Jul 26, 2023
Educator and author E. D. Hirsch talks with host Kevin Stoller about his views on the state of education. He shares his thoughts on the connection between reading skills and cultural literacy, the correlation between reading skills and future income, and the importance of shared knowledge.
E.D. Hirsch, Jr., founder and chairman of the Core Knowledge Foundation and professor emeritus at the University of Virginia, is an esteemed voice in education reform, championing equal educational opportunity. Originally a literary critic and English professor, Hirsch was prompted towards education reform when he observed the impact of students' background knowledge on their reading comprehension. This led to his concept of cultural literacy, which asserts that effective reading comprehension requires extensive background knowledge in addition to basic decoding skills. Hirsch established the Core Knowledge Foundation in 1986 and quickly gained renown with his book, "Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know," which topped the New York Times bestseller list for over six months. His subsequent publications, including "How to Educate a Citizen: The Power of Shared Knowledge to Unify a Nation," continually advocate for the use of common, coherent, and sequenced curricula in public schools, particularly from preschool to grade 8.
Core Knowledge Foundation: https://www.linkedin.com/company/core-knowledge-foundation/
Learn more about creating better learning environments at www.Kay-Twelve.com.
Kevin Stoller is the host of the Better Learning Podcast and Co-Founder of Kay-Twelve, a national leader for educational furniture. Find out more about Kevin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinstoller/
For more episodes of the Better Learning Podcast, visit https://www.betterlearningpodcast.com/
Who made this episode possible?
Association for Learning Environments (A4LE) - https://www.a4le.org/
Education Leaders' Organization - https://www.ed-leaders.org/
Second Class Foundation - https://www.secondclassfoundation.org/