E.D. Hirsch and Cultural Literacy

I finished reading E.D. Hirsch's seminal Cultural Literacy a couple of weeks ago and have been mulling. I like that kind of book - the kind that you either have to read in short chunks because it is full of interesting ideas, information or perspectives and/or which take a while to digest.

Published originally back in 1988, it is a book with a particular agenda (improving opportunities for all children) and a particular thesis (there is a broad cloud of half known information that any member of a culture needs to have an awareness of in order to be fully functional in a particular society) and upon which Hirsch has built a literary and foundational infrastructure (Core Knowledge Foundation).

I instinctively agree with Hirsch's central thesis - For any group of people, there is an array of often unidentified knowledge which represents a common core which allows members of that group to communicate efficiently and effectively with one another and which core differentiates and sets them apart from others. The corollary is that those individuals who are not privileged with that core knowledge suffer in their ability to interpret what others are communicating and in turn have difficulty making themselves understood with the result that the greater their knowledge deficit the greater their marginalization.

My personal belief is that that great cloud of folk tales, fairy tales, fables, aphorisms, folk sayings, etc. is a foundational part of such core knowledge.

Hirsch has done yeoman's work in trying to identify what is that core of unstated knowledge which is critical for all young Americans to acquire in order to fully participate in our society and in order to take advantage of the fullest range of opportunities that present themselves. He has attempted (with others) to construct a portfolio of this knowledge. He is not trying to create a curriculum per se. He is very clear that much of this core knowledge necessary for cultural literacy is in fact often only half known or understood. It is really a portfolio of concepts and allusions, not a portfolio of facts. An American History class would require some very specific factual knowledge about the American Revolution and George Washington. Cultural literacy would require that most Americans ought to comprehend an allusion to George Washington and the cherry tree.

Hirsch also recognizes that the portfolio of core knowledge, the elements of cultural literacy, is subject to on-going evolution and there are some elements that are to some degree time-bounded. References to Gilligan or Spock might convey much to one generation but not to another.

Hirsch focuses most of his effort on determining how the portfolio of core knowledge can be incorporated into schools and lesson plans. To some degree, I don't think he is wrong but I do not think that is the route of greatest probable success given just how localized our educational system is. I think the better answer is that it is up to parents to ensure that their children are absorbing this type of soft knowledge at home through much conversation and reading. Hirsch has written a series of books that support just such an effort starting with What Your Preschooler Needs to Know through to What Your Fifth Grader Needs to Know.

I am full of admiration for the effort this must have taken and Hirsch's perseverance. I think, though, that this may be a little bit off-putting and a mis-direction. There is a whiff of this becoming another chore, another task, another critique of schools and teachers, etc. The most committed parents and those with lots of resources can take this on as a project to be worked. But for most it would be a challenge. I think there is an easier, much easier way. That is to mesh the core concepts which Hirsch has identified with good children's story books. As an example, per Hirsch, children in Kindergarten ought to know about seasons and weather - Read Ezra Jack Keats' The Snowy Day with your child or Tasha Tudor's Around the Year. These are fun reads and the latent knowledge, the cultural literacy, is an incidental useful artifact transmitted while enjoying a read-together. The more I think about it, I am inclined to create such a list - for every topic area that Hirsch identifies, identify the existing children's stories which convey the core knowledge.

Hirsch writes well and has many nuggets of information and insight which I will be posting on over the next couple of months. I would recommend E.D. Hirsch's Cultural Literacy as a book well worth reading and mulling over.