Cremin and Ravitch: Points of Sanity in an Insane World

http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/01/education_in_blue.html


Cremin who, in The Transformation of the School: Progressivism in American Education, declared that the progressive fads, despite their lofty nostrums like "creative self-expression," resulted in sheer "chaos" when implemented by middling teachers, as has often been the case.

Diane Ravitch emphasized progressivism's most deleterious result. In The Troubled Crusade: American Education 1945-1980, she concluded that the practices of the "new" education in general, as early as the late 1940s, sought to change "students' attitudes and behavior to conform to social norms ... rather than subject matter acquisition," causing a decline in academic studies. (Plus ça change. The most prevalent criticism of the Reggio schools today is that it disregards the basic learning that children need to advance academically - and this, to reiterate, because the approach permits children to define their own lessons and projects.)



(All I can conclude is that there is much insanity in the country. The Auld Book has it better: “Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child. “(Proverbs, xxii, 15). The silver lining, of course, is that such people are below ZPG so they will leave little trace on American culture as compared to Islam, Mormonism, Orthodox Judaism, Evangelical Christianity and Catholicism).

In my humble opinion, such people are just play acting at education and civilization. What a waste of time, effort and resources. I return to my classics –the only true education.

MUNRO