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<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=467420810-29082007><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>I posted this one because it is very much a political
issue. There is a tremendous push in the UK for earlier and earlier formal
learning. School already starts in the academic year in which the 5th birthday
falls (so most children start at 4), and there is now a curriculum for
pre-school. There is little recognition of developmental range, and the
'expected' level has to be reached by a higher and higher proportion of children
every year. Children who cannot read after a year in school are seen as failing
-- this is at an age before children even start school in many
countries.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=467420810-29082007><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=467420810-29082007><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>The extension of this pedagogy into younger and younger
children is worrying. Much of what this article refers to as lacking in
pre-school children is educational rather than developmental or social (early
reading, phonological awareness, writing own name).</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=467420810-29082007><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=467420810-29082007><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>There is also a social class implication. The
thinking harks back to Bernstein's work half a century ago. There is a
belief that formal instruction can and should replace the 'inadequacies' of the
environment in working class homes. The poorest children in the UK are those who
are entitled to be given a free school lunch, and this is a measure of
disadvantage widely used in the UK.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV><!-- Converted from text/plain format --><SPAN
class=467420810-29082007></SPAN><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT
size=2>Anthea<SPAN class=467420810-29082007></SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT><BR>
<P><FONT size=2>* *
* * *<BR>Anthea Fraser Gupta
(Dr)<BR>School of English, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT
<www.leeds.ac.uk/english/staff/afg><BR>NB: Reply to
a.f.gupta@leeds.ac.uk<BR>* *
* * *</FONT></P></BODY></HTML>