Paradigm Shifts

One paradigm shift is the rising popularity of foods with fewer or no artificial flavors, colors, preservatives, pesticides, genes, or texturizing agents. I would describe what this paradigm shift entails in more detail (including what ingredients have become most infamous, such as trans fats), analyze what events have led to this shift (such as the introduction of nutrition facts labels), why those events happened, and who made them happen, discuss scientific research that does or does not support eating more natural foods and how that research has affected popular opinion, and describe obstacles and assets for producing more all-natural food.

Another paradigm shift is the development of low-fat diets. I would discuss the emergence of diets of this type, including why they emerged and notable people who have supported them, analyze the evidence that has emerged to support or refute their benefits in different circumstances, including maximizing longevity, energy, and weight loss, and describe the effects that low-fat diets have had on our culture, including FDA dietary recommendations, habits like breakfast cereal, and commonplaces we hold.

The Common Core

What mainly inhibits fruitful discussion about education is that students, as they are being educated, develop their own goals for their education. A ninth grader may say, “I know I want to be a dentist,” but after learning about gingivitis, may say, “No, I want to study inflammatory diseases.” And within that field, indeed, in any field, there are an unlimited number of roles that that student can eventually perform. Additionally, that student may continue on to invent a novel field for which there is no set preparatory curriculum. No one knows exactly what any student needs to know for the future, so when students, teachers, and those who designed the Common Core argue about what skills and facts should be taught, the reason that they cannot invent satisfying answers is that the answers are only known after the students stop using their education.

The way David Hutchinson portrays the Common Core as a set of standards that are being implemented while they are still under construction echoes how students’ educational goals themselves change as they learn more. However, while students hopefully shape their goals based on their interests, which probably last for long periods of time, the Common Core standards are founded on unproven or specious principles—such that all students need a certain set of skills, that a standardized test can measure creative skills, and that student performance can measure teacher ability—and the standards are rapidly being changed without referring enough to evidence or the inputs of teachers or students. The Common Core, if based on solid evidence, might work, but its standards mean nothing without supporting evidence.