Editing Educational essentialism (section)

===Renowned essentialists===

[[William Bagley (educator)|William Bagley]] (1874–1946) was an important historical essentialist. William C. Bagley completed his undergraduate degree at Michigan Agricultural College in 1895. It wasn't until after finishing his undergraduate studies that he truly wanted to be a teacher.<ref name=":1" /> Bagley did his Graduate studies at the University of Chicago and at Cornell University. He acquired his Ph.D. in 1900, after which he took his first school job as a [[School Principal|Principal]] in a [[St. Louis]], [[Missouri]] [[Primary school|Elementary School]].<ref name=":1" /> Bagley's devotion increased during his work at Montana State Normal School in Dillon, Montana. It was here where he decided to dedicate his time to the education of teachers and where he published ''[[The Educative Process]]'', launching his name across the nation. Throughout his career Bagley argued against the conservative position that teachers were not in need of special training for their work.<ref name=":1" /> He believed that [[Liberal arts education|liberal arts]] material was important in teacher education. Bagley also believed the dominant theories of education of the time were weak and lacking.

In April 1938, he published the ''Essentialist's Platform'', in which he outlined three major points of essentialism. He described the right of students to a well-educated and culturally knowledgeable teacher. Secondly, he discussed the importance of teaching the ideals of community to each group of students. Lastly, Bagley wrote of the importance of accuracy, thoroughness and effort on the part of the student in the classroom.

Another important essentialist is [[E. D. Hirsch]] (1928-). Hirsch was Founder and Chairman of the [[Core Knowledge Foundation]] and authored several books concerning fact-based approaches to education. Now retired, he spent many years teaching at the University of Virginia while also being an advocate for the "back to basics" movement. In his most popular book, ''Cultural Literacy — What Every American Needs To Know'', he offers lists, quotations, and information regarding what he believes is essential knowledge.<ref>{{cite web|title=School: The Story of American Public Education|work=PBS|publisher=Roundtable, Inc|url=https://www.pbs.org/kcet/publicschool/innovators/hirsch.html|year=2001|access-date=April 5, 2011}}</ref>

See also [[Arthur Bestor]].