What Should Schools Teach?

Well, after reading these essays I have to say my first reaction is that I wish I could be a fly on the wall during a discussion between these 4 guys....I'll go out on a limb here and say that I think Dewey embraces Progressivism! The main thing I like about him is that in promoting the "new," child-centered approach, he says that this doesn't mean we just get rid of everything in the old approach and adopt "a philosophy which proceeds on the basis of rejection, of sheer opposition" (Noll, p. 6). In other words: don't throw the baby out with the bathwater!!
Hutchins believes that "the purpose of education is to improve men" (p. 11) (which I am sure Dewey would agree with--and that they would both include women as well); however, he appears to be a Perennialist--advocating for schools to "supply" a liberal education for all. I like that "for all" part--he specifically says "all men are capable of learning" (p. 14) (of course, so do those who promote standardized testing, but that's another debate...) and that education is not something that gets done to you in your youth and then you're done with it--it's a lifelong process. (Again, I think I hear Dewey agreeing.) I think his main thing is that he opposes Dewey's pragmatism--he's more into the universal, eternal ideas.
I think Adler, too, is a Perennialist. (Of course, knowing that he founded the Great Books program sort of gives it away.) The main attraction I have to his Paideia proposal is that, again, he feels every person, whether they are going to be a college professor, a professional athlete, or a car mechanic, deserves to be exposed to--and wrestle with and internalize--the great ideas of humanity. I think his progression makes sense, although (for me) it's a bit rigid, and I love his idea of teachers as coaches.
Now, Holt...whoa. I agree with much of his criticism of schools--we've all seen and/or experienced much of what he describes. But talk about throwing the baby out with the bathwater!! I guess if I had to "label" him, I'd say maybe he starts out as a Progressive but ends up in the Postmodern camp...? He does, after all, compare schools to Brave New World and advocates that we stand in opposition to them (p. 29).
So, I guess the question I'd like to throw out for discussion is: Based on their perceived philosophies of education, how would these guys rank the goals of education (from the survey we looked at in class)? (Feel free to just choose one of them to begin with.)