Close Reading: Project Classroom Makeover passage
This passage is a great representation of the point Davidson is trying to make in the essay. She talks about the “hierarchy” in the education system in the passage which is an important idea in the essay as a whole. In itself, the word hierarchy tends to have a negative connotation and Davidson utilizes this to demonize what she calls the “formal education system” so that the case for crowdsourcing can be made. Crowdsourcing is the opposite of a hierarchy; when crowdsourcing anyone from any background can contribute, and often (but not always) engaged people without a fancy degree are capable of not only venturing into new territory, but improving the field through said experimentation. Therefore the passage is salient to her viewpoint, since it merely puts into words the point that her iPods at Duke, little quiet girl in class and Albertan wonder teacher stories are making; that to improve experimentation is required, and a rigid, hierarchical, standardized school system does not allow for such ventures. Only through “working together collectively” can the American school system regain its prominence among the developed nations of the world.