The question of what a public intellectual is happens to be rather interesting. What makes an individual a public intellectual? What is the function of the public intellectual? What is it that these individuals provide the public? In his blog post The "Decline" of Public Intellectuals?, Stephen Mack introduces Jean Bethke Elshtain's version of what the function is served by a public intellectual. As put forth by Elshtain, it is the function of the public intellectual to provide criticism. It is up to these individuals to look at aspects of society, discover what is wrong with their area of study, and finally to propose ways to correct the issue, whether in a public forum or to specialists.
In virtually all professional fields it is possible to find at least one public intellectual. But in order to truly understand how a public intellectual functions in and contributes to society, it is important to not attempt to look at a vast array of individuals. Rather one must spend time studying one individual, so that it is possible to gain an understanding of the work of a public intellectual. To accomplish this end, this blog post will be focusing on the great educator and education theorist E.D. Hirsch.
Hirsch spent the majority of his adult life in classrooms. Until his recent retirement, he was serving as a University Professor of Education and Humanities, as well as the Linden Kent Memorial Professor of English Emeritus, at the University of Virginia. As a professional educator, Hirsch was given the opportunity to take an extensive look at the methods employed by educators. In conducting his studies, Hirsch developed his own theory of education.
At the center of Hirsch's educational theory is the belief that students must be taught a "lasting body of knowledge". It is from this base, core knowledge that all other learning is able to take place. While it is much easier to simply view education as multi-faceted, as an aspect of our lives that is built of multiple pieces, Hirsch proposes that the process of learning should be studied as, what he refers to as, "learning builds on learning". What Hirsch discovered is that the more knowledge a person has already acquired, the more that person will be able to learn. In a way, one's education is like a LEGO set; before the piece at the top of the tower can be put on, a foundation must be created that is built upon.
It has been a common held belief that anyone has the ability to teach. It is presented in Hirsch's educational theory that the anyone can teach principle is true, as long as a few guidelines are met. He states that to be a successful teacher, one must only be competent, which stems from having a good deal of general knowledge. In order to gain this general knowledge, to build the necessary foundation for all future learning, an emphasis should be placed on a common curriculum focusing on core knowledge. From this belief, Hirsch developed his Core Knowledge Sequence. This method of education is implemented, at any level, in 1120 schools throughout the United States.
A key aspect of the Core Knowledge Sequence is how a teacher meets the needs of the class's individuals' This question can be approached in one of two ways: individual instruction or whole-class instruction. By employing the former, an educator is able to spend time with individual students, working on what the student needs the most help with, the areas in which they are weakest. However, there is an entire class that goes without instruction if the teacher spends the entire class period working with one individual. When whole-class instruction is employed, the entire class is able to receive the necessary core knowledge, from which all future education stems.
As previously stated, Hirsch's educational theory is strongly set upon the idea of a common curriculum. According to Hirsch, the importance of this commonality comes from the role that it plays in equalizing opportunities. By establishing a common curriculum, schools teaching students coming from disadvantaged backgrounds would be able to provide their students with opportunities similar to those experienced by their more well-off counterparts. In creating this equal level, through establishing a common curriculum to be put into use (something over 1000 schools have done thus far), Hirsch effectively changed the entire education system of the United States.
E.D. Hirsch has spent his life as an educator and an educational theorist. But does this make him a public intellectual? According to Elshtain's theory that a public intellectual is one who provides criticism, yes Hirsch is a public intellectual. He has studied to great lengths the education systems within America. He has discovered issues within the current system and the methods of teaching which are employed. Hirsch then went on to become a public critic of these issues and developed and proposed very necessary changes. With over 1000 schools now using the curriculum created by Hirsch, I would say that he is an incredibly successful public intellectual. Thank you Mr. E.D. Hirsch.
