Heightscast

Hillsdale College Dr. Matt Spalding continues his conversation with us about American History, and the theory of education in 20th century America. If you haven't listened to Part I of the episode, listen here. 3:28: Schools are trying to do too much in their study of History. APs and other similar courses and curricula force us to cover too much ground in a superficial way. The most important task for parents and teachers is to give students an imagination. Otherwise, history becomes flat and dry. We should be more simple in our approach; students can find data on their own with ease if they have basic skills. We have to break through the idea that there are no absolute truths. 8:28: American education shifted in the Progressive Era due to the influence of, among others, John Dewey. Classical and Medieval thought had a shared understanding of reality, which is why Shakespeare, Aristotle and Aquinas could all talk about the same things. In the modern world, there is a shift beginning with Machiavelli, a