What Should We Teach The Next Generation?

zagubov

vivatifosi wrote: »

I still think you need english and maths. By english I mean how to read; write; spell; the basics of grammar, etc. For maths I'm also thinking of the basics. Essentially the type of maths that you would need to get by in life, whether that's working out the area of a floor as a carpet layer or of paint as a decorator. Also people should be taught how to budget and work out the cheapest option. If people understand how maths has a practical application to what they need to know then they will learn it.

Further there's room for sport and music, even if only as options. There are many people in sport who weren't brilliant scholars and similar with musicians. If people have non-academic skills the system owes the student the opportunity to identify those and to try to help develop them. Practical courses would be good too. The sort of thing that was available as an option when I was at school: childcare, metalwork, motor vehicle engineering, could sit alongside more modern options such as principles of web design. I also think there should be classes in business.

I think there are or were plenty of courses which would benefit everybody. There was a GCSE syllabus in World History which would go a long way to explainng what's going on in the wider world. This site covers the subject matter.

I reckon the Scottish Modern Studies Standard Grade (like GCSE) covers basics about society from the family up to the UN.

There's an AS level in Decision Maths which develops skills in logistics and planning. As I've seen London telephone numbers change from 01 to 171/081 then 0171/0181 then 0207/0208, while the French increased their number supply for Paris by simply adding a 1 at the end of the existing numbers. We need this.

There's the Nuffield science courses that teach you how to think ,and the Science in Society A level which covers enough science to understand the actual risks of pollution GM technology and nuclear technology which would be a good science literacy course for people who wanted to understand enough science to make informed decisions. about whether for example it should be supported or not.

We're not teaching these things to enough people. I'm honestly wondering what we are teaching.:(

Bennifred

It would help enormously if more students arrived in secondary school able to read and write at a reasonable level (or at all, in lots of cases).......:(

Percy1983

Quite simple one, respect and empathy. Both seem to be missing in many these days.

BobQ

zagubov wrote: »

My question remains though- at secondary level what should everybody be taught?

That you only need the internet for a small proportion of any day
That cell phones do not need to be attatched to one's ear
That using a cell phone while walking around in a public place is often selfish and rude and can be dangerous to the toddler you are dragging with the other arm.
That taking calls at counters is rude.
That you can live without Facebook and Twitter
That being unable to spell or compose coherent sentences will not impress an employer
That there is nothing wrong with buying most things second hand
That you are not deprived if you do not take a holiday every year
That there is nothing wrong with renting a home
That cooking a meal at home is not an admission of failure
That borrowing money is something to try and avoid

zagubov

Percy1983 wrote: »

Quite simple one, respect and empathy. Both seem to be missing in many these days.

It's very much the case that medical schools are specifically looking for these characteristics in their candidates, precisely because they have been missing in the past (can't afford another Shipman)

BobQ wrote: »

That you only need the internet for a small proportion of any day
That cell phones do not need to be attatched to one's ear
That using a cell phone while walking around in a public place is often selfish and rude and can be dangerous to the toddler you are dragging with the other arm.
That taking calls at counters is rude.
That you can live without Facebook and Twitter
That being unable to spell or compose coherent sentences will not impress an employer
That there is nothing wrong with buying most things second hand
That you are not deprived if you do not take a holiday every year
That there is nothing wrong with renting a home
That cooking a meal at home is not an admission of failure
That borrowing money is something to try and avoid

Well said!
If only we could teach common sense until it became genuinely common!

CLAPTON

BobQ wrote: »

That you only need the internet for a small proportion of any day
That cell phones do not need to be attatched to one's ear
That using a cell phone while walking around in a public place is often selfish and rude and can be dangerous to the toddler you are dragging with the other arm.
That taking calls at counters is rude.
That you can live without Facebook and Twitter
That being unable to spell or compose coherent sentences will not impress an employer
That there is nothing wrong with buying most things second hand
That you are not deprived if you do not take a holiday every year
That there is nothing wrong with renting a home
That cooking a meal at home is not an admission of failure
That borrowing money is something to try and avoid

Sadly this is (almost) everything wrong with our general approach to schooling.
Everything you have said, however worthy, is the proper domain of parents.
We need schools to teach maths and science and knowledge of the world around us.

moneyinmypocket

^ well said Clapton

CLAPTON

zagubov wrote: »

I think there are or were plenty of courses which would benefit everybody. There was a GCSE syllabus in World History which would go a long way to explainng what's going on in the wider world. This site covers the subject matter.

I reckon the Scottish Modern Studies Standard Grade (like GCSE) covers basics about society from the family up to the UN.

There's an AS level in Decision Maths which develops skills in logistics and planning. As I've seen London telephone numbers change from 01 to 171/081 then 0171/0181 then 0207/0208, while the French increased their number supply for Paris by simply adding a 1 at the end of the existing numbers. We need this.

There's the Nuffield science courses that teach you how to think ,and the Science in Society A level which covers enough science to understand the actual risks of pollution GM technology and nuclear technology which would be a good science literacy course for people who wanted to understand enough science to make informed decisions. about whether for example it should be supported or not.

We're not teaching these things to enough people. I'm honestly wondering what we are teaching.:(

Sadly, after BobQ post, this represents everything else that's wrong with our approach to schooling.

We need to teach about real science not junk science.
They need a proper understanding of physics, chemistry, biology and maths to help solves the problems we face; not a lot of half formed junk proganda about GM foods and climate change.

Sorry, but boring things like boyles/charles law, chemical equations, percentages and calculus etc are the foundations of proper knowledge and not 'newspaper' junk science.

nickj_2

they should be teaching them that they will have to deal with the mess we've made

CLAPTON

nickj wrote: »

they should be teaching them that they will have to deal with the mess we've made

useless;
we need to equip them with the knowledge and skills to find solutions to problems both those existing today and those they will meet in the future.