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IN 1899 John Dewey, an American education theorist, published “The School and Society”. He argued that schooling should reflect the lives of children, as well as what they had to be taught. His theories spawned a vogue for “child-centred learning”, accelerating in the 1960s into a challenge to school hierarchies and a carelessness about exams.
That kind of laissez-faire approach to learning has receded in many places. Nowadays, everyone wants to measure outcomes. The most prominent American charter schools, strongly focused on getting poor children into college (see main story), insist that children do regular mental arithmetic between lessons. Germany has also tightened up its examination system in the past decade, to help standardise results.
In Britain Michael Gove, the education secretary, has emphasised a return to core subjects such as maths, English and sciences in secondary schools. He also wants to persuade former army officers into teaching to improve discipline in rowdy schools—boot camp, if you will.
Pam Sammons, a researcher at Oxford University who has conducted a review of successful teaching practices, says that elements of child-centred education are fine, as long as schools teach the basics first. In other words, put the horse before the cart. Problems start, she thinks, when more laissez-faire learning activities get in the way of proper teaching.

A. 어휘
theorist 이론가. spawn 알을 낳다. vogue 유행.
“child-centred learning” 아동 중심 학습. hierarchies 位階(위계), 계급.
carelessness 무심함, 天下泰平(천하태평). laissez-faire 自由放任主義(자유방임주의).
recede 退潮(퇴조)하다, 물러가다, 희미해지다.
outcomes 成果(성과), 결과. prominent 유명한, 두드러진, 탁월한.
charter 특허장, 전세계약.
charter schools 정부의 지휘를 받지 않는 독립학교(예산은 국가/자치단체에서 부담).
regular 正規的(정규적). arithmetic 算數(산수). standardise 표준화하다.
education secretary 교육부장관. core subjects 핵심과목.
secondary schools 중등학교. persuade 설득시키다.
former army officers 前(전) 軍 將校(군 장교). discipline 정신훈련, 수양, 단련.
rowdy 난폭한, 싸움질하는. boot camp 新兵 訓練所(신병 훈련소).
practices 실행. put the horse before the cart 本末(본말)을 顚倒(전도)하다.