1. E.D. Hirsch, Jr.
By: Kathryn Papaccioli
“The achievement of high
universal literacy is the key
to all other fundamental
improvements in American
education” E.D. Hirsch

2. Getting to Know E.D. Hirsch
Biography
E.D. Hirsch – Educational Philosophy

3. What Is
Cultural Literacy?
“I call cultural literacy, namely, the network of
information that all competent readers
possess. It is the background information,
stored in their minds, that enables them to take
up a newspaper, and read it with an adequate
level of comprehension, getting the point,
grasping the implications, relating what they
read to the unstated context which alone gives
meaning to what they read.” E.D. Hirsch, 1988

4. What is the Importance of Cultural Literacy
for Education?
• “Our chief instrument of communication over time and space is
the standard national language, which is sustained by national
literacy (Hirsch, 1988).”
• In order to effectively communicate with each other, we must
be able to grasp the context and meaning associated with the
language
• Without a common shared knowledge, written and oral
communication becomes more complex and tedious
• To function in the modern world of changing ideas, events, and
challenges, students must grasp a universal, shared
knowledge
• Schools are the most influential institutions in terms of
conveying the shared knowledge that is necessary for high-
level literacy.

5. Are You Culturally
Literate?
Check out this video of Read this article from
E.D. Hirsch on the Psychology Today
McNeil/Lehrer News Hour http://www.psychologytoday.co
http://www.youtube.com/w m/blog/finding-the-next-
atch?v=ROIujiY1uZU einstein/201105/are-you-
culturally-literate
• How many terms were you able to place into context?
• Do you think today’s students would be able to
correctly identify these terms?
• How relevant is this in terms of literacy instruction?

6. Hirsch &
• In 1986, one year before publishing “Cultural Literacy: What
Every American Needs to Know” he founded the Core Knowledge
Foundation
• The Foundation is based upon Hirsch’s theory that “reading
comprehension requires not just formal decoding skills, but also
wide-ranging background knowledge.”
• The foundation supports the Common Core Standards Initiative,
which emphasizes the importance of “students reading texts
across disciplines and building a foundation of knowledge that will
give them the background to be better readers in all content
areas”
• Along with other scholars, Hirsch sought to develop a knowledge-
based curriculum to be implemented in grades K– 8

7. http://www.coreknowledge.org/mimik/mimik_upload
s/documents/23/SequenceataGlance.pdf

8. Critics of Cultural
Literacy
• Treats children as receptacles
for facts
• Discourages children from
participating in the learning
process
• Negates experience as a Read More:
valuable part of developing
• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joel-
critical thinking and evaluation
shatzky/educating-for-democracy-
of language and context e_b_411085.html
•Who will be in charge of • http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publicatio
determinining these core ns/iie/v1n4/homepage.html
components?

9. The Cultural Literacy
Controversy
• Critics argued that Hirsch was elitist to presume that he; a privileged, white,
male, should decide what American students learn
• His opponents disputed the importance of some of the core contexts, citing them
as subjective and even racist
• Hirsch countered, stating, “Cultural literacy constitutes the only sure avenue of
opportunity for disadvantaged children, the only reliable way of combating the
social determinism that now condemns them to remain in the same social and
educational condition as their parents.”
• He claimed the progressive pedagogy, which promoted the doctrine of teaching
children to “learn how to learn,” deprived children of valuable knowledge
• Many scholars of today have reconsidered the importance of core concepts in
providing students with an equal and quality education

10. What do you think the other philosopher’s we have studied
would say about Hirsch and Cultural Literacy?
What terms would they be sure to include?
What terms do you think should be included?

11. In Today’s Classroom
This video is a visual This video shows one
representation of some terms teacher’s experience with
found in “Cultural Literacy” cultural literacy and how she
suggests we share with
students
http://www.youtube.com/watc
http://www.youtube.com/wat h?v=pUiwaI8E0iU
ch?v=p9P9nIm0DQY
How can we incorporate
cultural literacy into our
classrooms?

12. References:
Andre, C. & Velasquez, M. (1988, Summer). What Johnny should read. Issues in Ethics, 1(4), Retrieved from
http://www.scu.edu/ethics/ publications/iie/v1n4/homepage.html
Coppola, J. (2011, August 18). The education theory of E.D. Hirsch. Retrieved from
http://www.newfoundations.com/GALLERY/Hirsch.html
Core Knowledge Foundation. (2013). Common core state standards. Retrieved from http://www.coreknowledge.org/ccss
Core Knowledge Foundation. (2013). Core knowledge at a glance. Retrieved from
http://www.coreknowledge.org/mimik/mimik_uploads/documents/23/SequenceataGlance.pdf
Core Knowledge Foundation. (2013). E.D. Hirsch Jr.. Retrieved from http://www.coreknowledge.org/ed-hirsch-jr
Cultural illiteracy [Television series episode]. (1987). In The MacNeil Lehrer News Hour. Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROIujiY1uZU
(2009). Cultural literacy. (2009). [Web Video]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9P9nIm0DQY
E.D. Hirsch Jr. In (2013). Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._D._Hirsch,_Jr.
Hirsch, E. D. ,. J. (1988). Cultural literacy: What every American needs to know. New York: Vintage Books.
New Learning. (2012). E.D. Hirsch on cultural literacy. Retrieved from http://newlearningonline.com/new-learning/chapter-7-
knowledge-and-learning/ed-hirsch-on-cultural-literacy/
Schweizer, B. (2009). Cultural literacy: Is it time to revisit the debate?. The NEA Higher Education Journal, Fall, Retrieved from
http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/HE/TA09CulturalLiteracy.pdf
Shatzky, J. (2010, January 05). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joel-shatzky/educating-for-
democracy-e_b_411085.html
Shivley, C. (Producer). (2010). Cultural literacy. [Web Video]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUiwaI8E0iU
Stern, S. (2009). E.D. Hirsch's curriculum for democracy. City Journal, 19(4), Retrieved from http://www.city-
journal.org/2009/19_4_hirsch.html
Wai, J. (2011, May 23). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/finding-the-next-