Did We Bridge Our Differences?
Dear Deborah,
Your last blog takes us back to a time when we were on opposite sides of the pedagogical fence. I was aware of your work in the "open classroom" movement, and none too appreciative of that movement. I tend to prefer students in classrooms with walls and a door and have vivid memories of visiting "open" schools where four classes were at work in the same space, divided spontaneously by bookcases or other physical markers pushed into place to allow the teachers to have almost a room of their own. Back in the '70s, '80s, and '90s, I engaged in verbal duels with advocates of bilingual education, whole language, constructivist math, multicultural education, and many variants of progressivism.
I recall how I met you. First, as you note, you slammed my book, The Troubled Crusade, in Dissent in 1983, and we exchanged some verbal salvos in that journal. Then, in 1988, you again let me have it when you blasted "What Do Our 17-Year-Olds Know?" in the pages of Dissent (my co-author was Chester E. Finn, Jr.). I don't recall if or how I responded, but I expressed my frustration to Al Shanker, and he said very simply, "I think you and Deb would like each other. Why don't you call her and make a date to see her?" I confess that the thought had never crossed my mind. I took his advice. I called and still remember what I said when I reached you on the