Why education is so difficult and contentious
This article proposes to explain why education is
so difficult and contentious by arguing that educational thinking
draws on only three fundamental ideas&emdash;that of socializing the
young, shaping the mind by a disciplined academic curriculum, and
facilitating the development of students' potential. All educational
positions are made up of various mixes of these ideas. The problems
we face in education are due to the fact that each of these ideas is
significantly flawed and also that each is incompatible in basic ways
with the other two. Until we recognize these basic incompatibilities
we will be unable adequately to respond to the problems we
face.