by Sara Mcgrath

Created on: May 12, 2010

The smartest role for government in childhood literacy and education programs is as funding manager, not as curriculum planner. According to long-time educational theorist and former educator, John Goodlad of the Institute for Educational Inquiry in Seattle, government involvement with education has resulted in fifty years of failed school reform and contributed to a failing education system.

Goodlad proposed that the role of government in education should not be to develop a mission or curriculum for schools, but rather to fund regional centers that "provide comprehensive renewing inventories to assist local schools and communities in selecting from the richness of this planet what is important and compelling for the educational trajectory of the young" ("The Negative Reality of Schools." Examiner, May 2010).

Former educator and school reformer, John Holt, wrote about young children learning to read as a simple matter, but one that they learned best on their own and in their own ways. The role of the adult or educator, then, is availability and willingness to read to the child, provide reading materials, and otherwise participate as the child requests.

Holt warned against the use of oversimplified children's readers in favor of reading material of the child's choice. He also warned against a focus on phonics and presentation of grammar rules while the child is in the process of figuring out for him or herself how to read. He observed that children learned to read most quickly and easily with little more than exposure to lots of print (Learning All the Time, Da Capo Press, 1990).

Learning to Read

As John Holt observed, children learn to read when they are exposed to a lot of print. Print comes in many forms, not just books. Holt suggested pinning up a page of The New York Times. Nowadays, many young children find motivation to learn to read in video games and websites. Several websites have been designed for the purpose of helping children learn to read. Learn-to-read websites include Starfall, Sesame Street, and PBS Kids.

It appears that modern schools with complicated reading programs have complicated the development of a simple skill. It's important to remember that children don't all learn to read in the same way, so one enforced public reading program cannot meet the needs of all children. It makes more sense to forgo the programs and approach a simple skill in a simple way. The government's role should remain in the realm of general oversight and funding, not design or enforcement of programs. As Goodlad proposed, the government should fund small, community-based centers that pay close attention to the needs local children.

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