"Profound, vital and correct. Hirsch highlights the essence of our American being and the radical changes in education necessary to sustain that essence. Concerned citizens, teachers, and parents take note! We ignore this book at our peril."-- Joel Klein, former Chancellor of New York City Public Schools
Now in paperback, the bestselling author of Cultural Literacy delivers a powerful manifesto on the failures of America's early education system and its impact on our current national malaise, advocating for a shared knowledge curriculum students everywhere can be taught--an educational foundation that can help improve and strengthen America's unity, identity, and democracy.
In How to Educate a Citizen, E.D. Hirsch continues the conversation he began thirty years ago with his classic bestseller Cultural Literacy, urging America's public schools, particularly at the elementary level, to educate our children more effectively to help heal and preserve the nation. Since the 1960s, our schools have been relying on "child-centered learning." History, geography, science, civics, and other essential knowledge have been dumbed down by vacuous learning "techniques" and "values-based" curricula; indoctrinated by graduate schools of education, administrators and educators have believed they are teaching reading and critical thinking skills. Yet these cannot be taught in the absence of strong content, Hirsch argues.
The consequence is a loss of shared knowledge that would enable us to work together, understand one another, and make coherent, informed decisions. A broken approach to school not only leaves our children under-prepared and erodes the American dream but also loosens the spiritual bonds and unity that hold the nation together. Drawing on early schoolmasters and educational reformers such as Noah Webster and Horace Mann, Hirsch charts the rise and fall of the American early education system and provides a blueprint for closing the national gap in knowledge, communications, and allegiance. Critical and compelling, How to Educate a Citizen galvanizes our schools to equip children with the power of shared knowledge.
Show more"Profound, vital and correct. Hirsch highlights the essence of our American being and the radical changes in education necessary to sustain that essence. Concerned citizens, teachers, and parents take note! We ignore this book at our peril."-- Joel Klein, former Chancellor of New York City Public Schools
Now in paperback, the bestselling author of Cultural Literacy delivers a powerful manifesto on the failures of America's early education system and its impact on our current national malaise, advocating for a shared knowledge curriculum students everywhere can be taught--an educational foundation that can help improve and strengthen America's unity, identity, and democracy.
In How to Educate a Citizen, E.D. Hirsch continues the conversation he began thirty years ago with his classic bestseller Cultural Literacy, urging America's public schools, particularly at the elementary level, to educate our children more effectively to help heal and preserve the nation. Since the 1960s, our schools have been relying on "child-centered learning." History, geography, science, civics, and other essential knowledge have been dumbed down by vacuous learning "techniques" and "values-based" curricula; indoctrinated by graduate schools of education, administrators and educators have believed they are teaching reading and critical thinking skills. Yet these cannot be taught in the absence of strong content, Hirsch argues.
The consequence is a loss of shared knowledge that would enable us to work together, understand one another, and make coherent, informed decisions. A broken approach to school not only leaves our children under-prepared and erodes the American dream but also loosens the spiritual bonds and unity that hold the nation together. Drawing on early schoolmasters and educational reformers such as Noah Webster and Horace Mann, Hirsch charts the rise and fall of the American early education system and provides a blueprint for closing the national gap in knowledge, communications, and allegiance. Critical and compelling, How to Educate a Citizen galvanizes our schools to equip children with the power of shared knowledge.
Show moreE. D. Hirsch, Jr. is the founder and chairman of the Core Knowledge Foundation and professor emeritus of education and humanities at the University of Virginia. He is the author of several acclaimed books on education, including the New York Times bestseller Cultural Literacy, The Schools We Need, The Knowledge Deficit, The Making of Americans, and Why Knowledge Matters. He lives in Earlysville, Virginia.
"A fervent plea for reforming American schools." -- Kirkus
Reviews"Profound, vital and correct. Hirsch highlights the essence
of our American being and the radical changes in education
necessary to sustain that essence. Concerned citizens, teachers,
and parents take note! We ignore this book at our peril." -- Joel
Klein, former Chancellor of New York City Public Schools"Readers
cautious about a nationalistic, uniform approach to educating youth
will discover in Hirsch's manifesto several compelling reasons for
doing so, including the indisputable fact that a unified nation is
better equipped to cooperate on international matters than one as
polarized as the U.S. in the 21st century. . . . A persuasive,
scientifically sound case for an education revolution." -- Shelf
Awareness"Education-policy thinker and provocateur Hirsch reignites
the continuing debate over the content and value of contemporary
elementary education in the United States.. . . Valuable for the
ongoing education debate." -- Booklist"Hirsch has long endured
accusations of elitism, but he emphasizes here that his work has
always been driven by a desire to help the least privileged
children succeed. It's those kids, he says, who suffer the most
from faddish educational theories that have stripped schools of
academic substance."
-- Ron Charles, Washington Post Book Club"Guided by those words
over his long, admirable, and prolific career, E. D. Hirsch, Jr.
has worked patiently to correct the errors of the false prophets of
progressive pedagogy and to restore the public purpose of American
education and its founding ideals. It is up to the rest of us now
to follow his lead." -- City Journal"This kind of shared, unifying,
patriotic education is needed now more than ever. Reading Hirsch's
new book is a good starting place." -- Jenna A. Robinson, president
of the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal
"Our dedicated, hard-working teachers across this nation wish to
teach children in a manner that will serve them for a lifetime.
Let's give them the skills and freedom to do just that. Whether you
agree with him or disagree, a good place to start that process is
by listening to people like E.D. Hirsch Jr." -- Daily
Memphian"Readers cautious about a nationalistic, uniform approach
to educating youth will discover in Hirsch's manifesto several
compelling reasons for doing so, including the indisputable fact
that a unified nation is better equipped to cooperate on
international matters than one as polarized as the U.S. in the 21st
century. . . . A persuasive, scientifically sound case for an
education revolution." -- Shelf Awareness for Readers
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