HIRSCH, Eric Donald, Jr.

(b. 22 March 1928 in Memphis, Tennessee), educational reformer and author whose book Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know (1987) brought him into the public eye, although he had been an independent thinker on K–12 education long before that.

Hirsch is the son of Eric Donald, a businessman, and Leah Aschaffenburg. Growing up in Memphis, Hirsch noticed distressing inequalities—in particular that disadvantaged children often received an inferior education. Then Hirsch read Gunnar Myrdal's American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy (1944) and became concerned about how racism affects education.

As he pursued his own education, Hirsch continued to think about education issues. In 1950 Hirsch graduated from Cornell University with a B.A. in English, and he earned his M.A. from Yale University three years later. During this time he was a member of the U.S. Naval Reserve and on active duty from 1950 to 1952. In 1957 Hirsch earned his Ph.D. from Yale University. He married Mary Monteith Pope on 15 June 1958, and the couple eventually had three children.

Hirsch began his teaching career in 1956 as an English instructor at Yale University. During the 1960s he advanced in academia, becoming an assistant professor in 1960 and an associate professor in 1963. He began teaching at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville in 1966, where he also served as chair of the English department; he continued to teach at the University of Virginia while he became a noted author.

As he continued to build his career, Hirsch thought about the learning process. His experiences teaching in the 1960s brought him insights that were to shape the rest of his career. He was a Morse fellow (1960–1961) and a Guggenheim fellow (1964–1965), both distinguished positions in the field of education. During his experiences as an instructor in the classroom, Hirsch noticed that teaching styles had evolved, but not necessarily for the better. Education shifted from making sure students had background knowledge to helping them develop learning skills.

Hirsch began to form many of his own ideas on education. He believed literacy is more than just understanding how to read. Instead, it requires enough education to understand references that belong in a literate person's world, such as who Dante was and what he wrote, what a flapper is, and why Sherlock Holmes is synonymous with solving crime.

Hirsch believed that taking facts and figures out of the schools affects learning, especially the learning of poor children whose parents do not fill in the gaps. To improve early childhood education, Hirsch helped start the Cultural Literacy Foundation, which promotes teaching a shared core curriculum in U.S. schools.

Hirsch told Contemporary Authors Online that early education is essential because language is not as simple as it may appear. "One theme is consistent: language is saying more than appears on the page, or in the sounds we make," Hirsch said. "The actual words are able to convey meaning only because of all sorts of implications that are not said. The reader must bring those meanings to the words by virtue of background knowledge."

Hirsch's views departed from the mainstream and were contested by those who believed the process of learning is more important than the content. But Hirsch insisted that background knowledge, not just methods of learning, must be provided in schools. For example, whereas some teachers would instruct first graders how to identify the values of certain cultures, Hirsch would teach them about ancient civilizations and world religions before covering values. In this way the students would have specific information—including historical, geographical, and philosophical details—on which to base their identifications.

Hirsch began publishing his views in the 1960s, beginning with practical analyses of literature. His first book, Wordsworth and Schelling: A Typological Study of Romanticism (1960), looked at the similarities of these two authors and claimed they shared the same psychology, or Weltanschauung. Hirsch concluded that his two subjects shared a pattern of experience he called "enthusiasm," or a "constant and sober way of confronting reality."

The next book, Innocence and Experience: An Introduction to Blake (1964), was again primarily a literary study. Hirsch chose a systematic approach that looked at William Blake's works both contextually and thematically. With this book, Hirsch won the Explicator magazine prize. In 1965 he contributed to From Sensibility to Romanticism: Essays Presented to Frederick A. Pottle.

Gradually Hirsch built the foundation for his next book, which addressed the academic trend of accepting imaginative conjectures in lieu of fact. In Validity in Interpretation (1967), Hirsch took to task the notion that there are no correct standards in interpreting human knowledge. Instead of approaching learning as if everyone's interpretation has validity, Hirsch advocated weighing evidence and reaching a consensus. He took a firm theoretical stance that did not allow for discounting facts, however bothersome they might be to those who would ignore them. "Severe discipline in interpretation would seem to require just this irritable reaching after fact and reason," Hirsch wrote in his preface.

Hirsch's work showed a determined effort to fight the tide that was washing away discipline and reason in academic circles. After the 1960s he went on to write many books expressing his views on education. His publications include The Aims of Interpretation (1976), The Philosophy of Composition (1977), Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know (1987), The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy (with Joseph Kett and James Trefil [1988]), A First Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: What Our Children Need to Know (1991), The Schools We Need and Why We Don't Have Them (1996), and Books to Build On: A Grade-by-Grade Resource Guide for Parents and Teachers (edited with Holdren [1996]). He has also written books for the "Core Knowledge" series, resource books for K–6 instruction.

During the 1960s and afterward many schools focused on "tool skills," or the ability to use critical thinking and problem solving. According to Hirsch, these teaching methods actually cheat children out of a solid education. He believes that taking facts and figures out of school harms reading comprehension. Hirsch was a contributor to History as a Tool in Critical Interpretation: A Symposium (1978) and What Is Literature? (1978). He has also written essays and articles for American Educator, American Scholar, College English, Critical Inquiry, and the Times Literary Supplement. Hirsch's theories have been put into practice by the Core Knowledge Foundation, which publishes core curriculum materials for elementary schools. Schools that have implemented core curriculum plans have reported improved test scores, better attendance, and more involved students.

Information about Hirsch can be found in Contemporary Authors Online. Articles about Hirsch appear in Scholastic Update (6 Nov. 1987), The Economist (18 Feb. 1989), Phi Delta Kappan(Sept. 1997), The New Republic (10 Aug. 1998), and Forbes (16 Nov. 1998). Hirsch's article "Why Traditional Education Is More Progressive" can be found at <<http://www.theamericanenterprise.org/taema97e.htm>>.

A. E. Schulthies