A Big Question

[oldfella]

Looking at the World problems today ie, global warming, shortage of food and so on, what should we be teaching in the schools to prepare our children for the future, and how do you think we should fundamentally change the world to make it a more safe and fair place for our kids to live in.

[MKG]

We should teach them about advertising - seriously. If kids really understood the philosophy and psychology of advertising, they wouldn't fall for it. Less gadgeteering, less consumption, more constructive cynicism - safer and better world. Especially when the advert-savvy kids realise that all politics is just advertising in disguise.

[Rod in Japan]

I've often thought that mostly what we need to teach children in schools are;

Logic - to be able to think completely straight (yes I know there are valid alternatives, but logic is still very useful)
Ethics - to be able to determine right from wrong and the methods for considering the question
Rhetoric - to be able to spot the spore of obfuscation and to combat it
Management skills - to be able to make good use of time, and prioritize

Anything else is pretty much worthless in my experience and can be picked up at any time as required. But these essentials won't take up more time than say, Geography and Religious Education combined.

I'm glad that you're in a position to do something about it oldfella. I thought nobody would ever ask...

[The Riff-Raff Element]

I'd rather go along with Rod, though I would call the package philosophy. Not sure myself about the managament skills though: it strikes me that half the problems we seem to have these days are caused by acursed "managers" trying to make things more efficient (i.e. cheaper) with neither willingness nor ability to see beyond a very limited scope the effects their actions will have.

Oh and big dollop of science & technology, by which I don't mean just computer skills (I'm undecided about the utility of teaching these since if a tired old fart like me can deal with computers it seems rather an unnecessary part of the ciriculum) and designing pizza boxes.

There is a huge library of human knowledge waiting to be tapped that could aid further developement without destroying the environment (q.v. the Einstein fridge) if only there were enough people able and willing to decipher it who also had the skills of thinking required to allow them to imaginatively apply it.

[the.fee.fairy]

Well...simple things like how to cook properly. When i was at school, we were taight to make strange foods that were free from a lot of things, but never how to cook a full meal, or how to boil an egg...so i'd go along with proper cookery.

Sewing - how to darn socks, and make your own clothes. Again, i learnt how to make a soft toy, how to make a fabric game, and how to make a PJ holder...but i didn't learn how to fix clothing, how to take it in, how to take up trousers etc.

Just practical things really. If everyone had a bit more practival knowledge, then they'd be in a better place to get through hard times.

[mrsflibble]

MKG: indeed, since psychology A-Level I've been a whole lot better at sensing out what NOT to buy lol!!

I agree with Fee with cooking and sewing, and would like to add how to budget and not have to borrow money except in extreme circumstances.

[Big Al]

Looking at the World problems today ie, global warming, shortage of food and so on, what should we be teaching in the schools to prepare our children for the future, and how do you think we should fundamentally change the world to make it a more safe and fair place for our kids to live in.

Yoga and Pillates....... so they can be supple enough to kiss their arses goodbye come the right time.....

[invisiblepiper]

Ouch - that's well cynical! And scary, and possibly true.
I would teach them the value of non material things - love, integrity, friendship - but not in such a way that they could be taken advantage of for being 'nice'.
Tough one really!

[Annpan]

If I had it my way (and I clearly don't) I would shut down most schools and children would be raised and educated in the family and in the community.

Perhaps we should be teaching children how not to have children with the world population spiralling out of control.

[Big Al]

Looking at the World problems today ie, global warming, shortage of food and so on, what should we be teaching in the schools to prepare our children for the future, and how do you think we should fundamentally change the world to make it a more safe and fair place for our kids to live in.

Yoga and Pillates....... so they can be supple enough to kiss their arses goodbye come the right time.....

And now the less serious reply......

I have posted this somewhere tonight so if two versions find their way here then that's why.

Personally i would like to see basic first aid, cooking, basic DIY, money control including credit control to be taught. Also to have integrity, the love of friends and the eagerness to explore and broaden the mind.... but whether these should be taught in school or should be taught at home thereby leaving time for the "professional" teachers to teach the likes of english, maths, philosophy etc.

It all depends on what situation the young ones find themselves in will determine how they cope. I doubt that anything totally useful will be learnt if the young ones find themselves in a famine or hard times but if we are all to be controlled by robots etc then they will be worthy automatons. Our son can cook, clean, sew and earn a few bob whilst he is at Uni. He has a wide circle of friends and is a good lad but then he had me at home in his formative years.....

[Big Al]

Ouch - that's well cynical! And scary, and possibly true.
I would teach them the value of non material things - love, integrity, friendship - but not in such a way that they could be taken advantage of for being 'nice'.
Tough one really!

Does the invisible piper mime the flower of scotland ??

[Big Al]

Perhaps we should be teaching children how not to have children with the world population spiralling out of control.

The world population increases by over 6 million per MONTH at present.....

[Rosendula]

We should teach them about advertising - seriously. If kids really understood the philosophy and psychology of advertising, they wouldn't fall for it. Less gadgeteering, less consumption, more constructive cynicism - safer and better world. Especially when the advert-savvy kids realise that all politics is just advertising in disguise.

I completely agree. My dissertation was mostly about advertising. Oh, I can't hold back any longer. I've got to tell you what it was called:
'Parental Attitudes Towards Cleanliness in a Spermophobic Age of Advertising'
Oh I loved telling people it was about spermophobia. I never got tired of seeing them go from a surprised look, to embarrassed and then to doing a huge raspberry before rolling about laughing. Eventually, of course, I managed to explain that spermophobia is the fear of germs.

Anyway, thankfully, I have been able to use my experience of the reading and research I did to be able to explain to my children how advertising works and they are growing up to be wonderfully skeptic.

I do agree with other posters, too, that basic cooking skills should be taught in school, along with how to grow your own food, make your own furniture, mend your own clothes, etc., etc. I wish I had been taught all that. I'm only just learning most of it now, age 37, by refusing to spend money on certain things and reading up on how to do it myself. Of course, it didn't help having really critical parents as a child. If I asked a question, the answer would often be, 'Don't you know that? I thought you'd have known that'. Er, kind of not helpful. Then I'd get told off and called stupid if I tried to do something and got it wrong. They even told everyone my grandmother was thick because she asked my mum if she had a recipe for corned beef hash. What's stupid about admitting you don't know something and expressing a desire to learn? Oooh! I'm getting angry again now. So I guess I think another useful thing to learn is how to find things out for yourself if you've no-one to ask.

One thing I would like to say, though, is that this sort of stuff shouldn't just be trusted to schools to teach. It's down to everyone - parents, aunts and uncles, siblings, neighbours, friends AND school if your children go there. I think we really need to start pulling together and recognizing the value of the information our children are presented with.

NEXT MORNING EDIT Just to apologize for the above ramble. I guess you could say I was just w(h)ining

[Rod in Japan]

Teaching children about advertising would be covered under Rhetoric and Logic. Once you're familiar with how these work, you have a very powerful set of tools for analysing a whole swathe of experience.

One of the reasons why education is so awful is that it keeps being retooled by inept people to meet perceived current needs. The current 'need' seems to be victimisation by advertising, and credit slavery (for shame!). But instead of whacking moles like this, if you cover the fundamentals from the start, you won't ever need to deal with these separate, modish issues because people will immediately be able to spot and name all the various fallacies that are used in advertising and politics. Then businesses and politicians will be forced to be more honest. Can you think of a more desirable improvement than that?

[Wombat]

I'd still vote for practical skills like how to handle tools, grow food etc.

Nev