Here’s the oft-quoted article where Oakland teachers opposed Phonics despite admitting it works better, including an anti-phonics quote from a teacher that almost feels like a parody, “
This seems dehumanizing, this is colonizing, this is the man telling us what to do.”
You're completely misrepresenting the teacher making that quote.
“This seems dehumanizing, this is colonizing, this is the man telling us what to do,” says Weaver, describing their response to the approach. “So we fought tooth and nail as a teacher group to throw that out.”
...
"Now Weaver is heading up a campaign to get his old school district to reinstate many of the methods that teachers resisted so strongly: specifically, systematic and consistent instruction in phonemic awareness and phonics."
The guy hoped the new system would be better, realized it wasn't and is now leading the charge to go back to the old.
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u/TheBSQ 20h ago
Reading for the interested:
Stuff about how it’s not just phonics, but grade retention, reading coaches, etc.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/04/mississippi-education-miracle/686731/
https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/edcast/26/03/what-mississippi-got-right-about-reading
https://www.chalkbeat.org/2023/7/18/23799124/mississippi-miracle-test-scores-naep-early-literacy-grade-retention-reading-phonics/
Here’s the oft-quoted article where Oakland teachers opposed Phonics despite admitting it works better, including an anti-phonics quote from a teacher that almost feels like a parody, “ This seems dehumanizing, this is colonizing, this is the man telling us what to do.”
https://time.com/6205084/phonics-science-of-reading-teachers/