[Reading-hall-of-fame] Re: Frank Smith

[Brian Cambourne]

How sad. 
What a giant he was in our field.

Like Ken Goodman, Frank changed how we thought and taught literacy in Australia.

I was very fortunate that my Dean of Education at Riverina College (Dr Peter Rousch) found the funds to entice Frank  to accept a 6 month contract as a Visiting Fellow at our college back in the mid 70’s. The lectures and sessions he gave during those months were groundbreaking for me personally and for Australian literacy education in general.

I remember a short film he referred us to. It showed him observing and interacting with a young learner-reader as they wandered through a Canadian department store. Frank asked his young subject what he thought the signs  they encountered as the wandered through the store meant.

They came to the “ Footwear” section with lots of shoes and boots under the sign “Footwear”. Frank asked the young kid what this particular sign meant. His response was “ it either means Fuck -off  or  boots”. 

Frank left it to the viewer to work out his subject was responding to both the configuration of letters  in the word “Footwear” and the context in which it occurred.

Another great loss to our field.
 Brian Cambourne




> On 2 Jan 2021, at 6:43 am, Diane Lapp <lapp at sdsu.edu> wrote:
> 
> Happy New Year Everyone.
> 
> I am sad to share a message I received from David Olson regarding the recent death of Frank Smith. I have attached it below. Another great loss to the field of literacy.
> 
> Warmest regards,
> Diane Lapp
> 
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> <Frank Smith.docx>
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