Hirsch, E.D. Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know. Vintage Books, 1988.
E.D. Hirsch, Jr. remains as relevant today as he was in 1987 when he first published Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know. Nearly forty years later, his ideas propose a solution to what the media describes as an America at a Crossroads of unprecedented division. While Cultural Literacy is best known as the basis for Hirsch's Core Knowledge Sequence, readers should not overlook the prophetic diagnosis and insightful remedies it offers regarding the divisive state of our nation. For Hirsch, being “culturally literate” is the antidote to toxic disunity. If America wishes to continue enjoying the benefits of “political liberalism” it must embrace an “educational conservatism” that will allow a national communication between grandparents and grandchildren, southerners with Midwesterners, whites with blacks, Asians with Hispanics, and Republicans and Democrats.” For classical educators, we should continue to promote Hirsch’s efforts which believed a content-rich, traditional education best fulfilled the vision of our founding fathers for a nation of knowledgeable and virtuous citizens that could engage and even disagree because of our shared cultural literacy.
Before publishing Cultural Literacy, Hirsch was already a respected literary critic and professor of English at the University of Virginia. Describing himself as being “shocked into” education reform after discovering widespread cultural illiteracy within two Virginia colleges, he developed the Core Knowledge Sequence with collaboration from other academics and experts in the field. This 63-page alphabetical list includes names, dates, idioms, and terms across all disciplines, from world history to literature, to complex science, and mathematical concepts. For instance, topics under “A” range from “Achilles’ heel” to Afghanistan, AC/DC, Amazing Grace (the song), and the Amazon River. Hirsch argues that this sequence is crucial because Americans are most united when they share a common intellectual heritage, fostered through education. He asserts that “everyone should start from the same democratic ideal,” a belief rooted in the principles of America’s founding. However, Hirsch argues that the current reality falls short, as the American public education system fails to equip future generations with the essential knowledge needed to be informed citizens. He contends that democracy relies on a culturally literate population to uphold its founding principles, which are based on shared knowledge and “universal literacy [which] is inseparable from democracy.” Hirsch emphasizes that the Founding Fathers envisioned a “Ciceronian ideal of education and discourse in a republic,” an ideal that shaped public discourse and education until the early twentieth century.
Hirsch critiques the modern education system, which he argues has largely failed to equip citizens with the background knowledge needed for active civic participation. As a result, children from poor and disadvantaged backgrounds remain trapped in a social and economic caste due to schools that "teach a fragmented curriculum based on faulty educational theories." Hirsch accurately predicted that this would lead to a widening achievement gap. His advocacy for a content-rich education directly challenges the Rousseau-inspired ideas of Dewey, who placed too much faith in children's ability to learn general skills from limited experiences and dismissed "the piling up of information" that characterizes traditional education. Hirsch counters that American public schools have failed, particularly for the most vulnerable children, by not teaching the critical background information and cultural knowledge essential for developing the cultural literacy to participate effectively in our society.
To bolster his arguments for cultural literacy, Hirsch references both the lives of great Americans and real-life classroom examples. He notes that figures like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Thomas Jefferson could not have written the Letter from Birmingham Jail or the Declaration of Independence without drawing on their rich, classical education, which influenced and infused their writings with many ideas from St. Thomas Aquinas to John Locke. Hirsch further cites the example of community college students who struggle to understand a paragraph about Grant and Lee at Appomattox. Although the students could read the words, their comprehension was limited by their lack of cultural literacy, such as the most basic fact that America fought a Civil War.
Hirsch offers a solution to a curriculum that is "fragmented both horizontally across subjects and vertically within subjects." Instead of trying to "offer enough diversity" in coursework, he argues that schools should focus on a traditional education, especially in the early years. He uses China, "a polyglot nation of mutually unintelligible dialects," as a cautionary example of what happens when language lacks "unification and standardization," while still allowing room for local culture and educational decisions. Although some may fear that Hirsch's ideas push too far toward the nationalization of educational norms and standards, he advocates for both "commonality and flexibility" in implementing a curriculum. This approach combines an extensive curriculum that includes essential knowledge with an intensive curriculum that allows flexibility in content and methods. For example, a school might teach Shakespeare and include some information on Romeo and Juliet but choose to read Twelfth Night together rather than every single school in America only choosing Romeo and Juliet.
Despite society largely ignoring Hirsch's advice, a growing movement of schools, including many within the classical movement, has embraced a content-driven approach to K-12 education that utilizes or draws influence with his principles. Recent research studies have further validated the effectiveness of Hirsch’s work. As a former teacher in a Core Knowledge charter school, I have personally seen how the sequence provides a strong foundation for students of all backgrounds. Teaching the Core Knowledge offered students explicit instruction in foundational knowledge, which spirals over the course of their career—a method that aligns well with classical pedagogy. Thus, taking the time to read through Cultural Literacy will assist classical educators and anyone interested in a more traditional approach to curriculum in developing arguments against more progressive modes of education.
The stakes are as high as ever. Hirsch, quoting Benjman J. Stein, cautions us that if we do not teach our children to be culturally literate, our generation will "not understand society well enough to value it." Today we are seeing the result of a generation that does not understand or value our rights and freedoms and the growing classical school movement must continue to engage in the educational sphere to emphasize the proper role of education in our civil society.
Matthew Stone has served as a teacher and administrator in K-8 and 9-12 charter school settings before joining the team at Liberty Classical as the Director of New Schools. He has a bachelors degree from Hillsdale College, a masters from Cambridge College, and a PhD in Educational Leadership from Liberty University. Matthew and his wife, along with their three young children, enjoy a love of books, sports, and travel best spent together as a family.