Experienced educators Michael C. Zwaagstra, Rodney A. Clifton, and John C. Long collaborate to compose What's Wrong with Our Schools and How to Fix Them (Rowman & Littlefield), detailing a broad spectrum of educational errors and suggesting a return to classical topics and methods to remedy the breach. They do so convincingly and concisely. Their proposal for repairing the public schools appears on page eight, where they recommend that "public schools must shift their focus to teaching and systematically evaluating students' achievement in core subjects, and to upholding discipline codes more rigorously, especially in secondary schools where the lessons of citizenship can begin to show mature expression."
The book is short by today's standards: a mere 200 pages; in that space, however, Zwaagstra, Clifton, and Long debunk "Romantic Progressivism," a term they glean from E.D. Hirsch. To use their definition, romantic progressives "often trivialize conventional knowledge and skills as less important than individual volition and self-esteem" (6). In other words, the romantic progressives are the ones who award a trophy to a child for participation rather than achievement. Well-known romantic progressives include the following: Michael Apple, William Ayers (yes, that William Ayers), Paulo Freire, Maxine Greene, Alfie Kohn, and Peter McLaren. All of these folks hold doctoral degrees and have taught or are teaching future teachers at the University level. They perceive, according to the authors, that "social change begins in the classroom and teachers must lead the revolution to create a better society" (ibid).
The book's chapters are well organized, and the writing style is fluid and accessible. The chapters commence with a fictionalized student situation, continue on with background information and illustrations, then end with a list of recommendations with brief justifications. Each chapter includes an annotated bibliography, the quality of which makes the book a worthy purchase for that reason alone. I hope that the writing style and somewhat simplistic organization do not put off more serious academics, for these need to read the book as much as any parent incredulous of what and how his or her child is learning.
I doubt very seriously that the authors' recommendations are ever implemented in a widespread way. Romantic progressivism is too deeply entrenched for that. The recommendations may, however, find their way into individual teachers' curricula and blossom from there. The deconstruction (forgive me; I couldn't resist) of romantic progressivism may well prove to be encouraging fodder for would-be home schooling parents.
Highly recommended.
