The Schools We Need Audiobook By E.D. Hirsch Jr. cover art

The Schools We Need

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The Schools We Need

By: E.D. Hirsch Jr.
Narrated by: Anna Fields
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A child's mind is hungry for knowledge, stimulation, the excitement of learning which school should provide, yet most American schools fall far short. From kindergarten through high school, our public educational system is among the worst in the developed world.

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.

There is a solution. Mainstream research has shown that if children, all children, not just the privileged, are taught in ways that emphasize hard work, the learning of facts, and rigorous testing, their enthusiasm for school will grow, their test scores will rise, and they will become successful citizens in the information-age civilization.

Click here to listen to other books by this author including Cultural Literacy.©1996 E.D. Hirsch, Jr. (P)1997 Blackstone Audiobooks Education Social Sciences Student Mathematics

Critic reviews

"[Hirsch's] book presents a sophisticated, scholarly, and often compelling argument, and it deserves serious consideration, whatever one's political predilections." (The New York Times Book Review)
"A damning, highly provocative, full-scale assault on today's educational establishment." (Publishers Weekly)

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Most relevant
Hirsch warned America about the dangers of the progressives 25 years ago. We didn’t listen. We get what we deserve.

He warned us

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Wiith the post-covid rush to eliminate testing and the push of racial sectarianism, the antidote of this book is needed more than ever.

still pertinent and fascinating

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Comprehensive analysis on education in the U.S. There’s no pdf that goes with it and at times the text can seem repetitive, thus it can be challenging to absorb the concrete message that the author wants to convey. It’s more of a comparison of all models imaginable in U.S.education. I had to stop and rewind frequently to absorb the information in more manageable chunks. It’s a must read if you are interested in understanding American education system, education policy, or as a parent.

Informational text: listen in small chunks

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Even though this book was written over 25 years ago, it could have been written yesterday. Education mainstream instructional methodology is dominated by what is labeled "progressive", even though it doesn't have anything to do with progressive political movements. Progressive methodology is notoriously ineffective, but since the power structure within education is maintained by those with firm commitments to this ideology, not much has changed since the book was written. In fact, it's gotten worse, with the social justice movement adding its weight to removing substance from school curricula.

The book is dated in a few ways and if the author had had the results of the most current research, it would have only reinforced his critiques. These include: 1) Learning styles have been thoroughly debunked, 2) discovery learning has been further discredited via cognitive load theory, and 3) the author seemed unaware that the major flaw in Whole Language method of reading instruction is the use of the "Three Cueing Method".

Contrary to some other reviews:

1) The narrator is fine. Any perceived condescension on her part is imaginary.
2) A republic is a form of democracy, so criticizing the author of misusing the word "democracy" is off-base.



Devastating critique of modern education ideology

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Getting past the narrator’s incredibly condescending tone made this book a true slog. She had perfect diction, pronunciation and enunciation, but her tone was over the top. I couldn’t help but wonder if that was the intention. Was she chosen so that she could make readers feel ashamed for even slightly taking issue with the content of the book? The book, as a result, came off angry and sarcastic. I pictured all of the educators who are completely resistant to the idea that things are not perfect, clinging to every word in this book as a vindication. I saw all of the educators who’ve cracked jokes over the years about passing educational fads as if that was an excuse for unexamined practices.

Overwhelming condescension

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