In this powerful manifesto, the bestselling author of WHY KNOWLEDGE MATTERS addresses the failures of America's early education system and its impact on our current national malaise, advocating for a shared knowledge curriculum that students everywhere can be taught—an educational foundation that can help improve and strengthen America's unity, identity, and democracy. In How to Educate a Citizen, E.D. Hirsch continues the conversation he began thirty years ago with his classic bestseller Cultural Literacy, urging America's public schools, particularly at the elementary level, to educate our children more effectively to help heal and preserve the nation. Since the 1960s, our schools have been relying on "child-centered learning."