Posted in DemEd in Real LifePhilosophy of Education on Dec 26, 2009 - 07:33 PM
One of the primary differences between alternative or democratic educational schooling and public schooling from what I've observed is that there are different stances around mandatory education. Some alternative schools do not have mandatory education at all. Several have mandatory education models that orient around activities that don't occur at all in public school. Others do believe in that everyone should have to learn basic math and writing.I made this post to ask a question: what do you think should be taught to every student in the country?
Some that seem good to me:
I think people should be taught how to talk with people who have mental health issues or are going through intense stress. Knowing how to communicate when emotions are high and volatile seems like a life skill that people should have. In learning those skills, I've found it helps me know when I'm having stress related issues and how I can cope with them. This is something that's useful in all areas of life.
This is based more on a personal pet peeve, but I think they should teach how to handle dogs in school. I saw a recent animal planet poll that said that 30-40% of American households have children, but 60-70% have dogs. Going off of observation, most of the people I've seen with dogs do things that they'll immediately teach you not to do in basic dog classes...pull on the dogs leash, yell at the dog repeatedly, let the dog pull the leash, raise their voices and sound excited when meeting a dog, touch a dogs head...it just seems like if two thirds of the people in our country go on to have a dog, we should teach kids in school how to be good dog owners. A single ten-week class in tenth grade would probably be sufficient to make you a good dog owner for the rest of your life.
The third thing that comes to mind is to teach critical analysis skills in school. On one hand, critical analysis would make the current form of public education unpopular...but the capacity for critical and logical reasoning is what I think makes democratic society work. I think our country could go far and be much stronger if it was a basic skill of adults and young adults to question, examine, and analyze things.
What do you guys think? Are there things you would add to the list? Would your list look different? Do you think anything should be mandatory?
Tags for this entry:
curriculum,
writing,
math,
analysis,
critical thinking,
mandatory education
comments
This a great question, Kris, and one I’ve thought about a lot. I think exposure to certain subjects is essential, though the word “mandatory” always raises a red flag for me. Young people tend to want to learn what adults want to teach when they respect the adults, understand how the subject empowers them, and can learn it in a fun way without pressure to perform.
Financial literacy is something I wish I’d learned early on. It’s much easier for kids if they learn it early, before it’s an intimidating and scary subject and is just a practical part of life. How and why to save, the basics of interest and credit, how to make a simple budget…I’m still learning some of these things that I wish I had long ago.
Geography, history, and cultural/societal awareness are other related topics that Americans in particular tend to be ignorant about. Where is the Middle East, and why is it such a contentious area? What’s the real story behind Columbus’ arrival in the Americas, or where our food comes from?
I agree with Melanie that communication and interpersonal relations, or emotional intelligence, is something that can be taught. People will make their way in the world more easily if they can skillfully build relationships with others and listen authentically.
I’ll also throw in a plug for learning proper spelling and grammar, as the shorthand of texting and tweeting nowadays can encourage bad habits. Maybe students could do something fun and personally fulfilling, like keeping their own blogs and proofreading one another’s entries.
on Dec 31, 2009 - 01:59 AM
I like your ideas, I think people can benefit a lot from animals and knowing how to have relationships with them, even if they will never be pet owners, and that knowing how to be kind to pets may also benefit human relationships.
I think all people should know some basic info about the way our government has mistreated others as well. The reason I think this is because I think lack of knowledge in this area contributes to racism and hate. I think people assume that most things we commonly recognize as sanctioned discrimination (like segregation) happened hundreds of years ago instead of just 50 years ago. And people don’t understand the continued effects of generational poverty and how they are linked to the legal inability of some people to own a home based on their color just a few generations ago, for instance.
I think that education around issues of drugs and alcohol should not just cover biological consequences, but should also cover issues of poverty and generational abuse so that kids understand the need for social programs that help break the cycle, and have a better understanding of why some people use these methods to cope, instead of buying in to the simplified notion that drug use=lack of self control.
I like the idea of learning communication skills to talk to people who have impaired communication skills for whatever reason, or even more broadly just classes on communication and relationships. I know some schools do electives that touch on relationship stuff, but there are simple tools that are easy to practice, I’m thinking like a Social Work 101 class, how to use “I messages” and empathetic listening and parroting and clarifying and principles of Non-Violent Communication. Like this kind of stuff: http://www.nlight.com/Success/Collab/Basics/index.html
on Dec 26, 2009 - 11:21 PM