"Cultural Literacy" by E.D. Hirsch, Jr.

Some thoughts came to me at the very end of class, just when discussions about this article were getting juicy and interesting. During my first read of this, I noticed I paid more attention to the things that Sofia, Melisha and Mark and several others mentioned in class, that E.D. Hirsch's statements are no longer valid for today's realities of learning populations, literacy and pedagogy. They argued that students today are working with much different information in order to succeed in life rather than dates of historical events such as WW2, etc. However during my second reading I paid closer attention to other details, like the framework or formula Hirsch is laying out by writing this, not necessarily which populations he is speaking about. My second read actually made me agree that depending on the context of the learning community, a basic formula of education is extremely important in today’s global culture. In order to be able to think critically about any topic, a student needs to know certain background information. This can apply to any culture and any background. Of course, what has been a major flaw is that there is a “dominant culture” but I believe that this is already changed, there just need to be new avenues and movements created for all cultures to be “dominant” within their own specific communities. Easier said than done, I know. As usual, I can only speak for myself as a learner and also as a beginning teacher. Growing up, at age five I was sent to a private school on scholarship at which 80% of the curriculum was strictly in French, where I stayed til I was 15, then transferred to a public high school. Having had no experience in French I struggled quite a bit, especially in subjects like math and science, totally different from the American ways of teaching these subjects. The standards were very high, and matched almost exactly what Hirsch is suggesting is a “well-rounded” education. Learning my basic education in another language definitely opened up another dimension for me, as tough as it was. I do believe that a multilingual education can contribute to a student’s cognitive abilities and is a helpful tool for finding a good job in adulthood. One personal anecdote that this article reminded me of was I had a sixth grade teacher who used to intimidate in French and make me cry in class and say if I didn't learn these math formulas and score well on tests I would someday end up "working at McDonalds". Reading Hirsch kind of reminded me of this moment. For me this moment represents the older generation's perspective on learning and how different our generation's perspective on what is background knowledge is. But if for a second we pay attention only to the formula, or framework Hirsch is writing about, I think we can apply this to any culture or generation of students and create a successful curriculum.