Was Harry Potter's Hogwarts education any good?
How well would Harry Potter do on the SAT? The question has been raised by a Harvard research fellow about just how fine an educationHarry Potter and his friends received at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Samuel Arbesman, research fellow in the Department of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School, wrote on his blog:
“When it comes to the world of Harry Potter, no doubt many children think the idea of learning witchcraft and wizardry at Hogwarts seems wonderful. Unfortunately, the magical world of education in J.K. Rowling’s books is terribly broken.....
“At Hogwarts, while they learn about spells and potions, they completely neglect the fundamentals. They are made to write essays on the history of magic but are never taught to write. They take Arithmancy, but never learn mathematics.”
I beg to differ.
The array of Hogwarts courses -- required and elective (below) -- has a creative breadth not seen in many a school here in the No Child Left
