thenewgalaxy

Apparently we're illiterate and can't count compared to other industrialised nations according to the OECD.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-24433320

i dunt fink nowtz rong me self

ReallyReallyGoodMeat

Having seen the tripe on BBC Three, I can quite well believe our Labour-educated youth to be illiterate.

f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

You only have to read this forum to see how true that statement is!

RA Dunk

It's bought not brought you thickos!

So what's the cause then? Lack of discipline in schools? Is there a new method of teaching, that clearly isn't working?

I would blame lack of discipline myself.

thenewgalaxy

I understand a certain proportion of us are dyslexic and that some people on here simply don't care a damn about what they type, but when I first came on here I actually thought half of the users were foreign with English as a third language.

RA Dunk

I bet the actual number of real dyslexic sufferers are minute compared to the number of people who are just too thick or lazy to spell correctly and just use dyslexia as an excuse.

thenewgalaxy

Dyslexia is quite difficult to define exactly, many people think it is a specific condition but it is a learning difficulty so I guess that encompasses the loafers who feel lazy enough to not put the effort into learning.

The figures on dyslexia rates suggest 4% suffer it severely and around 10% of us show signs of it, though it would appear to differ between countries, for example the rate could be up to five times higher in the USA than China if figures are to be believed.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

It's METHOD.....the method of teaching is now proscribed by law, as is the entire curriculum.

That leaves decent teachers no wriggle room to adapt it to their own style, the pupils in their classes etc etc etc.

The Tories started it as an act of spite (Thatcher again) in 1988, Lying Labour continued it since someone told Blair he needed to be tough on teachers to be popular. Fact.

I cannot see any way out of it: government are NOT going to admit they have got it wrong for 25 years, so they blame teachers and keep on tinkering, a change here, a new bit there, proscribe some more...it MUST work, since our think-tank, (NOT teachers btw) said it will!!!!!!

We are in the copros, big time.

Meanwhile, Labour wasted £millions on new buildings, often not necessary, and called it the education budget, and the Tories have p*ssed teachers off bigtime by pension changes, working changes and a pay freeze for four years. Now they are also wasting £millions on free school meals for rich kids, and calling THAT part of the education budget.

But hey.......never foregt it's all teachers' faults when it goes **** up, eh?

tubbytommy

iTrader: (20)

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Seeing that I do suffer dyslexia, (well, mainly dyscalculia) and suffered the consequence of being labelled the thick kid at primary school when the conditions wasn't acknowledged let alone properly understood. As a result, I abhor the use of the condition being used as a label to excuse someone for being a ill-educated thicko.

The irony is that my literary skills and knowledge of mathematics aren't that bad, I just don't process it in the same manner (for example, yesterday I somehow managed to divide 80 by 4 and get 5 as the answer...yet I'm not stupid enough to know that is clearly very wrong ).

I only found out I suffered from it later on in life after being made aware of the additional symptoms that are often not known to the wider public who seemingly mostly assume its just an inability to spell or add up - there's alot more to it than just that.

Intelligence and dyslexia are not one of the same. But so often it seems that it is, maybe because it causes people to give up learning or the teachers to give up on pupils who fail to learn. IMO it shouldn't result in a consistent underachiever, as I believe there are other underlying root causes (parents, home life, social group etc.).

f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

So true

RA Dunk

What my point was Ali was that a very large percentage of people who use it as an excuse are not genuine cases, but more people who have fcuked about at school and now find the selfs in a position they can hardly spell, or even people who are just too bloody lazy to put in the effort to spell correctly.

thenewgalaxy

Which is why it is seen near-uniformly in terms of distribution across the ranges of intelligence.

It is not inconceivable however that those with the condition end up being marginalised if it is not recognised and are therefore end up being graded as daft.

But I don't think dyslexia can be blamed for the levels of literacy and numeracy. I personally think it is down to poor attitudes and failings of the education system to identify the importance of maintaining high standards in key areas.

CREWJ

I'm not surprised in the slightest.

stingzor

I refer you to this poster i photographed in a shop window (Select) a couple of weeks ago as my contribution

DYK

I blame EastEnders..

tony de wonderful

Spelling is overrated, it's what spellcheckers are 4!

DYK

Four...

LSherratt

iTrader: (1)

I'd like to think of myself as quiet a good speller and their was always a lot of books at school for me 2 read; My gramma is good to.

urban

iTrader: (1)

There is no excuse for that though.

Someone has 'designed' that poster, its probably been seen by some higher level staff member for approval, before going to the printers.
Quite possibly the printer gave them a draft too.

Wurzel

iTrader: (1)

EFA

RA Dunk

I left school 28 years ago, cut me some slack FFS!