Response to Francis Schrag

EDUCATIONAL THEORY Sprin 1990, Vol. 40, No. 2 0 I980 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Response to Francis Schrag By Walter Feinberg I appreciate Francis Schrag’s response to my critique of BlOOm. Schrag may or may not be correct that ultimately a critique of Bloom requires an examination of the foundation of our commitment to democracy. However, Bloom’s subtitle (How Higher Education Has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today’s Students) already implies a commitment on his part to democratic ideals. Thus one need not justify these ideals to criticize Bloom. It is sufficient to show how much of his analysis is inconsistent with important elements in the democratic tradition. Thus the questions asked by Professor Schrag should first be asked of Bloom. Regarding Hirsch, Schrag makes a good point. It is (sometimes) important to know the dominant meaning in order to challenge it (parenthesis mine). However, a challenge also requires that meaning be viewed as fluid and in some sense politically grounded. It is precisely these features of meaning which Hirsch overlooks. For example, the fact that Hirsch presents his proposal as pedagogically neutral while at the same time praising rote memorization implies that many students will be presented the list as fixed and unchallengeable. The latest appeal to Hirsch through the popular media can illustrate my concern. The chairwoman of the National Endowment for the Humanities complained that too many college students graduate with limited exposure to the basics of history and thought.’ Her comments were based on a survey that revealed that a significant number of college seniors did not know such landmark facts as when Columbus set foot in the Western Hemisphere. I too am concerned about students who have forgotten the date of Columbus’s arrival, although I suspect that many could be quickly reminded. However, I would be much more concerned with the student who failed to understand why it is now inappropriate and offensive to many people to ask the question as it used to be framed - “When did Columbus discover America?” It is precisely this change that Hirsch’s conception of meaning would not enable a student to understand. Correspondence: Education Building, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1310 South Sixth Street, Champaign, IL 61820. 1. New York Times, Monday, 9 October 1989, 11

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