Cultural Literacy

Cultural Literacy PDF Author: E.D. Hirsch, Jr.
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0394758439
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 273

Book Description
A must-read for parents and teachers, this major bestseller reveals how cultural literacy is the hidden key to effective education and presents 5000 facts that every literate American should know. In this forceful manifesto Professor E. D. Hirsch, Jr., argues that children in the United States are being deprived of the basic knowledge that would enable them to function in contemporary society. They lack cultural literacy: a grasp of background information that writers and speakers assume their audience already has. Even if a student has a basic competence in the English language, he or she has little chance of entering the American mainstream without knowing what a silicon chip is, or when the Civil War was fought. An important work that has engendered a nationwide debate on our educational standards, Cultural Literacy is a required reading for anyone concerned with our future as a literate nation.

The Making of Americans

The Making of Americans PDF Author: E. D. Hirsch
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300155859
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 274

Book Description
From the bestselling author of Cultural Literacy, a passionate and cogent argument for reforming the way we teach our children. Why, after decades of commissions, reforms, and efforts at innovation, do our schools continue to disappoint us? In this comprehensive book, educational theorist E. D. Hirsch, Jr. masterfully analyzes how American ideas about education have veered off course, what we must do to right them, and most importantly why. He argues that the core problem with American education is that educational theorists, especially in the early grades, have for the past sixty years rejected academic content in favor of “child-centered” and “how-to” learning theories that are at odds with how children really learn. The result is failing schools and widening inequality, as only children from content-rich (usually better-off) homes can take advantage of the schools’ educational methods. Hirsch unabashedly confronts the education establishment, arguing that a content-based curriculum is essential to addressing social and economic inequality. A nationwide, specific, grade-by-grade curriculum established in the early school grades can help fulfill one of America’s oldest and most compelling dreams: to give all children, regardless of language, religion, or origins, the opportunity to participate as equals and become competent citizens. Hirsch not only reminds us of these inspiring ideals, he offers an ambitious and specific plan for achieving them. “Hirsch’s case is clear and compelling. His book ought to be read by anyone interested in the education and training of the next generation of Americans.”—Glenn C. Altschuler, The Boston Globe “Hirsch once again challenges the prevailing “child-centered” philosophy, championing a return to a “subject-centered” approach to learning.”—Publishers Weekly

How to Educate a Citizen

How to Educate a Citizen PDF Author: E. D. Hirsch
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0063001942
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 194

Book Description
“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 In this powerful manifesto, the bestselling author of Cultural Literacy addresses 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.

Cultural Literacy & Arts Education

Cultural Literacy & Arts Education PDF Author: Ralph Alexander Smith
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
ISBN: 9780252062155
Category : Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 196

Book Description
Thirteen experts in the visual arts, literature, music, dance, and theater responded to the arguments of E. D. Hirsch's "Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know", focusing particularily on his alarm at the serious slippage that has occurred in the background knowledge and information prerequisite for effective communication. These authorities addressed two questions: (1) What it means for people to be "literate" (that is, able to understand communications and have relevant experiences) in various art forms? (2) What sorts of context should such individuals bring to their encounters with works in these art forms and what would that imply for arts education? The contributing specialists are E. D. Hirsch, Jr., Harry S. Broudy, Jerrold Levinson, Patti P. Gillespie, Walter H. Clark, Jr., John Adkins Richardson, Francis Sparshott, Clifton Olds, Marcia Muelder Eaton, Ronald Berman, Lucian Krukowski, Michael J. Parsons, and David J. Elliot. (KM)

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy PDF Author: Eric Donald Hirsch
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 9780618226474
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 944

Book Description
Provides information on ideas concerning people, places, ideas, and events currently under discussion, including gene therapy, NAFTA, pheromones, and Kwanzaa.

The New First Dictionary of Cultural Literacy

The New First Dictionary of Cultural Literacy PDF Author: Eric Donald Hirsch
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 9780618408535
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 324

Book Description
Fully updated for the twenty-first century, The New First Dictionary of Cultural Literacy lists essential facts in twenty-one subject areas to promote successful learning in kids. Child education expert E. D. Hirsch Jr. cuts through the wealth of information available today to highlight terms that a child should be familiar with by the end of sixth grade. With nearly 3,000 concise definitions and including 250 new entries (like Harry Potter, centaurs, northern lights, and World Series), this popular sourcebook makes it easy for children to become literate in mythology, literature, U.S. history, science and technology, and more.

Test Your Cultural Literacy IQ

Test Your Cultural Literacy IQ PDF Author: Diane Zahler
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 074347578X
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 451

Book Description
A practical handbook for students and trivia buffs utilizes a host of multiple-choice questions to test readers' knowledge of American and world history, geography, science, art and architecture, music, literature, myth and religion, quotations, current events, and other topics. Reprint.

Cultural Literacy for the Common Core

Cultural Literacy for the Common Core PDF Author: Bonnie M. Davis
Publisher: Solution Tree Press
ISBN: 1936764423
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 289

Book Description
Build your cultural literacy while inspiring deep, thoughtful, unbiased thinking in students. Discover a six-step framework for becoming culturally literate that complements the Common Core and encourages students to be at the center of learning. Explore how to develop teacher-student relationships, engage in collaborative conversations, and encourage feedback to give voice to the increasingly diverse student body found in today’s classrooms
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