Fads

As defined in Wikipedia, a fad is:

"...any form of behavior that develops among a large population and is collectively followed with enthusiasm for some period... fads may be driven by mass media programming, emotional excitement, peer pressure, or the desire of 'being hip'... a fad is generally considered a fleeting behavior whereas a trend is considered to be a behavior that evolves into a relatively permanent change.."

Let's have some fun reviewing a few fads we've faced related to parenting and education:

Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care (1946), challenged the then contemporary opinion that babies should be fed according to tight schedules, and that showing them too much affection make them weak and unprepared  for the world. Instead, he promoted a 'gentler' approach telling parents they knew more than they thought they did and so should trust their own instincts and common sense.

While there is something to be said for openly showing parental affection and relying on common sense, different cultures follow different avenues of 'common sense' and there are times when 'common sense' just doesn't hold. For example, Spock recommended putting babies to sleep on their stomachs (so as not to choke on any spit-up, etc.- which makes some sense).  This, however, was discredited in the late 1990's as stomach-sleeping was found to be linked to sudden infant death syndrome. Furthermore, while loving and showing affection is important, so many children have grown up feeling 'entitled' and seeking immediate gratification that many are now advocating the need to show affection WHILE teaching rules, promoting delayed gratification, and adding structure to home and school life.

Whole Language (vs. Phonics) - Whole language, popularized in the 1970's-late 1980's de-emphasized spelling, phonics and grammar, focusing primarily on reading and writing for meaning. In its height, educators promoting whole language did so at the expense of teaching phonics, letter blends, and rules of grammar and spelling. While criticized for ignoring the structured teaching of language rules, Whole Language classrooms encouraged frequent reading, 'guided reading' in small groups, student read-alouds, and independent reading in the classroom.  Reading and writing were done for 'real-life'/meaningful purposes, emphasizing the love of books and engaging reading materials.  All very positive, and successful with strong language learners.

Weak language learners and dyslexic children, however,  had tremendous difficulty learning under this approach. In direct contrast, the Orton-Gillinghan Approach - emphasizing a very structured approach to phonics has proven remarkably successful for dyslexic and weak language learners. 

Educators now call for "balanced literacy."

Inventive Spelling - encouraged kids to spell phonetically guessing sound-spelling relationships as a means of encouraging writing fluency with spelling instruction later focusing on analysis of spelling errors.

Then, of course, we are constantly faced with DIET FADS here are just a few:

• South Beach
• Atkins
• Hollywood Diet
• Liquid Diets
• Detox Diets
• Fat-Free diets

The problem with fad diets is that while these different diets empower people to shed pounds, they don't work to help you KEEP the weight off long-term.  What does work is consistent exercise while eating healthy (not overly processed) foods in variety and moderation.


What I find so interesting about these fads is that they seem to represent extremes and as a result the parenting and educational pendulums tend to swing between these extremes.  So often these fads show merit when integrated together - maybe because there are all kinds of learners in each and every class.  Maybe, we just need to look at what it is about the fads that so appeals to us and integrate them without losing our way.

Thank you for your time and visit.

What are some of the fads you loved/hated?  

Please share them in the comments.

BEFORE YOU GO... here are some fun links to fads of the past...

Aside from laughing at how many fashion/entertainment fads are coming back or how some were just so silly, these fads can be made into an excellent exercise in mass media promotional campaigns and the power of visual literacy.

• Bad Fads Museum
• 37 Fads that Swept the Nation 
• The 50 Best/Worst Childhood Fads 
• Educational Fads: What Goes Around Comes Around (Pennington Publishing Blog)
• Fad Diet Timeline
• Fad Diet.Com: 30 Ways to Lose the Same 5 Pounds