E. D. Hirsch's Analysis

The conversation and debates on cultural literacy should continue in every place in America since it helps us to understand and be tolerant of other cultures around us (Gay 2010). When we are familiar with all or some of the things that define America as a culture,

by pointing out that while getting the basics of a liberal education are valuable and that most should receive it, he believes that this should and can take place prior to the level of the college education. Murray states that “for most students, the place to provide those basics are elementary and middle school.” He then goes on to cite E.D. Hirsch Jr. in his 1987 book “Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know” as his authority on the topic. Hirsch builds his template around the concept of a “core knowledge” that most need to know. Murray cites three points of Hirsch: 1) full participation in any culture requires familiarity with a body

In the Preface to Cultural Literacy Hirsch discusses the decline of cultural literacy in the American classroom, often using the 17 year old demographic to prove his point. Using the evidence from a variety of sources, notably the SAT’s, Hirsch shows the decline in our nation’s ability to digest, comprehend reading, and the lack of familiarity with things such as basic civic knowledge of America. The main point of the essay is that cultural literacy is required for effective communication. Hirsch believes that communication is essential for success and with increased cultural literacy is how citizens can achieve it. This is what he wants the readers to think about.

Critical pedagogy, influenced by Paulo Freire and Michael Apple, sees students become participants in their learning, where topics are relatable and relevant to their lives. Critical literacy refers to the use of text and other communication to challenge the rules governing the societal norms of everyday life (Luke, 2012, p.5). Asking students to interrogate a text and question the use of language, allows them to form a critical observation about what the author wants the readers to know, for example, when studying Australian First Contact, allowing students to draw conclusions about the treatment of Indigenous people from a text which glosses over the details, ensures students look at the topic from multiple angles and apply their sociocultural knowledge to the discussion. The introduction of multimodal tools into literacy teaching, acknowledges that a

Cultural Knowledge Cultural Knowledge is obtaining a sound educational foundation concerning the various world views of different cultures (Berman, Frandsen, Snyder, p.280, 2016).

Over all, her work has been cited 440 times in other scholarly works. Considered a reliable source among her peers, her writing consists of analyzing what is hot and not in common core literacy standards, the utilization of pattern books in the classroom, reading techniques for mentally or physically disabled students, utilizing Pinterest as a tool in developing content knowledge, and diagnostic and correction of reading habits. Additionally, in 2007 Grote-Garcia contributed to a scholarly article on professional resources. Furthermore, several of her articles have been published Literacy Today. The submission process for Literacy Today simply involves an individual submitting a question, pitch, or article to the provided email on their website on Literacy Today’s website (December). Overall, Stephanie Grote-Garcia’s professional opinion is that educators need to stay on top of the hottest trends in literacy development and comprehension building in the classroom (Google Scholar). This includes the utilization of pattern books, reevaluating common core’s literacy impact on struggling readers, and developing a student’s knowledge base in struggling readers. Throughout all the material that she has contributed to, all possess the common thread of developing literacy skills in students.

Hirsch begins his argument by defining what it means to be culturally literate. He further explains that being culturally literate is not confined to any defined culture or even to one specific social class. Hirsch states that cultural literacy is the only sure way to provide disadvantaged children the ability to rise out of the same social and educational conditions as their parents. He moves on to explain how cultural literacy relates to the current theories of education with Jean Jacques Rousseau, John Dewy, and Plato. Hirsch elaborates that they all were half way correct in their assumptions, but that when put together, their teaching ways equal literacy.

Through reading the passage “The Cultural Literacy” by E.D Hirsch, he expresses his position on how cultural literacy has dropped in the growth charts since the 19500’s. Using the teenage demographic to explain, he goes on to tell how High Schools in the American system and the educational material which is taught. Showing the evidence from the SAT’s scores, the scores show how today’s youth has the inability to read and appropriately comprehend the basic knowledge and history. Most people can’t even recollect when the Vietnam War was(1955-1975). He further explains his stance, how today's epidemic through the education system is how it’s not bringing familiarity of America’s past time. The amount of Americans with ability to read about their

To illustrate this point, Avramovich, (2014) notes that an English teacher no longer teaches literacy and appreciation of knowledge utilizing a wide assortment of classical texts, some of which contain religious references or cultural components that may potentially be offensive. Instead, the English teacher must focus on the development of skills related to the reading of nonfiction texts (2014), which are a major component of the national tests. These classic texts, Schultz (2016) offers, guide learning towards a deeper understanding of the “truths of the human condition.” Consequently, for Christian teachers of private, public or home-schooled environments, fear the standards will force them to follow these Common Core baselines so that students may go on to the next grade level (Theriot, 2014), thus stifling any flexibility or freedom.

Hirschsprungs is a disease that is related to chronic constipation and usually manifests itself in early childhood, especially under the age of one. However, older children can have this disease as well, and some can even be born with this. Even though the younger children can have Hirschsprungs, it is

According to the “Thinking Critically, Challenging Cultural Myths” preface to the textbook ninth edition Rereading America is written by Bedford/St. Martin’s Press, is edited by Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle published in 2008. It introduces how to become a critical reader, and it challenges us to think critically. To understand well what critical thinking is, the introduction divides into different sections to comprehend how to be a critical thinker steps by steps. The author provides some tips for college students to read actively by taking notes and writing comments. In order to be a critical thinker, the author emphasize reading is significant and to read deeply approach to critical thinking. (Change)

Without mastery of Core Standard 2, the standard curriculum that has been effective in the past will not adapt to the needs of the new stakeholders. The first aspect of the standard is the ability to recognize the cultural and social factors that are related to pupil performance. Mastery of Core Standard 3 allows for the identification of specific conditions that are specific by school. Not every school is similar. Different schools are composed of diverse cultures and social scenarios. These cultures require a unique look into their culture and curriculum must be matched to fit the needs of these stakeholders. The next crucial aspect of Core Standard 2 is the ability to apply instructional techniques and strategies to meet the special needs of children of differing cultures. Content and instructional techniques must be created so that they are relevant to the students of differing cultures. This content allows the students to feel a connection that is applicable to them. Special attention must also be brought to evaluating tools. At times, an evaluating tool may be biased towards a specific culture. This creates a struggle within differing cultures to understand content that is not familiar to them. Content mastery is not being tested, rather cultural facts are being

In comparison to “canonical” form of teaching, students begin to learn and appreciate the “unique and equally meaningful” aspects of their culture (Duncan-Andrade and Morrell, 2008). Critical pedagoy that has provided cultural relevance has led me to become a more engaged student. By reading Toni Morrison’s book, The Bluest Eye, I often found myself more intrigued in learning similar academic pieces, as the characters often displayed cultural characteristic that were nearly identical to my personal experiences. This teaching practice kept me engaged with the literature, allowing me to perform higher academically. Similar to my experience, students of color that began to partake in culturally relevant courses often endure a vast improvement of their intellectual performance. As a result, many began to take Advanced Placement courses and were able to matriculate to four-year universities (Duncan-Andrade and Morrell, 2008). Not only does critical pedagogy allow for a deeper understanding of the curriculum, it also provides critical thinking skills and intellectual resources that are not often provided to students of

The hope for cultural improvement in problem areas, even on a global scale, lies primarily in the critical forums of our nation's classrooms, where young, motivated minds are preparing to jump into the world with both feet. Because academic success is measured not only by what is learned, but also by what is taught, it is imperative that all perspectives be provided (Fish 3). 'Intellectual diversity' is used to describe those differing perspectives. Once used to portray an educational tradition that celebrates and nurtures human freedom, it is now used to name exactly what is lacking in Liberal Arts programs today.

Popular culture brings in other forms of literacy Popular culture exists at home but not so much at school classrooms. Few of them incorporate these popular cultural resources into the curriculum and they are underrepresented compared with the school literacy (Marsh, 2013; Rets, 2016). Many teachers view the skills and knowledge