Must-reads, in our opinion, from this week’s education news.
Sciences, Arts, Humanities Fight for Status of Math and Reading, Curriculum Matters
With a great quote from George Lucas.
NRC Wants Science Put on Par with Math, Reading, Education Week
The National Research Council recommends that “science learning be tested as frequently and taught as rigorously as math and reading.”
Ignorance of History Permeates All Levels, Walt Gardner’s Reality Check
Just one more article about how much we don’t know about history.
Don’t Know Much About History, The Wall Street Journal
Ok, we lied: Another history article. This one’s an interview with historian David McCullough. If you read only one “must read,” make it this one.
Happy Friday.
David McCullough is right-on when he says Americans are ignorant of history. But ironically some of his prescriptions for fixing the situation smack of the progressive pedagogy that, in my view, got us into this mess. For example, having kids make a documentary about their neighborhood’s history –that’s weeks of class time that could be devoted instead to good direct instruction that would impart far more information about our past. This “student engagement” approach, first advocated by Dewey, has been the “solution” to lackluster achievement for the past hundred years. It isn’t working.