"The Great Relearning of American Schools"
August 13, 2024
Yes, one of the saddest elements of our current political/social/economic problems is that we--or at least our governing class--are having to relearn lessons we should have learned a long time ago.
Tom Wolfe discusses a similar story—the rediscovery of old truths, this time in the twentieth century—in his famous essay “The Great Relearning.” Hippies rediscover basic hygiene after deconstructing old bourgeois norms like regular washing, and finding themselves afflicted with diseases not seen in centuries—the itch, the twitch, the rot. Architects renounce brutalism and glass monstrosities and instead embrace Art Deco and classical architecture. It turns out the glass provides no insulation while beige, cubical, utilitarian office buildings make everyone into a nihilist.
Education is undergoing a similar relearning. How anyone decided it was oppressive to measure whether students had learned course material is beyond me. Thankfully, even elite universities have recognized that standardized tests are not racist or classist. K-12 institutions would be wise to relearn likewise.