What should our children learn at school?

[AnyDream]

Our schooling system needs a LOT more emphasis not only on literacy but information literacy and critical thinking skills.

Given that most young people now will never ever open a world book encyclopedia to complete a school project, they *really* need to know what they need to find, how to drive a search engine properly, and how to assess which of the search results actually address their need. And there are a whole lot of literacy skills that sit behind being able to do that.

I also think that teaching the culture of reading instead of just the mechanics is far more likely to result in people being able and inclined to pursue learning once they are adults and have identified what their areas of interest are.

[onthefly]

I think the early years - 4-6 - should focus on social skills, imaginative play, critical reasoning and problem solving, rather than insisting kids rote learn numbers and letters etc. Literacy and numeracy, sure, as part of this process, but they shouldn't be a focus in and of themselves in early learning.

[Shanti]

I think the early years - 4-6 - should focus on social skills, imaginative play, critical reasoning and problem solving, rather than insisting kids rote learn numbers and letters etc. Literacy and numeracy, sure, as part of this process, but they shouldn't be a focus in and of themselves in early learning.

Yep, agree.

I also think kids are tested far too young these days. The primary years should be for exploring etc rather than getting kids tested with exams from such young ages. Too much pressure I say.

[Starfish]

This is a really interesting question.

Personally, I think that schools should teach literacy and numeracy plus a bit of general life skills and ideas, e.g. basic economics, history, health, etc. I think most schools do this okay, but what I think is missing from the current curriculum are creative subjects such as art and music, which I think are a lot more important and beneficial than people give them credit for. Oh and physical education is also important.

The main problem with today's schools IMO is the focus on passing tests and exams rather than learning for the joy or learning, or the practical applications to what children have learnt. This may be the reason for the lack of focus on creative subjects - because how do you assess creativity?

[JLeigh29]

Great question! I agree that Literacy and Numeracy are the foundations of any education. Critical Literacy and Information Technology are essential also. MaryDean put it beautifully.

Not so sure that teaching 'life skills' has to be at the expense of the more 'academic' subjects though... both have real and tangible benefits imo. I sometimes think providing an introduction (or the option to do this) into a more diverse range of subject areas would be beneficial so that students learn more about what is out there and what kinds of areas they could delve more deeply into (whether for work or pleasure). I sometimes wonder whether I'd have chosen a different career path (or those around me would have) if we'd have known more about what different options were out there (in all honesty, as a teenager, I basically thought it was tradie, lawyer, doctor, teacher or hairdresser and that was about it! )

Ooooh, it's a curly question and I'm not sure there is even one 'right' answer...

[Astrid]

Not so sure that teaching 'life skills' has to be at the expense of the more 'academic' subjects though... both have real and tangible benefits imo. I sometimes think providing an introduction (or the option to do this) into a more diverse range of subject areas would be beneficial so that students learn more about what is out there and what kinds of areas they could delve more deeply into (whether for work or pleasure). I sometimes wonder whether I'd have chosen a different career path (or those around me would have) if we'd have known more about what different options were out there (in all honesty, as a teenager, I basically thought it was tradie, lawyer, doctor, teacher or hairdresser and that was about it! )

.

So true, there are so many professions out there that we just never got to know about.