My previous article was about racism, and how instead of doing superficial, superfluous things in an ill-fated attempt to resolve the issue, we should dig deeper and eliminate some of the root causes for the racial disparities in the U.S. today.
One of my esteemed readers, Harold, commented as to the need of also teaching young children about appreciating and caring for their natural surroundings.
This prompted an idea for a new article which deals with the education of our future generations. Perform a search on typical curriculums for primary school children, and you will find the following standard courses:
- English (reading, grammar)
- Math
- Science
- Social Studies
- Language Arts
- Physical Education
- Music and Art
- Computers
Basic knowledge in English, math, and nowadays computers is pretty much essential in any curriculum. But given the state of society today, it might behoove us to reexamine the critical question of how best to prepare our children to become the upstanding, productive adults of the future.
From very early on, children should be taught the principles we normally take for granted as being taught in the home. It is my opinion that we should no longer take these things for granted. A required class beginning in elementary school should be “Human Values.” I’ve seen it called “Character Education”, but the idea is the same and should be self-explanatory.
Another class that should be added is “Environmental Awareness”, or whatever title is best suited. Young children should be taught these principles as well.
High school curriculums are not much different, in that English, Math, and Science continue. Social Studies becomes History. Health is usually added to the curriculum. I feel two more classes should be added at this juncture. In keeping with the life preparation theme, I would add a class on “Personal Finances”, and one on “Parenting.”
These are two real world skills just about everyone is going to need down the road. In addition, “Human Values” or “Character Education” classes should continue through high school. We can never get too much of those teachings. “Environmental Awareness” should continue as well.
Regarding good ol’ History class… I would reevaluate all of the history books and coursework being used in schools today. Our goal should be to teach our students everything about our history, good and bad. Glossing over, or romanticizing the terrible events or practices of the past does nothing but perpetuate the injustices of today.
A glaring example is the omission of the Tulsa (Oklahoma) Race Massacre of 1921 from many history books and classes in the U.S. This should no longer be permitted. Our culture likes to criticize instances of propaganda used over the years in other settings. Yet the selective nature of our traditional history-telling is a unique sort of propaganda.
As I said, the goal of primary and secondary level education should be to prepare our future generations to be decent, upstanding, productive adults. It is obvious that many of the basic teachings are not occurring in the home. Thus, school curriculums should be adjusted to compensate for these deficiencies.
Agriculture and investing or personal finances should also be required.
I couldn’t agree more! Education is the cornerstone of society and should finally be treated as such. To begin with, provide schools with the funds they need to improve their curriculums and pay teachers an adequate salary.
Curriculums should reflect and address what is happening in our world. Now more than ever schools should strive to create a sense of unity among students by creating activities that have them working together toward a common goal.
Many of the problems we are seeing now (racism, bullying, school shootings, disregard for the environment, etc.) stem from a lack of empathy that is itself the product of plain ignorance.
Yes, it should be up to the parents to instill in their children basic human values such as compassion, respect, and responsibility. Unfortunately, as you rightly state, we should not take that for granted. School, then, is the perfect environment to bridge those gaps and nurture the development of an academically as well as socially adept child.
In regards to history, I remember reading a book in my late teens titled “Lies My Teacher Told Me” by James W. Loewen that really opened my eyes about the skewed view of world history we are being taught in school.
Another plight equally as important as that of African Americans that is seldom spoken of is that of the Native Americans. In fact, all the indigenous people from North and South America and the Caribbean.
As society becomes more enlightened I wonder, will Christopher Columbus statues be the next ones to come down?
Hello Harold, and thank you for your comment. Yes, both are important classes in today’s world. I did mention Personal Finances in the article, but at the high school level, when it’s more appropriate.
Hello Angela, and thank you for your excellent and insightful comments as usual. Absolutely… appropriate funding for schools is sorely needed for the reasons you mentioned. But I would add that the entire funding system needs to be reevaluated and perhaps revamped. Schools across the nation should enjoy an evenly distributed amount of funding, which in turn should be adequate enough to provide the needs mentioned. Teachers’ salaries and improved curriculums of course being the most urgent needs.
I’ll go further on my article statement that we should not take from granted what is being taught in the home. Judging by what we are seeing in society nowadays, I would take it for granted that human values are NOT being taught in the home, and start from there.
The teaching of history is something that must be addressed now… not wait for some politically-appointed panel and years of doing absolutely nothing. Between removing the rose-colored tinted glass from history classes, and the teaching of human values at every grade in school, maybe the process of churning out a greater number of decent future adults can begin.