Friday, March 23, 2007

The New Anti-Intellectualism in America

When Curricular Rigor and ‘Pedagogical Fraud’ Go Hand in Hand

It seems odd to accuse the schools of anti-intellectualism when they are engaged in a relentless drive for higher test scores, and students are required to take more difficult academic courses. Passing rates on some state and local tests show small increases, but there has been little if any improvement on well-established national tests. The small gains we’ve seen may be the result of concentrated instruction on narrowly defined objectives. But we are not promoting intellectual habits of mind. Indeed, we may be reducing intellectual life to mental labor. What are the signs that this is happening?

See Nel Noddings' OpEd in Education Week.

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