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Inside American Education

February 16, 2024

Inside American Education: The Decline, The Deception, The Dogmas is a book by economist and social theorist Thomas Sowell (hardcover 1993, paperback 2003, Kindle Edition 2010) that details Sowell's assessment of the state of education in the United States (both K-12 education and higher education).[1][2]

Inside American Education: The Decline, The Deception, The Dogmas
AuthorThomas Sowell
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreEducation
PublisherThe Free Press
Publication date
1993
Pages368
ISBN0029303303
OCLC855170876
370.973
LC ClassLA210 .S65 1993

Contents edit

Criticism of educational "fads" edit

Sowell was critical of a number of educational programs and paradigms that became popular in the United States in the 1960s onward. Among the programs that he critiqued in his book and other writings were:

  • Man: A Course of Study: Sowell called the curriculum a controversial curriculum and was critical both of the curriculum and the stealth with which it was introduced.[3]
  • Values clarification: Sowell was critical of "values clarification" programs and wrote (in his book as well as in later online pieces) that:

The very phrase "values clarification" is fundamentally dishonest. When parents tell their children not to steal or not to have sex, there is no ambiguity as to what they mean. Clarification is neither required nor attempted. Instead, values are downgraded to subjective preferences of individuals or blind traditions of "our society," and contrasted with alternative values of other individuals and other societies -- including, in some cases, the societies of various species of animals.[152] The "nonjudgmental" approach which pervades such exercises provides no principle of logic or morality by which to choose among the many alternatives presented -- except, implicitly, what "peers" or "experts" or "modern thinking" might prefer. "Clarification" is merely a process used to camouflage this process of undermining the child's existing values. (Page 65)

Sowell has elaborated on his arguments against values clarification on online articles.[4][5]

  • Other educational programs including sex education, drug education, and affective education. Sowell claimed that the programs often strayed from their stated goals and engaged in generic brainwashing of people intended to indoctrinate them and turn them against their parents.[6] In addition, Sowell claimed that many programs labeled as gifted and talented programs also ended up being courses in indoctrination.[7] Sowell named educational theorist Carl Rogers as an important influence on these programs.[8]
  • Sowell argued against peace education and nuclear education programs on similar grounds.[9]
  • Sowell was also critical of bilingual education and cited studies showing that many parents were opposed to such education.[10]

Criticism of low skill level of school teachers edit

Sowell was critical of schools of education for training the future teachers in educational fads and having low overall standards, and was critical of states requiring people to have credentials from schools of education to take teaching jobs.[11]

Criticism of ideological double standards at colleges edit

Sowell argued that higher educational institutions were full of double standards, including standards that excused violence and disruption when carried out in the name of politically correct goals, but were extremely harsh on small infractions that might be perceived to oppose politically correct goals.[12] Sowell also criticized the decision of Stanford University president Donald Kennedy to expel China scholar Steven W. Mosher from the Ph.D. program, alleging: "Not one stated requirement for the doctorate in anthropology was even claimed to have been violated...Instead, criteria of personal behavior were created ex post.[13]

Criticism of poor college teaching edit

Sowell argued that, unlike school teaching, the average quality of college teaching was better. He identified a few problems:

  • Wide variation in teaching standards between instructors at the same institution, with fairly poor instruction at the lower end.[14]
  • Instructors in ideologically driven courses offering easy grades and lax grading standards in order to attract students.[15]
  • Political indoctrination in courses, including indoctrination in topics unrelated to the alleged subject of study.[15]

Reception edit

Chester E. Finn Jr., a former United States Assistant Secretary of Education under William Bennett, praised the book in a review for National Review as "a clear, hard-hitting, amply documented work that manages to be strong without being shrill, sensible yet not narrow-minded, outraged but not outrageous."[16]

For Forbes, James W. Michaels called Sowell "an American Emile Zola, accusing the smug American educational leadership of hypocrisy, anti-intellectualism, avarice and propagandizing for essentially left-wing causes...in a factual, analytic style."[17]

A review in Arts Education Policy Review called the book "a penetrating and comprehensive criticism of the educational establishment. Amidst the turbidity of educational debate, it provides a bracing splash of cold reason...The book is an excellent resource for policy discussions and development and offers provocative analysis of the many ills besetting education. Sowell adeptly dismantles many of the familiar arguments for multiculturalism, racial quotas, values clarification, various administrative policies, and other educational practices, and in so doing, he exposes the deceptions and dogmas that have insulated these practices from accountability."[18]

John Brademas, a former Democratic Party member of the United States House of Representatives and president of New York University, offered a critical review in The New York Times: "Some of Mr. Sowell's attacks are on target, but his generalizations are so extravagant and his tone so self-righteous and bombastic that he undermines his case."[19] Brademas added that the book "offers little constructive counsel" on dealing with the issues surrounding education in the United States.[19]

Publishers Weekly called some critiques in this book regarding athletic scholarships and publish or perish "well reasoned" but added that Sowell "often goes wildly askew, as when he argues that sex education causes teen pregnancy."[20]

See also edit

  • Market Education, a book by Andrew J. Coulson about the history of education worldwide.
  • The Beautiful Tree, a book by James Tooley about low-cost private education for poor people.

References edit

  1. ^ Inside American Education: The Decline, The Deception, The Dogmas (Hardcover). Free Press. 1992. p. 384. ISBN 978-0029303306.
  2. ^ Inside American Education: The Decline, The Deception, The Dogmas (paperback). Free Press. 2003. p. 384. ISBN 978-0743254083.
  3. ^ Inside American Education, p. 252
  4. ^ Sowell, Thomas (2010-05-11). "A "Duty to Die"?". Retrieved 2013-10-05.
  5. ^ Sowell, Thomas (1998-07-09). "Dumb is Dangerous". Jewish World Review (syndicated column). Retrieved 2013-10-05.
  6. ^ Inside American Education, pp. 62-69
  7. ^ Inside American Education, pp. 34-36
  8. ^ Inside American Education, pp. 55-56, 89-90
  9. ^ Inside American Education, pp. 40-41, 295
  10. ^ Inside American Education, pp. 74-82
  11. ^ Inside American Education, pp. 23-27, 288-291
  12. ^ Inside American Education, pp. 174-177, 188-194
  13. ^ Inside American Education, p. 192
  14. ^ Inside American Education, pp. 207-216
  15. ^ a b Inside American Education, pp. 210-214
  16. ^ Finn, Chester E. Jr. (February 15, 1993), "Revenge of the Blob", National Review, vol. 45, no. 3, pp. 49–50
  17. ^ Michaels, James W. (March 29, 1993), "Ph.D.s in hypocrisy", Forbes, vol. 151, no. 7, pp. 50–51
  18. ^ Barton, Laurie (April 1996). "Book Review: The Emperor Has No Clothes". Arts Education Policy Review. Taylor & Francis. 97 (4): 39–40. doi:10.1080/10632913.1996.9935071. ISSN 1063-2913.
  19. ^ a b Brademas, John (March 28, 1993), "The Victory of the Left-Wing Storm Troopers", The New York Times Book Review, p. 11, retrieved August 26, 2018
  20. ^ "Inside American Education: The Decline, the Deception, the Dogmas". Publishers Weekly. January 1993. Retrieved August 26, 2018.

February 16, 2024
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This article relies excessively on references to primary sources Please improve this article by adding secondary or tertiary sources Find sources Inside American Education news newspapers books scholar JSTOR October 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message Inside American Education The Decline The Deception The Dogmas is a book by economist and social theorist Thomas Sowell hardcover 1993 paperback 2003 Kindle Edition 2010 that details Sowell s assessment of the state of education in the United States both K 12 education and higher education 1 2 Inside American Education The Decline The Deception The DogmasAuthorThomas SowellCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishGenreEducationPublisherThe Free PressPublication date1993Pages368ISBN0029303303OCLC855170876Dewey Decimal370 973LC ClassLA210 S65 1993 Contents 1 Contents 1 1 Criticism of educational fads 1 2 Criticism of low skill level of school teachers 1 3 Criticism of ideological double standards at colleges 1 4 Criticism of poor college teaching 2 Reception 3 See also 4 ReferencesContents editCriticism of educational fads edit Sowell was critical of a number of educational programs and paradigms that became popular in the United States in the 1960s onward Among the programs that he critiqued in his book and other writings were Man A Course of Study Sowell called the curriculum a controversial curriculum and was critical both of the curriculum and the stealth with which it was introduced 3 Values clarification Sowell was critical of values clarification programs and wrote in his book as well as in later online pieces that The very phrase values clarification is fundamentally dishonest When parents tell their children not to steal or not to have sex there is no ambiguity as to what they mean Clarification is neither required nor attempted Instead values are downgraded to subjective preferences of individuals or blind traditions of our society and contrasted with alternative values of other individuals and other societies including in some cases the societies of various species of animals 152 The nonjudgmental approach which pervades such exercises provides no principle of logic or morality by which to choose among the many alternatives presented except implicitly what peers or experts or modern thinking might prefer Clarification is merely a process used to camouflage this process of undermining the child s existing values Page 65 Sowell has elaborated on his arguments against values clarification on online articles 4 5 Other educational programs including sex education drug education and affective education Sowell claimed that the programs often strayed from their stated goals and engaged in generic brainwashing of people intended to indoctrinate them and turn them against their parents 6 In addition Sowell claimed that many programs labeled as gifted and talented programs also ended up being courses in indoctrination 7 Sowell named educational theorist Carl Rogers as an important influence on these programs 8 Sowell argued against peace education and nuclear education programs on similar grounds 9 Sowell was also critical of bilingual education and cited studies showing that many parents were opposed to such education 10 Criticism of low skill level of school teachers edit Sowell was critical of schools of education for training the future teachers in educational fads and having low overall standards and was critical of states requiring people to have credentials from schools of education to take teaching jobs 11 Criticism of ideological double standards at colleges edit Sowell argued that higher educational institutions were full of double standards including standards that excused violence and disruption when carried out in the name of politically correct goals but were extremely harsh on small infractions that might be perceived to oppose politically correct goals 12 Sowell also criticized the decision of Stanford University president Donald Kennedy to expel China scholar Steven W Mosher from the Ph D program alleging Not one stated requirement for the doctorate in anthropology was even claimed to have been violated Instead criteria of personal behavior were created ex post 13 Criticism of poor college teaching edit Sowell argued that unlike school teaching the average quality of college teaching was better He identified a few problems Wide variation in teaching standards between instructors at the same institution with fairly poor instruction at the lower end 14 Instructors in ideologically driven courses offering easy grades and lax grading standards in order to attract students 15 Political indoctrination in courses including indoctrination in topics unrelated to the alleged subject of study 15 Reception editChester E Finn Jr a former United States Assistant Secretary of Education under William Bennett praised the book in a review for National Review as a clear hard hitting amply documented work that manages to be strong without being shrill sensible yet not narrow minded outraged but not outrageous 16 For Forbes James W Michaels called Sowell an American Emile Zola accusing the smug American educational leadership of hypocrisy anti intellectualism avarice and propagandizing for essentially left wing causes in a factual analytic style 17 A review in Arts Education Policy Review called the book a penetrating and comprehensive criticism of the educational establishment Amidst the turbidity of educational debate it provides a bracing splash of cold reason The book is an excellent resource for policy discussions and development and offers provocative analysis of the many ills besetting education Sowell adeptly dismantles many of the familiar arguments for multiculturalism racial quotas values clarification various administrative policies and other educational practices and in so doing he exposes the deceptions and dogmas that have insulated these practices from accountability 18 John Brademas a former Democratic Party member of the United States House of Representatives and president of New York University offered a critical review in The New York Times Some of Mr Sowell s attacks are on target but his generalizations are so extravagant and his tone so self righteous and bombastic that he undermines his case 19 Brademas added that the book offers little constructive counsel on dealing with the issues surrounding education in the United States 19 Publishers Weekly called some critiques in this book regarding athletic scholarships and publish or perish well reasoned but added that Sowell often goes wildly askew as when he argues that sex education causes teen pregnancy 20 See also editMarket Education a book by Andrew J Coulson about the history of education worldwide The Beautiful Tree a book by James Tooley about low cost private education for poor people References edit Inside American Education The Decline The Deception The Dogmas Hardcover Free Press 1992 p 384 ISBN 978 0029303306 Inside American Education The Decline The Deception The Dogmas paperback Free Press 2003 p 384 ISBN 978 0743254083 Inside American Education p 252 Sowell Thomas 2010 05 11 A Duty to Die Retrieved 2013 10 05 Sowell Thomas 1998 07 09 Dumb is Dangerous Jewish World Review syndicated column Retrieved 2013 10 05 Inside American Education pp 62 69 Inside American Education pp 34 36 Inside American Education pp 55 56 89 90 Inside American Education pp 40 41 295 Inside American Education pp 74 82 Inside American Education pp 23 27 288 291 Inside American Education pp 174 177 188 194 Inside American Education p 192 Inside American Education pp 207 216 a b Inside American Education pp 210 214 Finn Chester E Jr February 15 1993 Revenge of the Blob National Review vol 45 no 3 pp 49 50 Michaels James W March 29 1993 Ph D s in hypocrisy Forbes vol 151 no 7 pp 50 51 Barton Laurie April 1996 Book Review The Emperor Has No Clothes Arts Education Policy Review Taylor amp Francis 97 4 39 40 doi 10 1080 10632913 1996 9935071 ISSN 1063 2913 a b Brademas John March 28 1993 The Victory of the Left Wing Storm Troopers The New York Times Book Review p 11 retrieved August 26 2018 Inside American Education The Decline the Deception the Dogmas Publishers Weekly January 1993 Retrieved August 26 2018 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Inside American Education amp oldid 1069322267, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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