We need to start teaching our children in schools what they and we need them to learn, not what they are being taught currently.
We assume here that the fundamental purpose of school education is twofold:
1. To produce school-leavers who will be Good citizens.
2. To develop the social aspects of children, so they become skilled in social success and the management of other people.
If there are other primary reasons for organised schooling, We would like to know them.
As it is, the goals above are assumed as primary objectives, for which every effort in schooling aims.
Now, is the current suite of education programmes acheiving the goals above?
No they are not.
Schools teach what has always been taught and is therefore thoughtless and aimless.
Education departments are run by university graduates with no life experience or philosophy of education training, lead by old teachers and bureaucrats who wallow in a swamp of group think and bland governmental education policy, itself driven by elections and sophistry.
Those with the authority and resources to produce and implement good schooling strategies are politicians and the bureaucrats who serve them. These disinterested and unskilled drones rush to the latest educational research papers and studies to present the facade of "making change" in education, but really only aim to leave their mark, their legacy.
Thus, poorly implemented experimental theories in the latest developments, or fads, in education and schooling are trialled on students every year. Every year a new "idea" is imposed upon schools, whose teachers are then forced to squeeze these squares into round holes and make it work. In the meantime, the students are flung about like a plastic bag in the wind of experimental schooling.
That's the means. Let's look at the ends.
Do we teach our children what will make them good citizens and happy individuals? No.
For example, do we teach children how to manage other people formally? No we don't.
Do we teach children how to persuade, argue, apologise rationally? No we don't.
Do our children leave school with an understanding of how the world works? No they don't.
So many requirements of having production of Good citizens and people who know what steps to take toward managing others are not met by education as it currently stands.
If we assume this to be true, let us move on to what a school should teach its students, Eight Subjects:
Philosophy, Economics, Mathematics, Science, Politics, Classics, PE and Life Skills.
1. PHILOSOPHICAL SUBJECTS
RHETORIC
Public Speaking: Argument, Apology, Delivery (Breath Control, Enunciation, Stature, Engagement, Courage).
Debate: Persuasion, Sophistry, Rebuttal, Retort, Refute, Passion vs Reason
Public Address and Policy Expression
Questioning. Interrogation. Passive Voice. Implication.
Informal Argument and Conflict Resolution
Language development, use and misuse
LOGIC
Argument: premise to conclusion, tautology, dialectic (debate)
Theories and methods of reasoning
Articulation and expression
EPISTEMOLOGY
How we know what we know and to what degree
Claims to know
ONTOLOGY
What is existence? What is real and what is unrreal?
Reality and Metaphysics
RELIGION
Theories of Belief, Faith, Orthodoxy, Sect, Cult
Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Atheism, Animism, Totem, Humanism
ETHICS
Wrong and right. Good and bad. The Good Life. Morality.
Jurisprudence: Law, Justice, Crime and Punishment.
AESTHETICS
Theory: Beauty. Taste. Subjective versus objective. Judgment.
Practise: The Fine, Dramatic and Performing Arts (Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, Plays, Dance, Music, Calligraphy), Expression (prose, verse, poetry, playwriting)
Ancient and Modern Fine Art
English Literature: Analytical reading, effective and creative writing.
2. ECONOMICS / FINANCE
Macro and micro.
Finance: trade, currency, banking, capital, securities, debt, crisis, trending, growth, recession, indicators, fiscal and monetary policy
Theories of Economics: Capitalism, Marxism, Keynesean, Adam Smith, Laissez-faire
Personal budgeting, wealth management, investment, saving
3. MATHEMATICS
Why maths matters. Development of Logic.
Arithmetic, Geometry, Trigonometry, Algebra, Calculus, Statistics
Proportion and ratio
Applied Mathematics: engineering, life-skills
4. SCIENCE
SCIENTIFIC METHOD
Observation/Experience, Hypothesis, Experiment, Testing, Proof, Evidence, Peer Review, Apology
Empirical verification and falsification
Research and Articulation: Thesis
History and Philosophy of Science
PHYSICAL SCIENCES
Physics (Quantum Physics, Mechanics, Dynamics, Statics), Chemistry, Biology
Astronomy, Geology, Meteorology, Evolution (i.e. space, earth, sky, life)
HUMAN BIOLOGY
Anatomy / Physiology
Health and Pathology, Biochemistry
Treatment, Pharmacology
Medicine
First Aid
PSYCHOLOGY
Theories of the mind
Mental illness and treatment
5. POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
POLITICS
Types of rule/government: Monarchy, Tyranny, Democracy, Communism, Socialism, Aristocracy, Oligarchy, Timarchy, Plutocracy.
Separation of Powers: Executive, Judiciary, Legislative
Liberty and Control. Concepts of Freedom.
Rights. Authority. Representation. Rule. Participation. Law and Custom.
Current Issues: Terrorism, Globalisation, Labour Markets
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
How political groups relate. Trade, UN, Conflict and Security, NGOs, Treaty, Asylum.
WARFARE
History and Philosophy of human conflict and war
Current Military Studies
HISTORY
Empire, Colony, City States, State Sovereignty, Feudalism
Mediterranean, European, East Asia, Americas, Africa, Oceania
The Renaissance, The Enlightenment, The Reformation, Romantic Period
6. CLASSICAL STUDIES
Ancient Greek and Roman History, Politics, Society and Literature
Classic Literature Ancient and Modern
Classic Languages: Latin, Greek, Sanskrit, Chinese, Arabic, Old English, Germanic, Slavic
7. PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
Mechanical, Game and Competition theory
Physical exercise to develop cardiovascular, musculature fitness, endurance, toughness, adaptability
Martial Arts and Self Defence
Sports: team and individual
Talent discovery
8. LIFE SKILLS
Isolating subjects already studied above, but applied to individual living.
E.g. budgeting, law, politics, health, career, relationships, maths, economics, rhetoric
Domestic Skills: budgeting, cooking, service provider management, maintenance, planning
Consumer Awareness: consumer law, smart buying, due diligence
Substance abuse, addiction, vehicle driving, health maintenance, friendship, sex education, conflict resolution, crime, social media.
How the immediate society works:
City Planning, Local Government, Policing, Council Services, Energy Distribution, Traffic, Education, Health, Social Welfare, Industry, Housing, Labour Markets
People Management: How to engage with people to meet individual interests balanced by good citizenship: conflict resolution, relationship development, character vs persona, influence and persuasion, stress management, applied sociology and psychology.
Social Media: pros and cons, identity protection, predators and trolls, mental health, networking, online communities, freedom of expression vs social responsibility
Conflict Resolution to include: bullying, harrassment, passive aggressive, situational awareness, disengaging and de-escalating, support networks, negative discrimination, mindfulness.
STRATEGY
Strategic thinking, Planning Ahead, Implication
Individually tailored programmes, further education, career options and work experience
Engagement from industry
Job searching, application writing, CV writing, interviewing, career planning
Managing disappointment
PHILOSOPHY
Not itself a subject, but an overarching and fundamental intellectual activity, to be applied across all Subjects. The philosophical method will be taught prior to each philosophical subject.
The children able to learn these subjects are most likely to succeed in understanding from 12 to 18 years of age.
Six subjects at one 50 minute lesson each per day, with all eight subjects spread over two weeks.
Teachers should be taught philosophy, as fundamental to their training.
If our children studied the subjects above, they would become better citizens than if they were taught only the current suite of subjects.
Some will argue this is way too much to learn and teach. Firstly, if you list the hours of subjects currently taught and then remove all the useless lessons, you will see a large gap in which to fill with many of the new subjects above. Secondly, the subjects above can be taught at a basic level, with the teacher focussing on the "gist" of each subject, rather than spending hours on details.
Thirdly, students should be taught the application of each subject in their life, and thus will continue the lessons out of school, as each subject makes an appearance in various situations they face in the course of their daily activities.
Therefore, the teaching method should be to introduce an idea and the student will fill in the details as they mull over them during the lesson and out of school. As each subject has a practical application in life, the student will conduct their own internal lesson, elaborating what they have learned in the course of their daily activities. Outside of school, the student becomes their own teacher, having been taught the skill of self-learning during school.
Some will argue life skills are the responsibility of parents not schools. We refer them to the notion that it takes a village to raise a child, not just two stressed out, time poor, under-skilled parents.
Since we all live together in a society, living under the same limitations, rules, opportunities, strengths and weaknesses, it follows that we all have a responsibility to look after each other as best we can, not just our kin. This is what makes the basics of a good citizen.
If a clod of dirt be washed away, the earth is as much the lesser.
