Question:
I am presently working on a research paper on the Whole Language approach
to learning at the elementary school level. My goal is to develop a
correlation between whole language teaching and the development of
employability skills. In other words, "Does whole language learning have
an impact on the skills that students need to make themselves more
employable".
Answer:
Yes, I believe that Whole Language teaching does equip children with
employable skills. First, though, I would like to qualify a point.
"Whole Language" has almost as many definitons as there are people,
and I think that it has received some "bad press", so to speak as a
result.
When I say that I teach Whole Language, I like to think that I teach
skills such as phonics, comprehension, love of literature, etc. by
using good literature as a starting point. In my experience, the
grade one children I teach come out of the class with a wonderful
belief in their ability, with a sound skill base, and in most cases
they can't wait to read or write.
So, keeping in mind that I teach Kindergarten and Grade One, I think
that I give my students employable skills by instilling them with a
love of reading, writing and learning. From this jumping off point,
I'm hoping they'll spring into a lifelong adventure of books, writing
and excitement.
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