.
But I welcome snarky comments on my websites, but I will snark back a little bit and that's
okay.
The point I'm making, I've had to use snarky to get it out there that instead of engaging
and respectful conversation, people are shutting us out.
And here's the thing, for any field to evolve, it needs to encounter new ideas.
Nothing is fixed in forever.
And if you're not evolving, you are devolving.
And the field of literacy education will evolve only to the extent that we are able
to engage in civil discourse and respectful academic dialogue.
Ideas we speak with each other and we listen.
And it's important that we disagree.
This is how things evolve.
Even I don't agree with me all the time, meaning that the Andy of 2023 sees things a bit differently
from the Andy of 2016 or 18.
And I hope my views on things will always keep changing based on new data and new experiences.
But it will only occur if I'm willing to hear, to see, or to read things that do not always
align.
But aren't I just re-fighting the reading war?
Are there reading wars?
Well, here's the thing.
There was no reading war.
There was a coup in which one side used power, money, and influence to misrepresent and then
silence the other.
So how about it science of reading people?
Why are you blocking me?
What are you afraid of?
Let's start the conversation.
This has been the reading instruction show.
I'm your host, as always, Dr. Andy Johnson.