This article was written a few short years after I graduated high school and I had no problem understanding the cultural inferences that were made in the article so I wondered how this idea came about. However, I agree with the author, because some 20 years later with this new generation, the argument is proves to be true. Try talking to a teen about Chernobyl, Mother Theresa or apartheid and you will get this blank look in return. As a mother who has sat in classrooms, attended curriculum night and assisted with homework, I find that educators now focus on the literacy of test taking. That is they teach strategies in how to find the correct answer, how to read for the main idea, etc. I understand the bureaucracy of having children perform well on standardized tests, but I also know how rich their impact could be if cultural literacy was somehow incorporated into the curriculum. Knowing the significance of Lake Placid may not enhance a student’s cognitive abilities but knowing that this is one, if not the only, eastern city to twice host the winter Olympics and the game that was won there might make the student more culturally well rounded.
My initial thought was to say that parents should teach this at home as part of everyday vernacular. Unfortunately, we are living in a world where parents aren’t always home when a child walks in or perhaps cultural literacy hasn’t been impressed upon the adult.
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