What Skills Should Be Taught At School

[Gmart]

I was always told that school taught you the tools (both mental and physical) that you needed to get by in life. Life skills I suppose.

Most people agree that Reading, Writing and Arithmetic are basic skills that need to be taught. I would add to that computer skills, and in this thread they are discussing adding basic finance to the list.

What else might we add? What should we teach them? I think that everyone should be taught critical thinking so that they do not fall prey to those who use fallacies to prove things. Recognising what is logical and what is not, is how we have progressed as a species on this planet and should not be cast aside.

But what else? Do you agree with that? Could we add a phrase to a theoretical constitution enshrining the duty of schools and teachers? A bit like "Serve and Protect" in the US?

 

[Mrs Magpie]

Critical thinking is taught in schools (well, in every secondary and most primaries I've worked in anyway). I think you haven't had much contact with the world of education for quite some time now have you?

 

[gentlegreen]

happiness

 

[chrissie]

Respect, responsibility and caring for others as well as the ability to withstand things they don't like.

You can't teach happiness. It is a state of being and conditions have to create that state. Home life is the first port of call for happiness; without it there, there can be little in school, no matter how fantastic it is. Schools should be adapted to help those without happiness at home to become resilient and have faith in themselves though.

Sex education in schools is pathetic because it doesn't give a decent forum for discussion about relationships and feelings.

The curriculum needs limiting. It if full of useless crap and kids are pushed to do too many exams for the league tables and students who struggle to get C or over at GCSE are - if they will never get that C - ignored and don't have their needs met, or are - if they are 'borderline'- pressured constantly. That is so damn wrong.


The curriculum also needs revising. For instance, subjects like English should not be full of old Literature like Shakespeare and Pre-twentieth century dead writers; it is too hard and nothing to do with English skills. English should be about English, leaving Literature on the Literature course where it should be so kids can opt out of it when they get older. Then kids might not fight their teachers so much because they are being forced to study Great Expectations ffs. Also kids of thirteen should not be required to compare and contrast two scenes for Shakespeare. What;s that about?

so, before anyone starts adding more crap; they should be tidying up the curriculum first.

 

[Mrs Magpie]

I tell what isn't taught and should be. Basic cookery and gardening. btw Engish literature has plenty of living writers.

 

[London_Calling]

Critical thinking is taught in schools (well, in every secondary and most primaries I've worked in anyway). I think you haven't had much contact with the world of education for quite some time now have you?

I haven't, and what you say surprise’s to me, more so when I read this board every day and look at the general gullibility of the population in relation to, for example, politics and consumer-capitalism.

Can you explain how it is taught because I suspect the curriculum could do with an overhaul?

 

[Mrs Magpie]

It's taught across the subjects as part of the approach to learning generally.

 

[London_Calling]

Okay, so it's not a subject, it's a skill you think is taught indirectly, is that fair?

 

[Mrs Magpie]

I should point out I'm not a teacher, I'm a teaching assistant so I am in all the classes for every subject. I used to work in primary schools but now I only do secondary schools. I used to only do supply work so I was in schools all over London but I now have a permanent position in a comprehensive and work with all ages (we have a sixth form but that's the only area I haven't worked in recently. Last time I was involved in A level students was in a hospital school last year)

 

[Maurice Picarda]

Croquet. The luge.

 

[gaijingirl]

The curriculum also needs revising. For instance, subjects like English should not be full of old Literature like Shakespeare and Pre-twentieth century dead writers; it is too hard and nothing to do with English skills.

Students at my school - as well as Shakespeare are doing Alan Bennet's Talking Heads - which they love. I do it with the EAL (english as an additional language) students - most of who are asylum seekers and we have fantastic debates off the back of it about British society.

 

[chrissie]

I tell what isn't taught and should be. Basic cookery and gardening. btw Engish literature has plenty of living writers.

I agree. Not only are those things essential (well, cookery is) but both are a life skill and pleasurable too. They will last anyone a whole life-time and remain as relevant at the end of their life as they were at the beginning.

I know there are living authors too, but there are 2 separate GCSEs that English teachers teach: Literature and English and students have to do stuff like Dickens and Shakespeare for the English, even when they chose to drop Literature. For some students the sorts of things they are required to do with that Literature are just plain torture.

I have no objections to reading and experiencing good literature of any sort, but a great many problems with the sort of tasks and Literature we have to ram down every child's throats for exam purposes.

 

[gaijingirl]

And they're definitely doing cookery at my school - I know because I nearly got hit by a flying potato during a fight in my French lesson...

 

[chrissie]

Students at my school - as well as Shakespeare are doing Alan Bennet's Talking Heads - which they love. I do it with the EAL (english as an additional language) students - most of who are asylum seekers and we have fantastic debates off the back of it about British society.

Unless yours is a very small school I refuse to believe that every child loves Shakespeare. Talking Heads is always popular though. I personally love all Alan Bennett's work.

I am really pleased that your English teachers are able to communicate the joy of your Literature to you. It sounds like a happy school. It is every virtually every teacher's aim to have happy students who enjoy their subjects. That is pretty good.

 

[chrissie]

And they're definitely doing cookery at my school - I know because I nearly got hit by a flying potato during a fight in my French lesson...

Ah, the poor modern foreign language teachers in this country are on a hiding to nothing.

Am I right in thinking cooking is being brought back? I am not sure that it is still not as much as it could be, but I could be wrong.

 

[alef]

Discovering maths through investigations. Most maths is taught as a series of rules to repeat, then in hindsight some students might click on to the actual logic and reasoning behind the rules. Ideally I would like all my students to actually discover new strands for themselves. Problem is time limitations and exam pressures mean I end up saying "just do this and this" and then my pupils follow like sheep, but I am determined to introduce more investigations...

 

[chrissie]

Okay, so it's not a subject, it's a skill you think is taught indirectly, is that fair?

Thinking skills are included in the syllabus for several subjects - at least they are meant to be, although they are not explicitly called that in any of them. They are taught through these subjects and in some cases, in explicit lessons if the school has bought in to one of the initiatives involving them. There is, for instance, an initiative called "Teaching and Learning" currently torturing teachers.

Because schools are supposed to be laying down Learning Objectives for each lesson, and now Success Criteria too, teachers are supposed to be becoming much more explicit about the specific skill each lesson is targeted at; which will also include the thinking skills required to achieve whatever the learning outcome is for that lesson.

Don't you just love jargon?

Actually, I do think, in spite of the way that teachers have been over-worked with often silly and frequently short-lived initiatives over the years, there has been some improvement in teacher's awareness of the skills and stages required by students to learn something specific, rather than a general assumption that if a student does a certain task, the skills will somehow appear. At least in some subjects.

 

[chrissie]

Discovering maths through investigations. Most maths is taught as a series of rules to repeat, then in hindsight some students might click on to the actual logic and reasoning behind the rules. Ideally I would like all my students to actually discover new strands for themselves. Problem is time limitations and exam pressures mean I end up saying "just do this and this" and then my pupils follow like sheep, but I am determined to introduce more investigations...

English has the same problem. We are galloping through so much content that the actual skills are almost by-passed because we have to cram not teach. We also have to make sure they have achieved x, y and b in their coursework too before we can cover the different skills required for the examination!

 

[chrissie]

Croquet. The luge.

Dearie me, no. Apart from teaching a useless game which would be pointless in a land where few people have flat lawns, imagine the chaos when gaijingirl was hit by a flying mallet during French lessons. *chuckle*

 

[chrissie]

I haven't, and what you say surprise’s to me, more so when I read this board every day and look at the general gullibility of the population in relation to, for example, politics and consumer-capitalism.
QUOTE]


I teach GCSE Media Studies which is supposedly about teaching students how to 'read' media texts critically and understand the forces behind them.

The problem is I would have to spend all my lesson making them actually read and listen to a variety of sources before they could begin to be critical of them. Face it, were you interested in politics at 14 and 15? If so, how many of your class mates were too?

The driving force in current society, and I say this without cynicism, appears to be consumerism and as the media becomes less idealistic and more owned by corporations out for dosh, so young people are being taught through it that instant gratification is more important than anything else. A trend I think which started in the 1960s. That has all sorts of ramifications, including on whether they see voting as worth doing, and this in turn leads to politicians chasing the short-term goals to get votes and so on and so forth.

 

[danny la rouge]

Basic guitar.

 

[chrissie]

So, we have alist that seems to include:

Reading
Writing
Mathematics (ibncluding basic finance)
Cookery
Gardening

I would like to add Sex Educations and relationshps.

I also agree that Thinking Skills should be added, even if integrated into other subject (but it must be made explicit on teach scheme of work).

I also think we should teach Speaking and Listening skills.

So:

• Reading
• Literature (with care taken in how it is integrated into English)
• Writing
• Speaking and Listening skills
• Mathematics (including basic finance & teaching focus through investigation)
• Cookery
• Gardening
• Sex Educations & Relationshps.
• Thinking Skills (integrated or not, should be planned)

Danny, why just guitar? Why not an instrument of the student's choice?

 

[gaijingirl]

Unless yours is a very small school I refuse to believe that every child loves Shakespeare. Talking Heads is always popular though. I personally love all Alan Bennett's work.

I am really pleased that your English teachers are able to communicate the joy of your Literature to you. It sounds like a happy school. It is every virtually every teacher's aim to have happy students who enjoy their subjects. That is pretty good.

Of course every child doesn't love Shakespeare - but there are no subjects that every child loves - unless they see a TV on a stand being wheeled into the classroom...

and I am the English teacher as well as MFL!

I'm not sure anyone would describe my school as "happy"! It has been described as "failing"!!

 

[London_Calling]

I teach GCSE Media Studies which is supposedly about teaching students how to 'read' media texts critically and understand the forces behind them.

The problem is I would have to spend all my lesson making them actually read and listen to a variety of sources before they could begin to be critical of them. Face it, were you interested in politics at 14 and 15? If so, how many of your class mates were too?

Sure, but for education purposes politics can be a device - isn't it more about manipulation, hidden agenda's and understanding the various self-interested filters though which the news is presented (not to mention the news agenda itself).

So while politics is the obvious example to me, the way Sir Alex Ferguson uses the media to further his agenda (the BBC and the FA Cup is a classic), or the Spice Girls return, or branding and logos and sponsorship . . .

 

[Gmart]

Critical thinking is taught in schools (well, in every secondary and most primaries I've worked in anyway). I think you haven't had much contact with the world of education for quite some time now have you?

We need a lesson where each and every fallacy is discussed with examples. This does not TMK happen in schools today, so I think it should be on the list

 

[chrissie]

Of course every child doesn't love Shakespeare - but there are no subjects that every child loves - unless they see a TV on a stand being wheeled into the classroom...

and I am the English teacher as well as MFL!

I'm not sure anyone would describe my school as "happy"! It has been described as "failing"!!

Ah. I thought you were a student. Sorry about your school. That must be hard. You are obviously a successful teacher yourself if your students enjoy it. Mind, don't you think some of the GCSE English syllabus requirements are pants? (Don't know what spec you do.)

Sure, but for education purposes politics can be a device - isn't it more about manipulation, hidden agenda's and understanding the various self-interested filters though which the news is presented (not to mention the news agenda itself).

So while politics is the obvious example to me, the way Sir Alex Ferguson uses the media to further his agenda (the BBC and the FA Cup is a classic), or the Spice Girls return, or branding and logos and sponsorship . . .

We need a lesson where each and every fallacy is discussed with examples. This does not TMK happen in schools today, so I think it should be on the list

That is what I am attempting to some degree when I teach at GCSE level. We looked at newspaper and tried to look at the implications of Murdoch owning so much of the press etc. There was some stirring, but not a lot. It is interesting that the kids don't get it until A Level, by which time too few chose it as an option. Too many younger students are simply not exposed to enough news in order to be able to analyse it. I think a lot of them think I make it up!

Also, what government, reliant on business etc., is going to allow the beasts it must appease to be picked apart to that degree?

 

[boskysquelch]

How to grow food(animal & vegetable); how to grow & use trees, shrubs and flora; how to find, stalk & kill small animals(birds, rabbits, squirrels, fish, molluscs etc); how to prepare them to eat, how to make & light a fire,charcoal; how to walk far; how to swim; how to construct a shelter(ie BUILDING A DEN!); how to build a Cornish hedge or drystone wall; how to weave/sow/knit/knot and a few more bits of bushman_backwoodsman_Ray Mears_ish stuff.

@self

 

[chrissie]

So the list becomes?

• Reading
• Literature (with care taken in how it is integrated into English)
• Writing
• Speaking and Listening skills
• Mathematics (including basic finance & teaching focus through investigation)
• Cookery
• Gardening
• Sex Educations & Relationshps.
• Critical Thinking (Politics/Media etc)

 

[chymaera]

How to fill out government forms is a very necessary skill.
(My wife and I nearly lost the will to live filling out a form from a government department a few days ago.)

 

[chrissie]

How to grow food(animal & vegetable); how to grow & use trees, shrubs and flora; how to find, stalk & kill small animals(birds, rabbits, squirrels, fish, molluscs etc); how to prepare them to eat, how to make & light a fire,charcoal; how to walk far; how to swim; how to construct a shelter(ie BUILDING A DEN!); how to build a Cornish hedge or drystone wall; how to weave/sow/knit/knot and a few more bits of bushman_backwoodsman_Ray Mears_ish stuff.

@self

Actually I am not laughing at this. These sort of 'bush skills' are very much what early scouting was about, no? I think nowadays executives pay a fortune to be dropped off in the hills to do this as team-building exercises. I went on a trip to an army base with a bunch of older Primary kids once and the self-esteem and confidence this sort of thing gave them was hugely rewarding to see.