Essays into Literacy: Selected Papers and Some Afterthoughts [Paperback]

Frank Smith (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0772500207 | ISBN-13: 978-0435082055 | Publication Date: August 9, 1983

This volume contains a number of Frank Smith's classic papers and others from sources not always easily accessible. It also contains some "Afterthoughts" in which he responds candidly to the questions and challenges he most frequently receives. They include, "Why are you so rude about teachers?", "What you say is impossible," "How can you teach a child who isn't interested?", "How will children learn if they are not continually corrected?", and "What would your ideal school be like?"

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Frank Smith has always been fascinated by language. He worked as a journalist in many countries before beginning formal academic studies in Australia. This led to a Ph.D. at Harvard University and further world travel researching, lecturing, and writing on thinking and learning. He has been a professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education; the University of Toronto; the University of Victoria, British Columbia; and the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa. He has published many articles and books.

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: Heinemann (August 9, 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0772500207
• ISBN-13: 978-0435082055
• ASIN: 0435082051
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #821,762 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The politics of educational ignorance exposed., July 12, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: Essays into Literacy: Selected Papers and Some Afterthoughts (Paperback)

In this brief volume, Dr. Frank Smith, a Harvard researcher AND genuinely talented writer, deflates standard educational myths about teaching reading in particular and education in general. He pulls no punches in his condemnation of the bloated nonsense floating around classrooms and insulting our intelligence today. Of particular importance is his famous article, "The Politics of Ignorance." Written over 20 years ago, it is as wise and witty as it was when it first appeared. Get it, read it, and be prepared to reassess everything you thought you knew about education.

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Outdated overemphasis on "whole language", December 10, 2006

By 

Mark DeBellis - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Essays into Literacy: Selected Papers and Some Afterthoughts (Paperback)

According to Smith, "Children who read I do not have any candy as 'I don't have no candy' have picked up all the significant features of meaning from the text and succeeded in translating them into their own thought and language. Expecting them to read word-perfectly not only confuses pedantry with reading, but also it will probably convey to children a completely distorted notion of what reading is. They may be deluded into requiring far more visual information from the text than any mature reader would be able to cope with" (p. 22).

Smith is in the never-never land of educational theory. If a child understands what the task is, and reads 'I do not have any candy' as 'I don't have no candy,' then she does not know what words are before her. She is guessing, not reading.

Evidence from research strongly supports phonics, an approach Smith slights. Instead, he is content to pontificate about how "The brain contains nothing less than a theory of the world" (p. 121).