National Standards in Education

I have finally decided that my thesis will cover an historical perspective of anti-intellectualism in education and music education. I'm going to research trends in education from the past 50 years, focusing on one major trend in each decade. These "themes" will then allow me to develop questions to interview retired music teachers about their experiences in the field. The result will be an historical account of anti-intellectualism--the flux of creativity and critical thinking--in education.

I have started reading literature about the National Standards movement that began in the late 1980's and gained strength in the 1990's. Support and dissent for National Standards was very divided. Those advocating national standards thought that they would be the most effective way to ensure that all students had the opportunity to a "world-class" education. On the other hand, establishing national standards would limit many of the ideals American's tout about our educational system.

From the perspective of anti-intellectualism the national standards movement could be interpreted as superficially positive. More rigorous standards for all students seems like an intellectual endeavor. However, when looking deeper into the implications of the National Standards there are many anti-intellectual issues: elimination of school/community autonomy to decide culture/intellectual environment, lack of trust in teachers' creativity and ingenuity, elimination of high-level thinking (such as creativity and critical thinking) due to high-stakes testing, and others.

I define anti-intellectualism (along with others such as Hofstadter and Bestor) as movement away from creativity, critical thinking, and reason. The intellect, after all, is the function of the mind that compares, contrasts, creates, analyzes, and thinks critically about the world. For the regulators of our education system to put so much focus on remembering facts and figures--by placing high stakes on standardized testing (which is largely multiple choice regurgitation)--they are devaluing the important functions of the mind. Attracting quality teachers has always been a concern of schools, and as the education system continues to erode its trust of teachers, the innovative and creative teachers will disappear.

Just some thoughts.