Teaching a small group of year 9s with poor literacy skills and strong reluctance to read, I was delighted when one lad volunteered that he had a book in his bag that his gran had given him. When I asked him if he would be willing to read a page or two, to my delight he said he would. I gave the others in the group the task of composing questions on the text to ask him when he stopped reading. When he took out the book from his school bag, I discovered that it was a Secret Seven by Enid Blyton. As an enthusiastic reader of most of her books as a child myself, I have never lost my loyalty despite vast public disapproval of both her style and content. However, I was rather tentative as the lad proceeded to stumble his way through the opening couple of pages. I wondered what questions would be forthcoming. My fears were unfounded. "Miss, what's a satchel?" My answer led to his "oh, a satchel is just like what we call a school bag then." So, ideas, philosophies, and language change. A useful lesson emerged on the changing use of words, and the disappearance of others. Now is that a reflection of political correctness? Next week, it's the Owl and the Pussycat.
