An article titled “Let the
Kids Rule the School”, by Susan Engel, appeared in the New York Times’ Opinion
Pages in March of 2011. Engel is a frequent op-ed contributor as well as a
developmental psychologist. She is also the author of Red Flags or Red Herrings: Predicting Who Your Child
Will Become. This article mainly focused on an educational experiment that
took place in New Marlborough, MA. A high school there had allowed a small
group of their students to participate in what the students soon fondly called
the Independence Project. Essentially they were given the freedom to create
their own curriculum and they ended up doing a pretty amazing job. They read
more books than the AP English classes at their school while also covering more
topics in math and science. They taught each other topics that interested them
and showcased new talents to the entire faculty and student body, such as
having had learned to cook or play the piano. Most importantly, they made
learning worthwhile. Engel’s wrote this article to discuss a very interesting
social experiment in education and its results. Her purpose is fairly clear as
the article comes to a close and she says, “We have tried making the school day longer and blanketing students
with standardized tests. But perhaps children don’t need another reform imposed
on them. Instead, they need to be the authors of their own education.” This
article is written to an audience interested in psychology, social
experimentation, education, or possibly even education reform. Engel’s most
common form of rhetoric used is syllogism. She presents an inarguable fact
about education and logically lays out why experiments like the Independence
Project are beneficial in a way that is difficult to argue with. In doing this
she weaves a very interesting argument and provides insight into a not commonly
heard of reform movement.
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