Nice thread!
I agree with DocDaneeka and delphica on my numbers 1 and 2.
decent interpersonal behaviour-skills in groups and in romantic relationships.
critical reading and thinking.
and 3: realistic positive self esteem!
Adolescents have such unrealistic and irrelevant standards of comparison (tv and books) that almost all of them come out with poor self esteem or with some strange way of compensating. And they all think they are the only one with poor self-esteem.
Just ask in a high-school reunion: who felt that they “were not popular” Eigty percent will say aye!
You might be interested in the new way of teaching in the Netherlands. Since 1999, schools have to teach new topics atop the regular curriculum. One of the new topics is “household skills & grooming”. Boys and girls get taught ironing and cooking, two to three lesson-hours every week for a few years.
As for foreign languages, in the Netherlands one foreign language, usually English, is compulsory at all levels of education for 12-16-year-olds. In mid- and higher level education pupils can additianally choose French and German classes. Personally, i think its nice to speak more languages when travelling abroad (and remember, abroad to us starts just 200 miles from anywhere in Holland!) And it helps national commerce. But it really does not broaden one’s outlook on life. I like speaking English for books, films and Internet, but if i was born English i would not have a proper reason to learn French (aside from snob-appeal)
Our minorities speak Dutch or English too. Would you say US-citizens should be taught Spanish, to communicate with the latin minority?
This just brings me back to, oh, I don’t know, maybe sixth or seventh grade. It was the time when I needed a calculator, so my mom gave me the one she used in business school. When she was pregnant with me. The thing was that old and still good and I knew how to use it. The kicker of this is that I saw it for sale at Staples a few months ago. Not some newer model, but the exact same device. The thing was older than I was, and they were still selling it!
Respect for imagination. There is none. All of our greatest advances are the result of imagination. The values upon which our society is ordered are never questioned. If society is a cooperative venture for mutual advantage, then it is paradoxically marked by an identity of interests. How to rectify these competing interests is the problem. It is no wonder that the posters in this thread concern themselves with an individual’s economic relationship with a larger (more powerful) entity; e.g. banks and other lenders. Inequitable distribution of wealth, in part wrought by ignorance, should be a primary part of the curriculum.
As we move ever farther from a moderated meritocracy to “free market” economic Darwinism, education becomes more and more important to the individual.
Any system that exists has a (false) validity to it by virtue of the fact that it does exist. To imagine an arrangement which feels intuitively more equitable and then contrast that with what is, is the key to positive change. Students aren’t challenged to question whether the present reality is based upon a system of an appropriate distribution of the benefits and burdens of social cooperation.
Inchoate within the capitalist system is the idea that if I get mine, you can’t have yours. “Pure” capitalism is deeply flawed. The elements of its own destruction are built into it.
A hearty endorsement for learning the basics of personal finance. Little Nemo points were especially well taken. It’s scary how many young people are tossed into the world without knowing the basics; not only the mechanics but simple budgeting and costs.
I’m thinking here of friends who genuinely had no idea how to bundle rent, insurance, food, etc. costs to figure out how ends would meet. They learned by trial and error–very painfully. Seems to me this is life skill issue.
BTW, some local schools are teaching a variation of this, but with a slant toward teenage pregnancy. The kids are given a simple budget and forced to make it stretch to housing, child care, medical costs, etc.
Chronolicht: what you’re describing is theory. I learned it in 10th grade, Marx and all. The applied realities of those systems in the real world came later. No economic system is perfect, but starting people out with “this sucks” is hardly useful.
Class curriculums must have changed in the last 25 years. In the 8th grade we had one semester where we did personal finance. Provided with a check book, required to budget regular expenses and then take a vacation. It provided a lot of lessons on real life money. Considering how I got into financial trouble the moment I moved out of the house; the class should have been in High School.
To address the OP, the basics really need to be stressed: Reading, Writing, & Arithmetic. I am amazed when people can’t make change without consulting a machine. I must stop now, the soap box is materializing before my eyes and I am fighting a desire to climb on it.
Critical Thinking and Reading: I learned more from my Dad’s old college Logic course textbook than any class in HS.
Real World Finances: Getting turned down for stuff you need and hearing people laugh at you should be required.
World Civ: Geography, Customs, Enviroment, and history of the world. Something else I had to learn on my own rather than in school.
Nothing keeping me from teaching my kids all this before they get too far in school, tho.
Office Politics 101 - I was shocked and dismayed when I graduated from college and realized I had no idea how to handle all the predators who will step right on you to get ahead of you up the ladder. A great friend and mentor once said to me, “You can choose to stay out of office politics if you want, but that’s really just choosing poorly. If you choose to engage in the office politics, you might at least have some influence over the outcome. If you choose not to participate, then other people may just drive your future for you.” Great advice! After that, I chose NOT to be afraid to “play the game.” Too bad we don’t tell our kids what the game is and what the rules are…
Personal Responsibility - This goes back to communication and relationships that some people have already suggested. People seem to think, sometimes, that the world, or society owes them something. Not many people are willing to accept control over their life and take responsibility for their choices. This also addresses quality workmanship and taking pride in one’s own work. For some reason, people just don’t give a damn, or think they deserve something for nothing!
How to Sell Yourself - or, How to write a resume, how to dress for an interview, how to get a job. As a hiring manager, it stuns me how poorly college graduates present themselves. Women show up for interviews thinking that Ally McBeal’s clothing is appropriate for the office. (Call on the Clue Phone: We do not all dress like anorexic heroin sluts! Melrose Place also had a negative influence on how young candidates were dressing for interviews.) Nobody ever mentions what software they know on their resumes…
1). First Aid/Lifesaving. This was an elective in my school, it should have been mandatory.
2). Basic Home Repair. Fuse replacement, basic plumbing, basic electricity, basic carpentry.
3). Parenting. This should be required for graduation and should require a passing grade before actual having a kid.
I’m in h.s. and we have this class that’s required for all freshman to take called School-to-Careers, and we learn all that kind of stuff in it. We had to make up resumes for fictional characters (I did Batman ) and this week we have a test on interviews. (and yes, ladies and gentlemen, there actually is a textbook for this class!)
Also as far as basic home repair, I learned it from my daddy :)(i.e. how to turn off the outside water for the winter, how to fix the computer, how to reprogram our phones when the power goes out)
I remember the first time that I went to vote. City Council? County Commissioners? I had no idea how the state government worked. What does a Governor do anyway? The schools pay way to much attention to the presidential race and never mention the duties of the local mayor.
Well, the personal finance courses everyone is talking about are covered in the REQUIRED semester of Consumer Ed. We learn about credit, and percentage rates for loans and investments, stuff like that. It’s actually fairly thorough. Of course, it’d be nice if it were more than 9 weeks, but there aren’t enough hours in the day. . .
Here’s the breakdown of our requirements:
[ul][li]4 years of English (mostly literature-based)[/li][li]2 years of math (anywhere from basic algebra to calculus and statistics)[/li][li]2 years of science (basic phyical science to anatomy, physics and Chemistry 3-4 [college level and I’m in it this year as a junior, go me!])[/li][li]1 year of social studies (covers early civilization to colonization of America), 1 year of U.S. History (covers Indians through Cold War), 1 semester of government (don’t know what that covers, it’s next year)[/li][li]1 semester of computer (just so you know at least the basics of typing, saving, printing, etc.)[/li][li]1 semester of health (basic anatomy, sex ed, TOUCHES on relationships)[/li][li]nine weeks of consumer ed. (as I mentioned, covers personal finance, advertising & deception, budgeting, etc.)[/li][li]4 YEARS of gym. Ugh. Is this necessary?[/ul][/li]So, it’s fairly thorough. We do have electives, of course. They offer 3 foreign languages (Latin, French, Spanish) and you could take them for 4 years if you wanted. They offer various music courses, computer courses, and vocational courses.
My major peeve: Offer a BASIC GRAMMAR AND SPELLING COURSE! There are SO many people in my school who can’t spell or put words together correctly. It’s sad.
Other than that, I wish we had more time (hours in the school day) to take different classes.
If anyone would like to ask questions of a high school student pertaining to this subject, feel free to ask in this thread or by email at the address in my profile.
I know you probably pretty much meant this as a joke, but I think it’s worth mentioning that likely the vast majority of Floridians who screwed up their vote went to school in other parts of the country, then moved to or retired to WPB.
I agree so much with critical thinking. It is mandatory for anyone doing anything without being ripped off. All education is interconnected, which is something that I think needs to told to people. Just because you learn basic math skills does not mean that it can’t be used in English, History or Art. Education is for everything.
And when I went through, business maths was just used for those who didn’t want to do maths. It did cover how to buy stuff and everything. But I have no idea how to use a financial calculator. I find it easier to just go through the formulae.
And learn Grammar! I didn’t and it sucked a lot when trying to learn another language. Ummm, what’s a verb? What’s an adjective. And the answer is then given in the language you are trying to learn. Frustrating.
I have only this to add: when I first came to Korea, I made friends with a nice guy I met in a restaurant. After a few days of showing me around Seoul, he asked “So, what do you think about the sky over Korea?” I spluttered a bit, and said, “It’s wonderful! Why?”
Turns out that he had been taught in school that the sky over Korea is MORE BLUE than any other place on Earth!!! :eek:
I laughed, he was offended, and it took several weeks before he forgave me for laughing…
I think Dogzilla hit the nail on the head:
Too bad we don’t tell our kids what the game is and what the rules are…
A lot of the things mentioned are things parents should teach their kids. Basic finance, relationships, office politics, how to make napalm. These are all things I’ve taught my daughter.
:spits mouthful of Talking Rain at computer screen:
I’ve always thought there should be a course in High School called “Origins” or something similar. You spend time looking at each of the various explanations of Where We Came From – the Creation story in Christianity and the Theory of Evolution would be the big ones, but you could also spend some time with Hindu, Buddhist, Native American, and other belief systems. It would be tricky to balance, because you wouldn’t want to advocate any philosophy over any other, but the intent would be to inform students of all the various beliefs people have, particularly with respect to the origin of humankind. The idea, hopefully, would be to make us more mindful of cultural differences, and therefore more open-minded about those differences.
Of course, in our current cultural climate, the idea would be so difficult to sell that it would never happen. Doesn’t mean it wouldn’t have a positive impact…
) and this week we have a test on interviews. (and yes, ladies and gentlemen, there actually is a textbook for this class!)