A Primer for Culture X Goes to School: Public Education and the American Culture

By Edward Ebert II and Darlene M Maxwell

This inexpensive PRIMER introduces the cultural identity crisis in the United States and the myth of educational reform as explored, explained, and opened for dialogue in “Culture X Goes to School: Public Education and the American Culture.” Essentially two books in one, the full text of “Culture X Goes to School” considers how culture and public education affect us all whether parent, parent-to-be, student, policy maker, or simply a citizen of this nation, as our schools prepare children from 5 years old to 18+ to become functioning members of the society. The Primer allows the reader to “test the waters” by providing Preface; Prologue; each chapter’s Introduction, key points, Final Words; and the Epilogue. The complete narrative, figures, and activities to wholly engage the reader appear in the full edition. The Primer is an invitation to preview the compelling questions of the full work.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Edward Ebert II
• Release date: Feb 18, 2016
• ISBN: 9781311365668

Edward Ebert II

Edward S. Ebert II, professor emeritus of education, Coker College, has been in professional education for more than thirty-seven years. With a doctorate degree in Psychological Foundations of Education, Dr. Ebert has taught courses in educational psychology, philosophy of education, elementary science methods, child development, classroom management, assessment, and creative problem solving. He has authored fourteen books in education ranging from teacher resource materials to textbooks, and has published an original model of cognitive processing that focuses on the role of creative thinking. He has done numerous presentations nationally and internationally. He spent a semester teaching educational psychology, science methods, and English language speaking at Shanghai International Studies University in Shanghai, P.R. China. He is the recipient of several awards for excellence in teaching. He resides in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, with his wife, Dr. Christine Ebert, where he is a former member of the regional technical high school district’s school committee and is an active volunteer with Habitat for Humanity.

Book preview

About this Primer

When a book goes into print the publisher lists it according to various categories. In the case of Culture X Goes to School, we are on the professional list rather than the general reader list. The downside to this is that professional books tend to come with a higher price tag. To give you an opportunity to understand more of Culture X Goes to School, and, we hope, convince you to buy the full book, we have compiled this primer.

Each chapter of the book contains an Introduction; various headings and subheadings of text; diagrams, tables, charts, or forms as appropriate; activities for the reader; and a Final Thoughts section that summarizes and/or draws conclusions from the chapter. Throughout the chapter there are key phrases or ideas expressed in the narrative that are also separated out between two paragraphs as bold and italicized phrases. Like this:

To give you an opportunity to understand more of Culture X Goes to School, and, we hope, convince you to buy the full book, we have compiled this primer.

In A Primer for Culture X Goes to School you will find the complete text of: Preface to the Second Edition; Prologue; and Epilogue. For each chapter you will find the opening quotation, the complete Introduction, each of the italicized passages from the narrative, and the complete Final Thoughts. None of the tables, diagrams, forms, activities, or discussion found in the full text is provided in this primer.

You will notice a difference in the number of italicized comments from chapter to chapter. Don’t be alarmed. It is simply the case that some chapters develop a few central themes while others offer many ideas and perspectives toward a particular theme. In either case, what will be missing is the detailed discussion that accompanies those passages, and we hope that you will be encouraged to obtain the full printed or electronic copy of the book.

We do need to add a special note about chapter 13. There are many italicized comments in chapter 13. However, all but one are quotations from survey respondents which, without the surrounding narrative and analysis, tend to lose much of their context. So don’t be dismayed when you reach that chapter. It is, in fact, one of the chapters that should most inspire you to read the full text of Culture X Goes to School so that you might compare your thinking to that of others.

Preface to the Second Edition

A funny thing happened on the way to writing this second edition of A School by Every Other Name: Culture X and Public Education. Actually, a number of things happened. One is that the title has been changed to what had been its original working title of Culture X Goes to School: Public Education and the American Culture. This had been a point of contention prior to the release of the first edition, and we are pleased that Rowman & Littlefield agreed to the change. Our hope is that the provocative title will attract more readers like you.

Another matter was that one of the authors retired from his position in higher education. Though not much of a matter to you (but it certainly is to him!), it did have an impact on the writing of this book. When he took a position as a school board member for a local regional high school, the notion of the ivory tower syndrome suddenly burst onto the scene. That is, had the perspective of public education as presented in the first edition of this book been heavily influenced by the insulated world of life in higher education?

Well, it turns out that such was not the case. Experience with the school board (or school committee, as it’s known in this region of the country) has been most illuminating. For the first time in more than three decades he became the outsider even as a member of the school committee. This particular high school is an exemplary school with an outstanding administrative staff and faculty. What has been found, however, is validation of everything that the first edition described in terms of the underlying institution of education: an institution that answers to too many masters, is hamstrung by regulations governing virtually every aspect of school life, has a crying need for substantive change (as an institution) and yet—and this is a