Welcome to Friday Footnotes, a weekly newsletter from me, Graham Ormiston (founder of Storygram). It’s even got pictures.
Each week I include links to relevant news, articles, podcasts, or other media I’ve come across that touches on reading, motivation, children’s books, education, writers, or whatever else catches my attention. Hopefully, it will interest you, too — and please share with your friends and colleagues!
Three quick things 🧐
1. The big US brain freeze 🧠
Last week, the Telegraph published a piece on “the Knowledge Cold War” — referencing how US educational attainment is plummeting, but China’s is rapidly improving after decades of driven effort.
It seems America is beset with problems in education, which may partly stem from, frankly, not caring enough to prioritise it:
America has a smaller social safety net and one of the lowest spending totals on early years education in the OECD [roughly half the average].
The Telegraph say this US literacy crisis ‘threatens to unravel the superpower’.
The comments are pretty illuminating too. This from Jonathan Hutchinson:
My son is being educated in China, he is just entering year 2 of primary school. The math's and English classes are equivalent to a 12- or 13-year-old in the UK (he is in a Chinese class, not international, English is part of the national curriculum).
And Elizabeth Hartman:
I live in the US. When my children were little I did not trust the education system here alone so I took charge and supplemented, taught my children to read early, the importance of books, etc. They both graduated with advanced degrees and are very successful. They have now carried the tradition of reading with my grandchildren. Do not trust the school system here alone to educate your child, it is inadequate.
Read the full article here (paywalled).
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2. Grammar vs. Kids
Take a trip down memory lane (and shudder!) as
takes you through this year’s Grammar test for 10/11 year-olds in England.
I love reading, and I love writing. But one glance at the questions here reminds me just how demotivating education can be. (As an aside, I was only really motivated to work hard once I left education, i.e. when money became involved. Maybe we should pay kids to read…?)
Michael is pretty scathing about the relevance, purpose, and practicality of these exams:
Most examiners don’t give a stuff about the stress of exams, and it is of little interest to them how stress often negates what children know. That’s because exams are about grading children and anything that helps examiners ensure that the right percentage of children fail the exam, proves to the examiners they’ve done a good job designing an exam paper.
Ouch.
Also, I’ve just read that Mr Rosen has written more than 200 books! I’m struggling to write one. Come on, what’s your secret, Michael?
3. The glorious future of the book
makes the case for physical books being an essential storage unit that will outlast any data centre that Zuckerberg or Bezos might build.
Ted argues that books will become essential for our coping with technological challenges, including the onslaught of fake media.
Maybe some people think books are boring. But they just might change their minds when they’ve fully grasped what’s coming on their screens.
Read the full article here.
Worth a read 💯
has written a fantastic piece titled Why are so few kids reading for pleasure, over on The741.
It’s pretty comprehensive! Possible culprits highlighted include:
Endless distractions from smartphones/screens
The Covid pandemic (especially in reducing student resilience for reading longer passages)
Overbearing schooling, schools with a non-scientific approach to teaching reading, schools favouring short non-fiction passages over fiction
Kids are simply over-scheduled - to find time to read, they’ll have to drop something else
A few glimmers of hope are also offered, which is refreshing! Such as:
Can graphic novels present deep text in alternative formats for kids?
Booktok and Bookstagram as ways to influence more kids to read
Schools are finally figuring out to ban phones during the day
Read the full article on The74 here.
Quote
“Only in the printed word can complicated truths be rationally conveyed.”
— Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death
That’s all for today. Have a wonderful weekend.
If you’re wondering, it’s called ‘The74’ in reference to the 74 million children in America under 18 years of age.