This page offers a condensation of the Critical Guide to Terms and Phrases, an appendix in the book: The Schools We Need and Why We Don't Have Them by E. D. Hirsch. The condensation was produced by the Texas Education Consumers Association for their web site, which is currently down for renovation. We are grateful to E. D. Hirsch and to the Texas Education Consumers Association for permission to post it here on the NYC HOLD web site.
Teachers and administrators use jargon which is sometimes unfamiliar to parents. When faced with strange jargon, parents are reluctant to ask questions or debate educators for fear of sounding ignorant. When parents do gather the courage to argue, educators sometimes use their jargon against us. For example, if you were to express a desire for traditional teaching methods, the teacher may use perjorative terminology to thwart your complaints. You may be told that traditional education is "just" drill and kill or rote-learning. The implication is that you are misguided, ignorant of childrens' developmental processes, and perhaps even mean-spirited. Then the teacher tells you: "We are a child-centered school, so we do not use those old-fashioned methods anymore because research has shown that our child-friendly methods are better."
This use of jargon implies that the teacher cares more about your child's education than you do. After all, the teacher has been trained to use the most progressive methods available, so his or her knowldge on this subject shouldn't be questioned. What the teacher neglects to tell you is that the "research" she refers to is not necessarily supported by mainstream scientific inquiry (i.e., published in scientific journals within a specific discipline such as psychology).
By using terminology that has either negative- or positive-sounding connotations, educators can succeed in silencing your opposition, simply because you don't understand the meaning of the words and phrases. Therefore, you should arrive at the teacher conference knowing the language teachers speak, just as you would have to do if you visited a foreign country.
The following terminology is quoted and summarized from The Schools We Need & Why We Don't Have Them (1996), which was written by Dr. E. D. Hirsch, Jr., and published by Doubleday (1-800-323-9872). The publisher describes the book as follows:
"As renowned educator and author E. D. Hirsch, Jr., argues in The Schools We Need, in disdaining content-based curricula for abstract--and discredited--theories of how a child learns, the ideas uniformly taught by our schools have done terrible harm to America's students. Instead of preparing our children for the highly competitive, information-based economy in which we now live, our school practices have severely curtailed their ability, and desire, to learn."
We are grateful to Dr. Hirsch for providing readers with a glossary such as this in his book. By doing so, he has given education consumers a powerful arsenal for defense.
In addition to this book, Dr. Hirsh has established the Core Knowledge Foundation. The Foundation is dedicated to excellence and fairness in early education.
Accessing skills means teaching kids how to learn (how to
access information or look things up) rather than transmitting
specific knowledge to the students; the reasoning is that knowledge
and technology changes too rapidly to bother with transmitting
"soon-to-be-outmoded facts". As a result, schools teach kids how to
depend on the dictionary, encyclopedia, etc. As Hirsch says, this is
an important skill, but it doesn't take long to learn. "These sources
cannot replace students' ready knowledge of varied subject matters and
word meanings ... Even when using an encyclopedia or CD-ROM,
students without prior background knowledge cannot understand the
things they look up."
At their own pace. This concept developed in the first quarter
of this century. Hirsch defines this idea as an element of "Romantic
developmentalism." The phrase suggests that kids should not be
expected to learn at an externally imposed pace; learning should occur
when the child is "ready." This phrase is often heard in discussions
about teaching reading and in conjunction with multiage classrooms.
Despite teachers' favorable acceptance of this idea, "the data show
that the imposition of externally set timelines, goals, and rewards
greatly enhances achievement." In addition, "reading specialists have
concluded that nearly all children can be brought to grade level in
reading, though greater effort must be put forth for children who are
slower. Should this greater effort be denied them on the naturalistic
principle?"
Authentic assessment. A laudatory term for grading
"real-world" (i.e. applied) projects. These projects can include,
among others, letters, exhibitions, producing a play, or solving a
practical mathematical problem. Teachers feel this method of
measurement is better than teaching through separate subjects and
grading by objective multiple-choice exams. Teachers feel projects
are more motivational and fairer to minorities. Hirsch says that
performance testing is only one tool that should be used in the
classroom. For example, performance testing is necessary in
evaluating writing. However, Hirsch claims that "authentic
assessments" have been shown to be "ineradicably subjective and
arbritrary in grading ... The consensus among psychometricians is
that these objective [multiple-choice] tests, rather than performance
tests, are the fairest and most accurate achievement tests available."
Banking theory of schooling. (Related to the "transmission
theory of schooling.") Educators who use this phrase reject the notion
that teachers should convey a core of knowledge to students because
they feel that it merely indoctrinates students. In lieu of this
educators teach "critical-thinking skills." Unfortunately, Hirsch
claims, this theory has "failed to improve the condition of
disadvantaged students." Hirsh believes that students should be given
knowledge that will serve as "intellectual capital" because "it
enables the accumulation of still more capital--an idea consistent
with findings in cognitive psychology."
Break-the-mold schools. This phrase has been used by reformers
since the 1980s. Some of the changes have helped schools and parents.
However, Hirsch claims that many of these reforms are simply re-worked
versions of failed progressive methods. He suggests that if a school
is already achieving successful results, there is no practical reason
to jump on a bandwagon and experiment with our childrens' minds.
Child-centered schooling. (Sometimes called student-centered
education.) Educators preferring this philosophy believe they should
"teach the child, not the subject." They reject the idea of lectures,
drills, and rote learning because, according to them, it ignores the
"feelings" and "individuality" of the child. Therefore,
child-centered educators caricaturize anyone who favors a focus on
subject matter as inhumane. Hirsch suggests that "on the contrary,
... children are more interested by good subject-matter teaching than
by an affectively oriented, child-centered classroom. The
anti-subject matter position is essentially anti-intellectual."
Competition. Many progressive educators see this word in
negative terms. They disagree with grading because it "forces"
students into higher and lower tracks. They believe students will
learn for the sake of learning if their self esteem is not deflated by
competition. This does not bear out, however, because "evolutionary
psychologists have argued that all humans retain a residue of
competitiveness." Competition still exists in the classroom no matter
how hard a teacher tries to stifle it. It is a basic part of human
nature. Hirsch suggests that "well-devised tests during a course of
study has been shown to improve learning. This suggests that instead
of trying fruitlessly to abolish competition as an element of human
nature, we should try to guide it into educationally productive
channels."
Constructivism. This term is used to give progressivist
education ideas a "spurious scientific-sounding authority." Proponents
of constructivism suggest that the only knowledge worth acquiring is
that which a student finds for one's self because it is more likely to
be remembered and used. Hirsch recognizes that this kind of knowledge
is useful. However, he also claims that "both discovery learning and
guided learning" are actually "constructivist," so the term doesn't
add anything to the discussion.
Cooperative learning. Basically, this means splitting a class
into groups to work on a joint assignment. Teachers like this idea
because it results in fewer papers to grade, it allows for peer
tutoting, and it supposedly does away with an emphasis on competition.
Regrettably, the idea is rife with problems: more capable students end
up doing most of the work, and students learn to be followers instead
of leaders. Hirsch says: "Cooperative learning, used with restraint,
can be an excellent method of instruction when used in conjunction
with whole-class instruction. It has not been effective when used as
the principal or exclusive means of instruction."
Critical-thinking skills. This term refers to the ability to
analyze ideas and solve problems in an independent fashion by
developing the ability to locate a main idea and look it up in
resources. This is a goal we should all hope to achieve. However,
some educators feel this is the only thing students need. They
oftentimes will caricature the acquisition of subject knowledge as
rote learning of "mere facts." In their mind, it has lesser value.
Hirsch says: "This tool conception, however, is an incorrect model of
real-world critical thinking. Independent-mindedness is always
predicated on relevant knowledge: one cannot think critically unless
one has a lot of relevant knowledge about the issue at hand."
Culturally-biased curriculum. Hirsch believes that school
curriculums prior to the 1980s were too heavily Euro-centered. He
feels that by adding information about women and ethnic groups to the
curriculum, students will be better able to communicate across
cultural lines.
Culturally-biased tests. This term arises from the claim that
the SAT and other standardized tests are culturally biased because
different cultural groups get different results. Hirsch explains this
"hidden" bias by suggesting that "different cultural groups might
attain different levels of actual achievement from the same schools if
their home cultures have not prepared them for mastery of the
school-based culture and the subjects taught within it." According to
Hirsch, the American Psychological Association describes "technical
bias" as "a consistent difference between the way a group performs on
a test and the way it performs on some real-world criterion that the
test is meant to measure. Most current standardized tests are free of
technical bias in this sense." Therefore, Hirsch suggests that it is
time to stop blaming unbiased tests for different group performances,
and look elsewhere.
Developmentally appropriate. If a teacher uses this term, he
or she is suggesting that a child's innocence needs to be preserved by
not exposing the student to early hard work. The child will learn
when he is "ready." This term, according to Hirsch, is "devoid of
scientific meaning and lacks scientific authority," especially as
millions of kids across the world have been exposed to and benefited
from early hard work. Yet some teachers feel such work is
"developmentally inappropriate" for our kids! This has a particularly
disastrous effect for disadvantaged children. Specifically, he says
"many advantaged children receive in their homes the early practice
and knowledge they need, whereas many disadvantaged children gain
these preparatory learnings, if at all, only in school. The learning
processes involved in the unnatural skills of reading, writing, and
arithmetic are inherently slow at first, then speed up cumulatively
and exponentially. Because of the cumulative character of school
learning, educationally delayed children rarely catch up. When an
elementary school declines to teach demanding knowledge and skills at
an early age, the school is unwittingly withholding education
differentially from different social classes." Students with poor or
disadvantaged homes suffer the most, and social injustice is
perpetuated.
Discovery learning. This teaching method offers students
projects to work on rather than textbooks to read. Teachers feel that
students will be more likely to remember what they learn from the
experience than they would from reading and regurgitating facts.
Hirsh agrees that discovery learning plays a vital role in a child's
education, however, he describes two serious flaws in using this
method exclusively: (1) Students sometimes miss the discovery they
were supposed to make and sometimes even make incorrect discoveries.
Thus, a definitive goal must be set in the beginning. If the goal is
not achieved, the teacher must use direct teaching. (2) Discovery
learning is inefficient. Some students never gain the knowledge they
were seeking, and even if they do the process is very slow and
time-consuming.
Drill and kill. A perjorative term used by educators to
diminish the importance of drill and practice. It is meant to suggest
that practice will kill a student's interest in the subject.
Educators will likely suggest that it is better for students if they
use "discovery learning" or the "project method." Hirsch suggests that
this idea is contradictory to the fact. For example, athletes,
pianists, ballerinas, and others must go through repeated practices to
achieve their goals. Cognitive psychologists and neurophysiologists
agree. Note the following: "Development of basic knowledge and skills
to the level of automatic and errorless performance will require a
great deal of drill and practice. Thus drill and practice activities
should not be slighted as low level. They appear to be just as
essential to complex and creative intellectual performance as they are
to the performance of a virtuoso violinist."
Exhibitions. Another term that refers to "performance-based
assessments." Students prepare a project or demonstrate a skill. They
are, however, subjectively graded. Nevertheless, exhibitions have a
place. However, Hirsch warns that "exhibitions cannot be used ...
for large-scale, high-stakes testing beyond the individual school or
classroom without sacrificing economy, accuracy, and fairness."
Factory-model schools. Some educators will use this term as a
perjorative against traditional teaching methods that are typically
associated with lectures, chairs in rows, rote memorization,
"regurgitation" of facts, and a lack of spontaneity in the classroom.
Any parent who suggests that their child needs a traditional education
will be painted as uncaring and rigid. Surprisingly, however, Hirsh
claims that progressive-style classrooms are now the "factory-model
schools" because their ideas dominate the hierarchy. "What makes the
current system ineffective is the educational ineffectiveness of those
ideas. The best hope for improving our
factory system, which in some form all modern nations are
stuck with, is to provide more coherent and focused teaching, with a
view to achieving more specific and coherent goals."
Facts are inferior to understanding. This is a hallmark phrase
of progressivist education today. "It is true that facts in isolation
are less valuable than facts whose interrelations have been
understood. But those interrelations are also facts (if they happen
to be true), and their existence also depends entirely upon a
knowledge of subordinate facts that are being interrelated. Since
understanding depends on facts, it is simply contradictory to praise
understanding and to disparage facts."
Facts are soon outdated. This is an excuse used by educators
to avoid direct teaching of knowledge. It has been repeated so often
by educators that people unwittingly accept it as true. Facts do
change, but Hirsch argues that this truism is reason enough for
teaching basic facts. For example, by teaching the elements of the
periodic table (which don't change), students are better able to cope
with changes that do occur.
Hands-on learning. (Also referred to as "discovery learning,
holistic learning, and thematic learning.") "A phrase that implies the
superiority of direct, tactile, lifelike learning to indirect, verbal,
rote memorization ... Very often the term'hands-on' is an honorific
term used to praise the progressivist 'project method' of education
and to disparage a 'whole-class instruction,' which is conducted
mainly by visual and verbal means. The superiority of this method has
not been born out in experience." Hirsch claims research suggests
that "such methods are uncertain, unfair (not all children learn from
them), and inefficent, and therefore should be used sparingly."
Higher-order skills. "A phrase for the superior thinking skills
that many current educational reforms aim to achieve. The goal is to
produce students who can think and read critically, who can find
information, who have mastered metacognitive strategies, and who know
how to solve problems. Such students, it is asserted, will be far
better prepared to face the challenges of the twenty-first century
than those who merely possess a lot of traditional,
soon-to-be-outdated, rote-learned information. Again, the tool
conception of learning reappears, but research in cognitive psychology
does not support it." According to Hirsch, "there is no way to gain
the skills without gaining the associated information. It is mere
prejudice to assert that strategies associated with using
domain-specific information are of a 'higher order' than the knowledge
itself."
Holistic learning. "(Same meaning as 'thematic learning' and
is combined with 'discovery learning' and 'the project method.') A
term for classroom learning organized around integrated, lifelike
problems and projects rather than around standard subject-matter
disciplines. Educators hope to make learning 'relevant' to life."
Hirsch points out that holistic learning has always been used as when
history and art overlap. However, it is less useful for teaching
mathematics or other specialized subjects that require a lot of
practice. Typically, Hirsch says, the problem is less with the method
used than with its "injudicious overuse."
Individual differences. "A phrase reflecting the admirable
desire to combine mass schooling with respect for diversity and
individuality." Hirsch worries that this term has become "a
rationalization for expecting and demanding less from children for
whom we need to provide more support--inherently able students from
disadvantaged homes." Unfortunately, schools are ill-equipped to
provide individual tutorials while students progress "at their own
pace."
Individualized instruction. This essentially means
tutorial-like teaching for every child--an impossibility in classrooms
that typically have a student/teacher ratio of 20:1. The consequences
of attempting such instruction is special treatment for some and
neglect for others; the latter having to do silent seatwork in the
interim.
Individual learning styles. Common sense and experience
demonstrates that not all students learn the same way. Some kids are
verbal learners, others are visual. Educators will use this term as a
nonjudgmental way of discussing academic ability, and as a
rationalization for kids not achieving better results. "Since the
only economically feasible and fair system of schooling is one that
engages all students in a class most of the time (i.e., a system that
employs a generous amount of effective whole-class instruction), one
policy implication of different learning styles is that teachers
should vary their teaching by using visual aids, concrete examples,
and tactile experiences as well as verbal concepts in presenting what
is to be learned."
Intellectual capital. "A phrase denoting the knowledge and
skills a person possesses at a given moment." Intellectual capital is
like money in the bank; the more you possess, the more you can
acquire. This idea is in opposition to the tool concept of learning,
whereby the only thing a student needs to be successful in life is
knowing how to access information. "The work of sociologists and
cognitive psychologists has been cited to show that the tool
conception is much oversimplified, that skills always require
domain-specific knowledge."
Learning by doing. Hirsch says this term illuminates the
progressivist tradition, although the phrase is not used much anymore.
Today educators substitute "discovery learning" and "hands-on
learning". "It implicitly opposes itself to education that is
primarily verbal, as well as to schooling that is artificially
organized around drill and practice."
Learning to learn. This term refers to the tool conception of
learning. The argument educators make in its favor is that
information becomes outdated, but the ability to find information
doesn't. Therefore, teaching facts is a waste of time. "But the tool
conception, which makes the fish inferior to the hook, line, and
sinker, is based upon a gravely inadequate metaphor of the skill of
learning. Indeed, even learning how to fish requires a great deal of
domain-specific knowledge."
Less is more. Here the term means that depth is more important
than breadth. Unfortunately, Hirsch feels that this belief encourages
students and teachers to slack off learning. If less is more, then
skipping a subject altogether might begin to seem a virtue--an
attitude not altogether foreign either to the progressive tradition or
to many teachers who have been influenced by it." In contrast, Hirsch
believes that breadth is preferable to depth in early schooling.
Children should be exposed to a wide range of names, places, ideas,
vocabulary, and concepts. When they reach high school, he says they
should be ready to study a topic in depth. "In most cases, the
balance between depth and breadth is a subject of a complex judgment
that takes into account subject matter, the purpose, and the stage of
schooling."
Lifelong learning. Everyone agrees that people must have the
ability to adapt to changes in technology. Buggies gave way to
automobiles, and the typewriter gave way to the word processor.
Therefore, people must indeed have critical-thinking skills to solve
their problems. Hirsh is worried because "the dominant progressive
tradition has made a fundamental empirical mistake in believing that
these general competencies do not depend upon the accumulation of
knowledge and vocabulary, and in believing that transferable lifelong
competencies will arise naturally from 'holistic,' integrated
activities."
Mere facts. "The phrase 'rote memorization of mere facts' may
be the most vigorous denunciation of 'traditional' education to be
found in the progressive armory ... In Romantic progressivism, facts
are dead, but hands-on, lived experience is alive; facts are inert and
disconnected, but understanding is vital and integrated ... There is
some validity in this conception, as there usually is in most views
that are long and widely held. Understanding does mean connecting
facts; isolated facts are meaningless." Hirsch insists that facts are
vital to understanding. Good teachers should be able to convey facts
in a meaningful way.
Metacognitive skills. The broadest meaning of the term is
identified with "accessing skills," "critical-thinking skills," and
"problem-solvinging skills." "Children who have learned how to set
and meet such study goals for themselves (e.g., how to scan a text for
the main reading, how to decide on what is more or less important in a
subject with respect to their own study aims) are students who are
better able to work independently ... The teaching of such
self-conscious monitoring can speed up the learning of reading and
problem-solving skills. But since expert skills are also dependent on
domain-specific knowledge, the teaching of metacognition in this
narrow sense is recognized as a useful but not sufficient help in
learning a skill."
Multiaged classrooms. The resurgence of this concept results
in classrooms grouped by abilities rather than age-groups.
Progressive teachers like it because it fits with their concept of
"learning at one's own pace." However, at Hirsch points out,
classrooms end up with a "disproportionate number of older students in
each learning group who come from disadvantaged homes and who belong
disproportionately to ethnic minorities. The result of officially
sanctioning their slow progress is a perpetuation of social
unfairness." Hirsch believes multiaged classrooms would not be
necessary if schools established grade-by-grade standards (a core
curriculum of shared knowledge that builds cumulatively).
Multiple intelligences. This is psychologist and author Howard
Gardner's substitute for IQ. His theory suggests that there are seven
domains of ability under which every student can learn: linguistic,
logical-mathematical, spatial, musical, bodily-kinesthetic,
interpersonal, intrapersonal. Hirsch says that Gardner's claims are
not supported by mainstream research in psychology. Since these
classifications are highly subjective, it is difficult to see how
teachers could easily identify and teach to these "intelligences."
Nevertheless, the theory has gained popularity among educators because
it comfortabley coincides with already existing theories of
"individual differences" and "individual learning styles." A
distinguished psychologist, George A. Miller, claims that Gardner's
specific classifications are "almost certainly wrong."
Multiple learning styles. See "Individual differences,"
"Individual learning styles," and "Multiple intelligences."
One size fits all. "A phrase that disparages the idea of
common learning goals for all children regardless of their interests
and abilities." Individual tutorials would be wonderful to have for
every child, but they are not feasible. Hirsch seeks a "commonality
in the elementary grades, which is required simply to ensure that each
child in a classroom is ready to take the next step in learning. In
high school, on the other hand, once the fundamentals of math,
reading, writing, art, and science have been learned, it makes a great
deal of sense for the good of the child, as well as of society, to
stress a child's individual interests and abilities."
Open classroom. Again, another reference to "learning at one's
own pace." Supposedly kids receive individualized attention, but the
actual fact is that many kids are forced to do silent seatwork while
they wait for help, which may not come. "Like all forms of
naturalistic pedagogy, the open classroom has proved to be ineffective
as a principal technique of schooling."
Outcomes-based education. "A term of uncertain meaning which
during the 1990s became a symbolic cause of verbal war between
political liberals and conservatives. It is best understood
historically. In the late 1980s and early '90s, in the midst of
public discontent with students' test scores in reading and math, some
professional educators proposed that schools pay relatively less
attention to methods of schooling, such as discovery learning, and
more attention to results. They labeled this idea 'outcomes-based
education.' Their goal was to correlate teaching methods more closely
with results. The label stuck, but the idea behind it subtly changed
in the early 1990s, when committees of teachers and administrators
gathered to define what outcomes were to be achieved. Because of the
general antipathy in the educational community to an emphasis on
facts, subject matter, and content, the outcomes drafted by these
committees tended not to emphasize knowledge so much as various tool
metaphors for education and virtue in the form of democratic attitudes
and emotions. These included respect for all people, including people
of diverse races, religions, and sexual orientations. It was this
last idea, and similar socially liberal notions, which raised red
flags with conservatives. Thus the battle began, with the term
'outcomes-based education' being viewed as a left-leaning conspiracy.
It could also be viewed as the transformation of a reasonable idea
into impractical vagueness through progressivist antipathy to
subject-matter knowledge."
Passive listening. "A progressivist phrase caricaturing
'traditional' education, which makes children sit silently in rows in
'factory-model schools,' passively listening to what the teacher has
to say, then merely memorizing facts through 'rote learning,' and
finally 'regurgitating' the facts verbatim." The simple truth is that
whole-class instruction does not have to fit this caricature. The
teacher does not have to be an authoritarian boss whose students can't
think for themselves, but rather a friendly coach. "Progressivists
claim that this docility is just what traditionalists want to achieve,
whereas progressive methods will produce independent-minded, active
students who think for themselves. To the extent that more 'active'
methods like 'discovery learning' provide children with less factual
knowledge on which to base independent judgments, the claim to produce
independent-mindedness seems doubtful."
Performance-based assessment. "The original term used by
specialists in the psychometric literature for what is called
variously 'authentic assessment,' 'exhibitions,' and 'portfolio
assessment.'" In simple terms, it means a student would receive a
grade for an entire essay or a musical performance, just as they might
in the real world. However, critics of performance-based assesment
claim that "performances" in school do not duplicate the real world.
"The most important criticism is that when used for high-stakes
testing, performance tests are much less fair and reliable than
well-constructed objective tests The best uses of performance tests
are as lower-stakes 'formative' tests, which help serve the goals of
teaching and learning within the context of a single course of study."
Portfolio assessment. An extended version of
"performance-based assessment." Collections of works done during the
year are kept in a folder and graded as a whole--aiming to reward
improvement over time. Hirsch says this works fairly well for
teaching writing and painting, but nothing else. "It has proved to be
virtually useless for large-scale, high-stakes testing."
Problem-solving skills. "In a narrow sense, it refers to the
ability to solve problems in mathematics or other specialized fields.
More broadly, it refers to a general resourcefulness and skill that
will enable the student to solve various future problems ... Work on
the problem-solving abilities of specialists like doctors, chess
players, and physicists has shown consistently that the ability to
solve problems is critically dependent upon a deep, well-practiced
knowledge within the special domain, and that these problem solving
abilities do not readily transfer from one domain to another ... In
short, there seems to exist no abstract, generalized, teachable
ability to solve problems in a diversity of domains. For schools to
spend time teaching a general skill that does not exist is clearly a
waste of resources, which illustrates the inherent shortcomings of the
tool conception of education."
Project method. "A phrase used to describe the naturalistic
form of teaching devised by W. H. Kilpatrick at the beginning of the
progressive education movement in 1918." Kilpatrick's method condones
giving up subject-matter teaching in favor of "holistic" real-life
projects. The method rejects the notion of lectures, tests, grades,
and drills. Terminology has changed over the years to "discovery
learning, hands-on learning, holistic learning, learning by doing,"
and "thematic learning."
Promise of technology This phrase is often heard from
progressivists who favor the discredited tool method of teaching.
According to Hirsch, "There is no evidence that [computers] advent has
reduced the need for students to have in their minds well-practiced
habits and readily available knowledge. Quite the contrary, the more
one looks things up via computer, the more often one needs to
understand what one is looking up. There is no evidence that a
well-stocked and well-equipped mind can be displaced by 'accessing
skills.'" Despite teachers' claims otherwise, lack of well-equipped
minds may be the reason student scores have not risen in schools that
already have computers.
Research has shown. "A phrase used to preface and shore up
educational claims. Often it is used selectively, even when the
preponderant or most reliable research shows no such thing, as in the
statement 'Research has shown that children learn best with hands-on
methods.' Educational research varies enormously in quality and
reliability. Some research is insecure because its sample sizes tend
to be small and a large number of significant variables (social,
historical, cultural, and personal) cannot be controlled. If an
article describes a 'successful' strategy, such as building a pioneer
village out of Popsicle sticks instead of reading about pioneers, the
success may not be fully documented, and the idea that the method will
work for all students and classrooms is simply assumed. There are
strong ethical limits on the degree to which research variables can or
should be controlled when the subjects of research are children. Many
findings of educational research are highly contradictory. Greatest
confidence can be placed in refereed journals in mainstream
disciplines. (A refereed journal is one whose articles have been
checked by respected scientists, or referees, in a particular
specialty.) Next in reliability is research that appears in the most
prestigious refereed educational journals. Very little confidence can
be placed in research published in less prestigious journals and in
nonrefereed publications. The most reliable type of research in
education (as in medicine) tends to be 'epidemiological research,'
that is, studies of definitely observable effects exhibited by large
populations of subjects over considerable periods of time. The sample
size and the duration of such large-scale studies help to cancel out
the misleading influences of uncontrolled variables. An additional
degree of confidence can be placed in educational research if it is
consistent with well-accepted findings in neighboring fields like
psychology and sociology. Educational research that conflicts with
such mainstream findings is to be greeted with special skepticism.
The moral: Print brings no reliable authority to an educational claim.
When in doubt, ask for specific references and check them. Many
claims evaporate under such scrutiny."
Rote learning. Rote learning used to mean asking an entire
class to recite in unison answers to set questions, whether or not
they understood the meaning of the question or the answer. Today,
educators define rote learning variously as 'spouting words,'
'memorization without understanding,' and isolated facts. The
teachers feel that these things prevent students from becoming
independent thinkers. Hirsch admits that all of these concerns are
valid. However, "it is better to encourage the integrated
understanding of knowledge over the merely verbal repetition of
separate facts. It is better for students to think for themselves
than merely to repeat what they have been told. For all of these
reasons, rote learning is inferior to learning that is internalized
and can be expressed in the student's own words. These valid
objections to purely verbal, fragmented, and passive education have,
however, been used as a blunt instrument to attack all emphasis on
factual knowledge and vocabulary ... In the progressive tradition,
the attack on rote learning (timely in 1918) has been used to attack
factual knowledge and memorization, to the great disadvantage of our
children's academic competencies."
Self-esteem. "A term denoting a widely accepted psychological
aim of education. There is a consensus in the psychological
literature that a positive sense of one's self is of great value to
achievement, happiness, and civility to others, whereas a negative
sense of one's self leads to low achievement, discontent, and social
bitterness. The critical question for school policy and teaching is
how far on average self-esteem can be induced by positive
reinforcement on the teacher's part. There is agreement that some
degree of positive reinforcement is necessary, and that teachers
should be kindly and encouraging to all students. But there is a
growing agreement among psychologists that verbal and affective
reinforcement is not sufficient, and can in fact be counterproductive
if the child is not persuaded. There is strong evidence in the
mainstream literature that praise in the absence of achievement does
not raise achievement. The best enhancements of self-esteem,
according to both psychological and process-outcome literature, arise
from accurate and matter-of-fact appraisals of a student's work, as
well as realistic encouragement toward effort and actual achievement."
Student-centered education. The same concept as
"child-centered education" except the name is changed to reflect
middle- and high-school-aged students. The focus is on the student
rather than "mere facts." Again Hirsch reminds us that "schools are
organized and instituted primarily to teach subject matters and
skills, and it is their first duty to do so as effectively as
possible."
Teaching for understanding. "A phrase that contrasts itself
with teaching for 'mere facts.'" It is associated with the motto "Less
is more" which implies that depth is preferable to breadth in
education, on the claim that depth leads to understanding, whereas
breadth leads to superficiality and fragmentation. Few would dissent
from the aim of teaching for understanding. Clearly the term needs
different interpretations in the different grades. Take the alphabet.
A kindergartner should understand the principle that the letters of
the alphabet represent sounds. At a later stage, students should
understand some peculiarities of English spelling and the differences
between vowels and consonants. Still later, students might come to
understand the historical uniqueness of the alphabetic system of
writing, as contrasted with the various other modes.
Teach the child, not the subject. "The benign and reasonable
interpretation of this famous battle cry of progressivism is that one
should attend to the moral, emotional, and spiritual well-being of the
child at the same time that one is providing an excellent grounding in
reading, writing, and arithmetic. Only a hard-hearted person would
dissent from this goal. Historically, however, the progressive
tradition has continued to attack the disciplined teaching of reading,
writing, and arithmetic in favor of 'holistic' methods, which
supposedly engage and educate the whole child. Progressivists have
also continued to disparage merely academic learning. Not
surprisingly, disparagement of 'the subject' has resulted in a
diminishment of student competency in subject matters."
Teach the whole child. "The third of the original three
child-centered phrases of progressivism: 'child-centered schooling,'
'teach the child, not the subject,' and 'teach the whole child.' All
three phrases enjoin the schools to take a more humane, less
subject-matter-oriented position toward schooling. It is true that
the responsibility of the school extends beyond purely academic
skills. Not many would dissent from the hope that in addition to
providing training in academic skills, schools will nurture the
physical and emotional well-being of children, as well as enhance
their civic and personal virtue. Progressivists did not, however,
explicitly teach these different spheres of education, but claimed
that the development of the whole child would automatically arise from
holistic instruction, in which children had to work cooperatively in
simulations of real life. In this Romantic faith they were wrong.It
was understandable that in the teens and twenties of this century,
Americans might still entertain such naturalistic, providential hopes.
If we wish to inculcate civic and personal virtue, that too needs to
be the object of guided instruction, however indirect and subtle, and
monitored for uptake. The theory of automatic, holistic learning has
proved to be incorrect."
Textbook learning. "A phrase disparaging traditional forms of
education, symbolized by textbooks, in favor of more 'holistic' and
lifelike modes of instruction in which knowledge is gained from
hands-on experience rather than from verbal statements in textbooks.
Often, the objection to teaching by means of textbooks has all too
much validity, because many currently available textbooks are
unselective and umephatic, having been designed to pass through
textbook-adoption committees in populous states and, therefore, to
please everyone. As a consequence, many textbooks tend to be
unfocused, ill-written, bland, difficult to learn from, and lacking in
discrimination between the more and the less important aspects of a
subject matter. But the alternative to textbook instruction, in the
form of hands-on, project-style teaching, has been shown to be highly
ineffective. One must be careful, therefore, to distinguish between a
justified attack on bad textbooks and an attack on the carefully
focused teaching of subject matter through good textbooks. The most
effective subject-matter learning is often achieved through the use of
well-written, well-thought-out textbooks. In the sciences and in
professions such as medicine and engineering, well-crafted textbooks
have always been a necessity."
Thematic learning. "A phrase used to describe the 'holistic'
teaching of different subject matters across a common theme. For
instance, the theme of 'The Seasons" might combine a study of history,
art, science, and mathematics in a particular classroom, or grade, or
throughout the entire school. There is much to be said for integrated
learning that contextualizes subjects and reinforces them. As with
various forms of the 'project method,' however, thematic learning has
proved to be more successful when used with prudence as an occasional
device than when used consistently as the primary mode of instruction.
One reason for entering this caution is that some subjects require
different amounts of exposure than others in order to be learned.
History and literature, for example, generally require fewer
reinforcements to achieve a learning goal than do certain aspects of
math and science, whose procedures must be often repeated and
practiced. The thematic approach may or may not provide these needed
reinforcements. As with most pedagogical methods, the key is common
sense. If students have been well monitored and are known to have
mastered the basic subject matters that are to be dealt with in the
thematic project, then the method is an attractive way of encouraging
student enthusiasm and further learning."
Transmission theory of schooling. "A derogatory phrase used by
progressivists to imply that traditional schooling merely transmits an
established social order by perpetuating its culture, knowledge, and
values. It is contrasted with the more "modern" tool conception of
schooling, which aims to produce students capable of thinking
independently and of criticizing and improving the established social
order. In progressivist writings of the 1920s and '30s, the
transmission theory of education was identified with decadent and
static Europe, while the open-ended tool conception was identified
with a vibrant, forward-moving United States. John Dewey, despite
having been claimed by progressivists as their intellectual leader,
stated explicitly in 'Democracy and Education' that the transmission
theory of education is both sound in itself and an absolutely
necessary principle of civilization: 'Society not only continues to
exist by transmission, by communication, but it may fairly be said to
exist in transmission.' Dewey was certainly correct in taking this
view, which coincides with common sense and with the view of the
general public."
Whole-class instruction. "A neutral description that has
negative connotations in the progressive tradition, since it is
understood to imply 'lockstep,' 'factory-model' education. It is
caricatured by an authoritarian teacher droning on at the head of the
class, or by passive, bored students, barely conscious and slumping in
their seats, or by intimidated, fearful students, sitting upright and
willing only to parrot back the teacher's words. These are not
accurate descriptions of what effective whole-class instruction is.
It is predominantly interactive, with much interchange between
students and teacher; it makes frequent use of student performances
and student comments on the performances; it involves consistent
informal monitoring of the students' understanding; it engages all
students by dramatizing learning in various ways. An overwhelming
concurrence of reports from process-outcome studies shows that a
predominant use of whole-class instruction constitutes the fairest and
most effective organization of schooling. The attempt to sidestep
whole-class instruction, and to provide individual tutorial attention
in classrooms of twenty to thirty students, results in individual
neglect. It has also been shown that an interactive mode of dealing
with the whole class is the liveliest and most effective approach to
teaching, and that it is useful to vary the mix with some amount of
individual coaching, cooperative learning, and seatwork. All these
other approaches should be used within a well-organized whole-class
context in order to achieve the best and fairest results."
Whole-language instruction. "A phrase denoting an approach to
the teaching of reading that emphasizes the joy of good literature and
avoids drill-like instruction in letter sounds. In theory, the method
is supposed to motivate children by emphasizing an interest and
pleasure in books, and by encourging students to learn reading
holistically, just as they learned their mother tongue--as a
'psycholinguistic guessing game.' Some children do learn to read under
this method, but many do not. 'Whole language,' like 'outcomes-based
education,' has grown and spread far beyond its initial confined
meaning to become a philosophy of life and teaching, muddled by
pseudopolitical associations. The term has become so vague, and so
colored with nonpedagogical overtones that it could profitably be
dropped entirely from use. After large-scale experience with its
unsatisfactory results, especially in California, some former
adherents of whole language now advocate a 'mixed' approach in which
some letter-sound correspondences are taught explicitly. No
well-regarded scholar in the field of reading now advocates an
approach that neglects phonics and phonemic awareness. Many experts
believe that with proper instruction nearly every child can read at
grade level by the end of first or second grade."
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