Nursery World - Well-versed in basics of nonsense

I always enjoy reading the 'Quote of the Week', but the one in the 11 July issue of Nursery World must take some beating for sheer stupidity and the power to baffle. A Department for Education and Skills (DfES) spokesman is quoted as saying, 'We will not apologise for raising standards and we are not about to change a strategy admired around the world. Children cannot learn anything until they get the basics right.' But if this is the case, how will children ever manage to learn these basics, given that they cannot learn anything - until they've got these basics right! This is real 'Alice in Wonderland' stuff, but do you see my problem with such gobbledygook?

A Department for Education and Skills (DfES) spokesman is quoted as saying, 'We will not apologise for raising standards and we are not about to change a strategy admired around the world. Children cannot learn anything until they get the basics right.' But if this is the case, how will children ever manage to learn these basics, given that they cannot learn anything - until they've got these basics right! This is real 'Alice in Wonderland' stuff, but do you see my problem with such gobbledygook?

I congratulate you for your skill and speed in picking up this bit of nonsense. It certainly makes me wonder whether DfES staff read any modern research on the development of the brain and the thinking and learning abilities of babies.

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