Are children taught the right lessons in school or are the subjects outdated and of no use ? - Your views

I have been asking the question whether parents think that their children are being taught the correct subjects in school. Do you think that the lessons taught are teaching our children to survive in this modern day and age or are the lessons / subjects outdated. If so what lessons would you like to see on your childs' timetable ?

Well I wasn't prepared for how strongly you all felt about this subject and the debates are still raging on and I am sure will continue to for a long time yet.

I would like to thank all that took part and these are my findings...I am no way qualified to say if the subjects taught are the right ones but what I am going to do is feedback what parents have said about this interesting subject.

I am going to split up my findings into different subject areas over a number of weeks ...This week we look at

1. Languages

There has been huge debate about which languages should be taught in school and which ones parents feel are the most useful in what is now a global business world, whereupon it is much more likely that your child is going to go into business which will be dealing with worldwide customers or working along side colleagues from many different continents.

Most children in School have the options of French, Spanish and German at GCSE level - are these the most beneficial languages ?If not which languages would you like to see your child have the option to take or is it vital that our children take up these languages ?



 The poor subject uptake of languages was recently looked at in The Guardian Newspaper dated Sunday 26 June 2011

"In 2004, learning a foreign language was removed from the core curriculum in secondary schools. Last year, French dropped out of the top 10 table of favourite GCSEs subjects. German and Spanish are also losing favour. Now 60% of state schools and three quarters of 14-year-olds do not study a modern language.

The new English baccalaureate requires a modern language as one of its key subjects but it's too soon to tell whether this reverses the trend of the last several years. In universities, too, the study of languages, except perhaps Mandarin, is gradually becoming extinct.

Learning a foreign language is obviously about communication, but as one academic has written, it also provides "a new mental landscape". The Guardian - Article

This site gives the latest top ten languages that could increase your child's earning potential - It is an American site but I still felt that it gave an insight into what languages could be useful to learn.

http://www.accreditedonlinecolleges.com/blog/2011/the-10-most-lucrative-languages-to-learn-now/


2. So what ideas have parents come up with - well here a few that were suggested - so do you agree or disagree with these ones?

 - "I believe (and this is a major concern of mine) that children should be taught life saving skills. If they happen upon an incident, they will know and have the confidence to do something about it."
http://mummyattheschoolgate.blogspot.com

- "Children should be taught common courtesy and communication in an effective way" wrote Crystal Jigsaw from the BritMums Forum and she went on to say ...

"I also think, and please don’t shoot me if there are any teachers reading this, that too much emphasis is put on how good the school performs and how good Offsted inspections are. Education is of course important, but so is living in the real world and we see time and time again many youngsters who leave school who can’t hold down a job, can’t have a polite conversation and haven’t a clue about respect. And that isn’t an age issue, it’s just a common courtesy one." - http://www.britmums.com/

- On facebook we had a couple of suggestions including "Singing the National Anthem" - I must admit my child didn't know the words !! But thinking about it, I don't think I know all of them myself.

- " I have done NLP, one of the subjects covered is goal setting. Children from a young age or when they can understand, should know, how to set goals for their future, not only achieving them but having a vision and direction." wrote Sunita Bhikha from Spice Dinners 

"First aid is very important. I also think children should be taught to swim at school as it seems to be a luxury that people find hard to afford, especially if u have more than one. On another note I don't think that children/young adults should be able to take physical education or astronomy as GCSE's. If these subjects are really necessary, which I don't feel they are then they could be an extra to whatever their main subject is at university." said  Kelly 
 
- Finally for this week a comment that has come up many times in different forms;
 
"MANNERS, DISCIPLINE & RESPECT! Lots of schools do, & lots of parents do, but not every child has the benefit of a good parent or a good environment. It should be absolutely mandatory in ALL schools to instill a basic standard of behaviour that is acceptable/not acceptable from the earliest years upwards." wrote Denise from http://www.avonconnects.co.uk
 
As I have said this debate carries on and is too big a subject to write in one blog - so I will continue the subject in my next blog x x
 
By the way - when I asked my Daughter and her Friends who are 16 years old - they said and I quote "ahhh learning how to make face packs would be cool"....Well, what can I say - All the input I have put in with my child over the years, the hard work, the debating on important issues we have had as a family and that is what her and two friends came up with - I am not really sure what that says, but I thought I would share with you...
 
Next week - More comments and thoughts on the "Are your children learning the right lessons at school ?"
 
Following week - Which A level subjects are Universities looking for ?
 
 
 Written by
 
 Emily Jones for Education Recycle x