Hw 45

In most movies that we recently watched, all the teachers started out teaching like E.D. Hirsch, who teaches transcendent, or a step by step lesson. Eventually the teachers end up teaching like Ted Sizer, who teaches immanent, which basically is work with what works. I feel as though E.D. Hirsch is the kind of teacher society wants. People believe that the more someone knows about something, the smarter they are. Filling a person with information seems like something our parents what as well. As long as kids come home with some new knowledge, it keeps the parents happy that their child learns something even if it is not necessary. Though this technique is good because it separates the fast learners from the slow learners. Not because one class is dumb, this will help the teachers come up with new techniques that will maybe improve students to learn. Life is a competition and this technique is too.

Ted Sizer influenced our school to teach the habits of mind. Unlike Hirsch, people will learn new ways of looking at things, develop new points of view and come up with their own inferences. I like this technique better then Hirsch because with the other technique, they teach you what is right and wrong and with history you can never be sure if the textbooks are accurate. Sizer teaches us to question things, to teach us that nothing is absolutely true if we can question it. The thing about these two techniques is that Hirsch doesn't feel confident when using his techniques with elementary students and Sizer does feel comfortable with high school students. Yet most people in our school, I bet, were taught Hirsch's technique in elementary and Sizer's technique in high school and we turned out fine. Frankly, I feel like Sizer's technique is more important when living your life but Hirsch's technique is more important when getting a job or sorts.