How to ensure a real future for our children.

Okay, this is something that's hugely affected me and millions of others here in the UK, and I assume it's pretty similar elsewhere too.

The education children receive nowadays is almost the same education they had 100 years ago, the problem is that the world has changed drastically in 100 years, and the same systems simply do not apply to the modern world. Kids today learn subjects they do not enjoy, do not see use for in average day to day life and therefore do not try their best. More importantly, qualification is achieved and knowledge forgotten due to lack of functional practice.

Complex maths is a great example. Today we use calculators, you have one on your phone, your computer, your laptop, your note pad and maybe even your watch. Use for long multiplication sums is rapidly becoming useless and complex maths is not easily learnt and very time consuming.

Children of today are born into a world where technology is on the rise, and technology is replacing the need for manual labour. Opportunities for young people are on the decline and jobs are far and few between. Specialist training is expensive and funding is hard to get access to.

I propose a four tier reform approach which I will outline and go into some detail now.

Curricula

Children at infant school age should already be being taught the importance of choosing what they want to do when they're older. Their talents should be assessed with a 'talent assessor' and even at this early age they should be being guided into which subjects they feel they most enjoy and are best at.
The subjects therefore should be centred around the individuals talent(s) and the individual should be guided along his/her path and nurtured into learning what's best for them. Basic subjects such as maths, english etc are still learnt, only more time is spent on what they child is best at.
When they start getting older, children should be classed together as such, spending the majority of their school time learning what they enjoy and are best at. I'm not talking about sticking with science or maths, instead I'm talking about subjects such as law, or design technology, whatever best suits that individual.
That's key, they subjects suit the individuals, not the individuals are either good or bad at the subjects they're given.
This ensures each pupil excels at what best suits them. Their best skills are best practised, and their skills are enhanced way beyond they level they would have been at otherwise.

Leaving school

Upon leaving school, students will have completed necessary training in their chosen core subject and should have been guided with perhaps a 'guidance teacher' who monitors the students progress during the duration of their school time. They will have been taught how to put their skills to use, and how to best continue to the next step for their chosen career, be it university, or placement / work experience. Students are not assessed on 'exams' of all primary subjects and they graded on their performance and that's that. Students are instead educated to the required level (ongoing assessments) and then guided onto the next phase.

Placements

As discussed students will be guided into their next phase of education / training in their desired subjects. The school will be responsible for acquiring the student the necessary placement, though the student will have final say (of course).
Upon leaving school and entering the placement stage, either the student has been guided to further study at university, or to an apprenticeship, college or work. This is where the student goes into the 'advanced' study phase or 'specialist study' phase, and at this level should already be working at masters degree level education. The university or equivalent will then be responsible for guiding the student into a place of work and starting their chosen career.

Opportunities

To ensure each student has the opportunity to get their chosen career, the government should be heavily involved in apprenticeship schemes, work based learning, college funding and university funding. The government will invest in the talent available to them in our youth, and any money spent will soon be regained with a rapid expanding skill base and countless new young entrepreneurs creating growth in the economy. benefits (welfare) would be almost non existent, productivity will sky rocket, people will enjoy life and therefore stress levels will plummet. Poverty will diminish and everyone will have their place benefiting society.

Just imagine a world where each child is nurtured to have their skill set advanced to the highest level, imagine the things these children could do for the world. Imagine the technology they could produce, the services they could provide, the creativity and imagination would be at levels never seen before.

Of course, the plan isn't yet perfect I'm just one guy with a dream. However imagine if funded the same way the war on terrorism is funded how refined and brilliant this plan could be, and how much of a better use of the money that would be.

Just a few thoughts,
GodForbid.

Can't speak for the UK being that I'm in the US. I can say if the children here were learning what was taught a 100 years ago in school they wouldn't be so (Creator forbids) dumb. There have been more than one book written about how dumbed-down society has become and the process starts in school and continues through life with a continuous flow of silly and unimportant distractions.

Learning is a lifelong process.. Not just during childhood and adolescence to become yet another mindless drone stuck in a job...

if you really want to provide a future for your kids home educate them, it isn;t for everyone but just about every study done show the turn out brighter and more rounded that those hauled of to school.

reply to post by GodForbid


Just because someone is gifted in a certain area doesn't mean that they enjoy that subject and would be happy doing it as a career when they are older.

I can assure you that my experiences are that children are not taught as they used to be.
I am also in the uk.

If you really want to ensure a good future for your children dont just teach them. Dont just have them memorize what to think. Teach them HOW to think. How to look on their own, how to analyze and evaluate. Logic, but dont teach them to ignore intuition.

Dont pump your children full of knowledge that may or may not be true, and indoctrinate them with superstitions. Teach them how to think, how to reason, and show them what it is to lead a good and moral life by example, not by preaching, and let them find wisdom and God on their own.

My two cents.

Originally posted by monkofmimir
if you really want to provide a future for your kids home educate them, it isn;t for everyone but just about every study done show the turn out brighter and more rounded that those hauled of to school.

Definitely. Home education is a given or atleast should be.

Originally posted by geekyone
reply to post by GodForbid

 

Just because someone is gifted in a certain area doesn't mean that they enjoy that subject and would be happy doing it as a career when they are older.

I can assure you that my experiences are that children are not taught as they used to be.
I am also in the uk.

No not always but usually. usually when someone is good at something they enjoy it, that's human nature. My system would allow children to chose what they're good at and/or enjoy.

Children are not taught how they used to be, correct, in the sense that discipline and quality teachers seems to be thin nowadays, however they're still taught the same subjects which I feel are mostly useless nowadays and I feel serious reform is in order to get these kids learning real life and useful subjects.

Originally posted by Chai_An
Can't speak for the UK being that I'm in the US. I can say if the children here were learning what was taught a 100 years ago in school they wouldn't be so (Creator forbids) dumb. There have been more than one book written about how dumbed-down society has become and the process starts in school and continues through life with a continuous flow of silly and unimportant distractions.

edit on 24-2-2011 by Chai_An because: after thought

I think that has a lot more to do with the level of teaching (quality teachers) and the lack of discipline nowadays. If kids were learning things the find useful, enjoy and are good at, I think they'd be a lot more willing to learn, and therefore a lot better behaved. Rather than doing things they hate and find useless.

Originally posted by Illusionsaregrander
If you really want to ensure a good future for your children dont just teach them. Dont just have them memorize what to think. Teach them HOW to think. How to look on their own, how to analyze and evaluate. Logic, but dont teach them to ignore intuition.

Dont pump your children full of knowledge that may or may not be true, and indoctrinate them with superstitions. Teach them how to think, how to reason, and show them what it is to lead a good and moral life by example, not by preaching, and let them find wisdom and God on their own.

My two cents.

Definitely, and again this should be a given. That should be a natural balance between figuring things out on their own and being taught how to do things that they wouldn't be able to learn on their own.

Originally posted by GodForbid

Originally posted by monkofmimir
if you really want to provide a future for your kids home educate them, it isn;t for everyone but just about every study done show the turn out brighter and more rounded that those hauled of to school.

Definitely. Home education is a given or atleast should be, alongside schooled education.

Originally posted by geekyone
reply to post by GodForbid

 

Just because someone is gifted in a certain area doesn't mean that they enjoy that subject and would be happy doing it as a career when they are older.

I can assure you that my experiences are that children are not taught as they used to be.
I am also in the uk.

No not always but usually. usually when someone is good at something they enjoy it, that's human nature. My system would allow children to chose what they're good at and/or enjoy.

Children are not taught how they used to be, correct, in the sense that discipline and quality teachers seems to be thin nowadays, however they're still taught the same subjects which I feel are mostly useless nowadays and I feel serious reform is in order to get these kids learning real life and useful subjects.

Originally posted by GodForbid

Originally posted by Chai_An
Can't speak for the UK being that I'm in the US. I can say if the children here were learning what was taught a 100 years ago in school they wouldn't be so (Creator forbids) dumb. There have been more than one book written about how dumbed-down society has become and the process starts in school and continues through life with a continuous flow of silly and unimportant distractions.

edit on 24-2-2011 by Chai_An because: after thought

I think that has a lot more to do with the level of teaching (quality teachers) and the lack of discipline nowadays. If kids were learning things the find useful, enjoy and are good at, I think they'd be a lot more willing to learn, and therefore a lot better behaved. Rather than doing things they hate and find useless.

It's not necessarily the teachers' fault, here in the region I live teachers have to teach what the school district deem they are to teach. Teachers spend most of the school year preparing (getting the kids to memorize) the TAAS test, a test that will determine how much federal money will be spent in a school district (as well as in individual schools). So as you can see it's about dollars and cents and not about teaching the children anything substantial. There was a test on the web a few years ago children had to pass in the early 1900s in order to graduate school, children today couldn't possibly pass that test because they're not being taught on the same level as they once were much less the same basic information. So as you see education really means the opposite of what they are actually doing in schools today.

Yes I agree with the posters that said homeschooling may be a viable option for some if they truly want to see their children go into the world ahead of their peers.