A primer on E.D. Hirsch

1. Cultural Literacy: A Cure for What Ails us?

2. Who is E.D. Hirsch, Jr.?
Why do we care what he has to say?
Click on the link below for a brief biography:
http://www.coreknowledge.org/ed-hirsch-jr

3. What is Cultural Literacy?
According to Hirsch, cultural literacy is, “the network of
information that all competent readers possess”
(Cultural Literacy, pg. 2).
Why is it important? If you ask Hirsch, he will tell you
that cultural literacy is vital for national
communication and comprehension. A person lacking
cultural literacy is not truly educated.

4. How can we better understand Hirsch’s view of
cultural literacy?
Imagine you turn on an episode of a hit television show,
like Revenge. However, this is the first time you’ve watched
it, and the show is already half-way through its second
season. You can understand the language that the
characters are speaking, you can read their body language,
but you have difficulty truly comprehending what is
occurring on the show. You lack the prior knowledge
(knowledge you would have had if you had viewed the
series from the beginning) necessary for understanding.
Even though you understand what is happening on a
superficial level, the words and actions of the characters
do not have meaning for you. A lack of cultural literacy
can be compared to turning on a show mid-season.
“Culturally illiterate” students have the decoding skills
necessary to read, but they lack the background
knowledge, or cultural literacy, needed to truly
comprehend the texts that they are given.

5. What are some of the topics and facts included in this
concept of cultural literacy? Watch the video below for
examples:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LadSZ-tB_A

6. How many items in that video did you recognize?
Do you think knowledge of people and topics like Andy
Warhol, Shirley Temple, and the War of 1812 are
necessary for a person to be considered educated?
Do you consider yourself culturally literate?
If it were up to you, what would you include in your own
list of items that make up cultural literacy?

7. What does Hirsch have to say about his brainchild? Watch this video to
find out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROIujiY1uZU
Who decides what is included in cultural literacy?
Think, how does cultural literacy fit in with multicultural education? Is
this model Eurocentric and elitist? Or does explicit instruction of
cultural facts benefit students from different cultures?
Lucky for us, Hirsch has provided his very own Dictionary of Cultural
Literacy. Check it out below:
http://books.google.com/books?id=GAzOg4eQl2YC&printsec=frontcover
&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

8. Cultural Literacy
How does Hirsch’s ideas fit in with the other philosophers we’ve
studied so far?
His ideas clearly differ from Dewey’s. According to Hirsch, Dewey’s
school of thought was “full of the educational half-truths of
romantic formalism” (Cultural Literacy, pg. 121). Hirsch felt that
Dewey’s model for education led to tracking, inconsistency in
curriculum, and a growing achievement gap for those who did
not have exposure to cultural literacy at home. Hirsch focuses
more on the content of curriculum than the method of
instruction.
What parallels can you draw between Hirsch and, say, Delpit?
Ravitch? Mann?

9. What do some critics say?
“Though Hirsh’s books have made the best-seller lists,
his theories have been challenged by other educators
on pedagogical and social grounds. Critics contend
that students using the Core Knowledge curriculums
are taught what to think not how to think. In the effort
to cover all the essential facts, there is concern more
emphasis may be placed on the amount of content
covered rather than depth of understanding. The
approach has also been criticized for its Eurocentric
perspective and marginalized attention to other ethnic
and cultural influences in shaping history.” -PBS

10. How do Hirsch’s ideas fit into the current conversation
about education?
Lately, the focus has been on the new Common Core
Curriculum. (Click here for an overview of the
Common Core http://www.corestandards.org/about-
the-standards )What does Hirsch think of
implementing a Common Core? Read his thoughts in
the following blog excerpt:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/guest-
bloggers/ed-hirsch-jr-common-core-stand.html

11. Have Hirsch’s ideas helped improve education?
According to this article from the New York Times,
Hirsch’s Core Knowledge curriculum shows promise:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/12/nyregion/nonfictio
n-curriculum-enhanced-reading-skills-in-new-york-
city-schools.html?ref=edhirschjr

12. Final Thoughts
What do you make of Hirsch’s ideas for education
reform?
Who do you think would win in a debate, Hirsch or
Dewey?
Is cultural literacy truly the key to success for all of our
students? Or will learning much of this content result
in nothing more than giving students a chance to win
on an episode of Jeopardy?

13. References  Works Cited
 "About the Standards." Common Core State Standards Initiative. Common Core State Standards
Initiative, n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2012. <http://www.corestandards.org/about-the-standards>.
 "Core Knowledge Foundation : E. D. Hirsch, Jr." Core Knowledge Foundation : E. D. Hirsch, Jr. Core
Knowledge Foundation, n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2012. <http://www.coreknowledge.org/ed-hirsch-jr>.
 Cultural Literacy. YouTube. YouTube, 25 Apr. 2009. Web. 26 Oct. 2012.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LadSZ-tB_A>.
 "E.D. Hirsch, Jr." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2012.
<http://www.pbs.org/kcet/publicschool/innovators/hirsch.html>.
 "Hirsch and Cultural Literacy on McNeil/Lehrer News Hour." YouTube. YouTube, 27 Sept. 2011. Web.
26 Oct. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROIujiY1uZU>.
 Hirsch, E. D., Joseph F. Kett, and James S. Trefil. Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to
Know. New York: Vintage, 1988. Print.
 Hirsch, E. D., Joseph F. Kett, and James S. Trefil. The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin, 2002. Google Books. Web. 27 Oct. 2012.
<http://books.google.com/books?id=GAzOg4eQl2YC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summar
y_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false>.
 Hirsch, E. D., Jr., and Valerie Strauss. "E.D. Hirsch Jr.: Common Core Standards Could Revolutionize
Reading Instruction." Web log post. The Answer Sheet -. The Washington Post, 4 June 2010. Web. 29
Oct. 2012. <http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/guest-bloggers/ed-hirsch-jr-common-
core-stand.html>.
 Phillips, Anna M. "Nonfiction Curriculum Enhanced Reading Skills, Study Finds." The New York
Times. The New York Times, 12 Mar. 2012. Web. 27 Oct. 2012.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/12/nyregion/nonfiction-curriculum-enhanced-reading-skills-in-
new-york-city-schools.html?ref=edhirschjr>.