(http://blog.coreknowledge.org/, April 28, 2011, Road Trip With Alfie Kohn)

This article discussed the ideas of Alfie Kohn about why urban schools are not doing a good job. According to Kohn, the reasoning is the rote memorization instead of the exploration of ideas and worksheets that replace real books. Pondiscio agrees with Kohn that many urban schools are lousy, but he isn't sure he agrees with Kohn on the reasoning. While Kohn tends to blame the curriculum and essentialism, Pondiscio sees it more as teachers who lack the skills necessary to manage a classroom effectively. Pondiscio thinks that these teachers, rather than seeing worksheets as a learning tool, use them to buy themselves some time because of their inability to run small groups efficiently and use the time to "steal a few moments with their mandated "book clubs" and "literature circles." Pondiscio doesn't believe that Kohn has ever actually been to these urban schools, and therefore doesn't really grasp what is happening there. At the end of the blog, Pondiscio mockingly asks Kohn to take him to these classrooms so that he can "see what he sees."

This blog relates to class because of our discussion earlier in the year about the philosophies of education because Pondiscio, an essentialist, uses the blog to call Kohn out about his progressive ideas. Pondiscio is defending the essentialist philosophy in the blog by stating that he doesn't believe that there essentialist schools are literally run by rote memorization and militaristic control, as described by Kohn. I agree with their diagnosis of the urban schools as having a very poor curriculum that has little to no subjects outside of those tested for on standardized tests. I agree with Kohn that sometimes worksheets do in fact replace books, and that since these schools are so focused on standardized tests that they focus more on memorizing facts than thinking about ideas. I agree with Pondiscio that these problems are greatly exaggerated by Kohn and that essentialist schools are not just rote memorization and militaristic control.

It is clear that Kohn is a Progressive and that Pondiscio is an essentialist. Pondiscio mocks "authentic learning" in the blog and thinks that more damage is being done in urban schools by a "refusal to acknowledge the cognitive benefits of a knowledge-rich core curriculum." Kohn is a well-known progressive advocate. In the blog, he shows this by endorsing exploration for ideas and expressing his disappointment for teachers failing to promote that.