Q4 - Gaby: In school, children should be allowed fully to fo

by **tommywallach** Mon Aug 06, 2012 3:07 pm

PT 65, S4, Q4 (Identify the Disagreement)

(B) is correct.

This is an Identify the Disagreement question. There won’t be any core (conclusion, premises, etc.), so instead, we should start by identifying the overlap between our two speakers.

Gaby says kids should "follow their interests", with "experienced teachers who offer minimal guidance." Logan says kids need "fundamental knowledge," which they can only get through "disciplined, systematic instruction."

We could start out by noticing what Gaby and Logan agree about. They both are discussing how kids can have success as adults, and they both think teachers should be experienced/accredited.

They disagree on two points. First, whether kids should follow their own inner curriculum, or something more codified. Second, whether teachers should be hands-off of hands-on. Either of these disagreements could be the answer, so we’ll have to be on the lookout for both.

(A) Only Logan mentions fundamental knowledge, as coming from disciplined, systematic instruction. Gaby probably doesn’t disagree about that, just whether kids need fundamental knowledge.

(B) This answer choice seems to fit pretty well with our hands-on/hands-off disagreement.

(C) As we can see, both Gaby and Logan believe that teachers should be qualified ("accredited" and "experienced").

(D) Neither Gaby nor Logan mentions creativity, so it’s impossible to know if they disagree.

(E) This is tempting. Gaby and Logan do disagree about what should be taught and how. Furthermore, it would be logical to assume that Gaby probably believes that children are more interested in their own hobbies than in fundamental academic subjects. However, the disagreement here is over whether a curriculum that focuses on the fundamentals is better for students’ future prospects, not whether the students are interested in those fundamentals.