It really is so interesting to read perspectives and experiences from all over, isn't it? Apparently this one is very similar everywhere, because we've all been fucked over by this fad that says that phonics are old-fashioned and conservative and psychogenetics are modern and creative and the best thing ever... and now people are slowly realising that maybe this is not so! It's ironic because people like Piaget or Vygotsky definitely pointed out the importance of a child's context, like you were saying above, or their reality or their interactions with the world, and so on, but they never ignored a systematic learning, so this fad makes no sense, and it's just a watered down version of what they meant... like most fads, right? So "phonics would be an indispensable part of learning to read but that there are other tools too" is pretty much it, both are useful in order to build a method that will reach as many people as possible and be useful to them, and I agree with you!

(Now I have fond memories of the school library... showing kids books about robots and dinosaurs and monsters, reading aloud... and helping them with phonics! XD)

ETA: I forgot to say thank you for another super interesting and thought-provoking post!