The launching of Sputnik by the Soviet Union in 1957 -- an event which marked the beginning of the space race and showed a significant Soviet lead -- renewed the vigor of essentialist practices and theories in the United States especially, but this event also helped to spur on the spread of essentialist practices in countries less involved with the Cold War (Nayak 2008). Cultural literacy programs are all essentialist when viewed as a set of basic theoretical trappings; as multicultural understanding has become a greater part of the educational process and system in many countries, essentialist programs have also become more widespread and more deeply engrained (K12 2010). Growing industrialization and development have also produced many basic educational systems, and essentialist practices are inherent to many of them (Siddiqui 2008). There have also been political...

Most educational reform efforts in the twentieth century can be seen as a form of essentialism, or a "back to the basics" mentality that ensures certain established criteria are passed in order for an individual to graduate form a particular level of a public education system (Siddiqui 20008; Nayak 208). The success of politically motivated initiatives is a matter of debate, but their root in essentialism is clear.
References

K12. (2010). "Educational essentialism." Accessed 14 August 2010. http://www.k12academics.com/educational-philosophy/educational-essentialism

Nayak, a. (2008). Educational philosophy. Delhi: APH Publishing.

Siddiqui, M. (2008). Philosophical and…