High School Education- Subjects that you've found have no value

[VeloClone]

I also have to agree on PE. The obesity crisis in the western world especially the U.S. should be reason enough. People need to learn that taking care of their bodies is critical if they want to enjoy the rest of their life and PE is a great way to get them comfortable doing something along the lines of exercising their bodies.

 

[CyArob]

I had a conversation with someone about the value of a lot of the classes taught in public schools. Its kind of flooring how little of value a subject like Math has for the majority of people in the real world. I've actually taught math at the JH level in the past and my knowledge stopped at about the middle of 7th grade year, you don't use it you lose it. Anyone else find a subject to be absolutely useless in their adult lives that was forced upon you in High School?

Bahahahaha

 

[CysRage]

I think the high school curriculum is spot on however, it amazes me to this day there is no required class to learn basic finance and credit. People graduate high school and have no idea how to monitor money or use credit responsibly. You would think after the recession there would have been a push to make more education on these topics since a lot of homeowners foreclosed on their homes.

 

[Cyched]

I'm glad you weren't my teacher...

Just gotta stay one lesson ahead of the student!

 

[SCyclone]

What's interesting to me is the fact that some of the subjects that I least liked in school are those that I would love to study now. I am not a linear thinker, preferring to study literature, history, world civilizations, etc. And I really didn't like math and science in high school. But more and more, I find myself absorbing more information in these areas, and (hopefully) becoming better for it.

When we stop learning, we stop growing.

 

[everyyard]

Clearly French since only about 3 countries that you could find on a map speak it and at least 2 of them also speak English.

 

[Entropy]

Conceptual learning that teaches kids to think, can never be started to soon IMO.

This I'm on board with.

A history teacher is the EXACT person that needs to teach kids they cannot trust or accept anything as fact just because it is told to them or they read it.

So why would they trust the teacher?
One thing I've learned in the education field is that trust is a key part of operating a course. Trust in the instructor, trust in the methods, trust in the information presented, etc.
If you teach them not to trust or accept anything, why would they continue to enter the classroom?
Civilizations are built on trust, and although that can create severe setbacks, for the most part it's moved forward. We truly stand on the shoulders of giants.

 

[ca4cy]

Why me learn English?

 

[to2extreme]

It floors me that someone would say math isn't important - critical thinking and problem solving should be part of every job out there.

P.E. was pretty useless, but other than that I think our curriculum was about right. I would err towards more STEM type classes, but think arts, language, and other areas of study have value, too.

We were taught how to juggle in PE, my 1.5 year old loves it when I juggle. I will count that a success.

 

[ArgentCy]

This I'm on board with.


So why would they trust the teacher?
One thing I've learned in the education field is that trust is a key part of operating a course. Trust in the instructor, trust in the methods, trust in the information presented, etc.
If you teach them not to trust or accept anything, why would they continue to enter the classroom?
Civilizations are built on trust, and although that can create severe setbacks, for the most part it's moved forward. We truly stand on the shoulders of giants.

Now you are starting to scratch the real problem with our education system. Yes, public education is built on some level of trust because it is a hierarchical system designed to put people in their place and obey authority. If you want to stand in front of a class and dictate to a room full of young people you need to earn their trust or at least some respect. I'm sure you've all seen a room with a poor teacher, at least in this system, not have the students respect and they quickly lose attention. They realize they are being spoon fed BS or uninteresting information.

We need to encourage individual learning and debate. Very little is as cut and dried as the Prussian education system likes to try and pretend.

 

[Angie]

Now you are starting to scratch the real problem with our education system. Yes, public education is built on some level of trust because it is a hierarchical system designed to put people in their place and obey authority. If you want to stand in front of a class and dictate to a room full of young people you need to earn their trust or at least some respect. I'm sure you've all seen a room with a poor teacher, at least in this system, not have the students respect and they quickly lose attention. They realize they are being spoon fed BS or uninteresting information.

We need to encourage individual learning and debate. Very little is as cut and dried as the Prussian education system likes to try and pretend.

While I don't disagree with this in an ideal world, it's... interesting to hear someone so supposedly against taxation say it. Individualized learning and the assessment of it is incredibly expensive for those who can't or don't want to home school. The amount of teacher hours spent to tailor lesson plans to this style of learning is much more intensive.

New Zealand has a system where essentially every child has their own IEP, and they all learn at their own rates and in their own style. Someone making $70k in the US gets taxed at a rate of about 25%, while in New Zealand it would be 33%.

But proceed, I'm curious of your response.

 

[cycloneworld]

This is how people end up with credit card debt and terrible mortgages - they don't understand the math behind it.

Why we don't teach basic financial acumen in schools is beyond me. 401k, budgeting, how credit cards work, how a mortgage works, what is a credit score and how is it calculated, etc would be some of the most valuable content for high schoolers or college students.

 

[CycloneErik]

Why we don't teach basic financial acumen in schools is beyond me. 401k, budgeting, how credit cards work, how a mortgage works, what is a credit score and how is it calculated, etc would be some of the most valuable content for high schoolers or college students.

I see that really working out with 16-18 year olds. These are people known for long-term thinking.

 

[VeloClone]

Clearly French since only about 3 countries that you could find on a map speak it and at least 2 of them also speak English.

You must be terrible with a map.

French is widely spoken in a few more countries than that.

Belgium, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, France, French Guiana, French Polynesia (including Tahiti), Gabon, Guadeloupe, Guinea, Haiti, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mali, Martinique, Monaco, New Caledonia, Niger, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Switzerland, Togo and Vanuatu all have French as their sole or one of their official languages.

In addition, it is widely spoken in the following other countries: Algeria, Republic of the Congo, Mauritius, Morocco, Reunion and Tunisia.

I would hope that most educated people would be able to find the vast majority of at least Belgium, Canada, Chad, France, Haiti, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Switzerland, Algeria and Morocco on a map.

French is also the second most widely spoken language in Europe behind German so a handle of French on top of your English is very useful for European trips.

Also, having a handle on one of the Romance languages (e.g. French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Romansch) can help someone figure things out when trying to communicate with someone who speaks another Romance language.

And for the record, no, I don't speak French.

 

[cycloneworld]

I see that really working out with 16-18 year olds. These are people known for long-term thinking.

How could it hurt? We teach them algebra, history, Spanish, speech, health, chemistry, PE, english literature, etc, etc, etc. Much of that they'll never use again.

Are you really against teaching kids financial things they will encounter in their adult life?

 

[CycloneErik]

How could it hurt? We teach them algebra, history, Spanish, speech, health, chemistry, PE, english literature, etc, etc, etc. Much of that they'll never use again.

Are you really against teaching kids financial things they will encounter in their adult life?

No. I just don't see it sticking.

 

[jkclone]

No. I just don't see it sticking.

TBF how much of that is because they don't see how it will apply to them long term. I'm sure that many would continue to blow it off but we could be helping those who will listen.

 

[CycloneErik]

TBF how much of that is because they don't see how it will apply to them long term. I'm sure that many would continue to blow it off but we could be helping those who will listen.

All of it.
Maybe it would help a few. It just seems unlikely to me.

 

[LindenCy]

I had a conversation with someone about the value of a lot of the classes taught in public schools. Its kind of flooring how little of value a subject like Math has for the majority of people in the real world. I've actually taught math at the JH level in the past and my knowledge stopped at about the middle of 7th grade year, you don't use it you lose it. Anyone else find a subject to be absolutely useless in their adult lives that was forced upon you in High School?

I think one of the major problems is that a lot of people don't even have 7th grade math. That said, math is always useful in how you think and solve problems in a variety of life situations.

 

[LindenCy]

PE made me fall in love with wiffle ball and dodge ball. I cant knock it.

Bos never saw this... come on, Bos.