What new subject do you think schools need?

[Extraintrovert]

As if I needed another reminder that The Escapist is above and beyond 99.99 percent of the internet. Some of the suggestions posted here are both genius in their explanation and stunning in how obvious their inclusion into curriculums should be, and even the ones that I don't agree with or couldn't possibly work have justifications behind them.


I don't actually have anything to add, being that I'm an idiot, but it's difficult for me to resist some textual fellation.

 

[careful]

Controversially, I'd also like to see all students required to take a class on at least one religion that is not theirs. For the purposes of that, we'll count Christianity as one religion. The instructor should not be of that religion, and (if possible), not of the religion of the majority of the students, either. This gives them a completely unbiased point of view. The class should cover beliefs, role in the community, speakers from the religion, and possibly visit to a place of worship to observe, meet leaders, and ask questions. I believe that with those rules in place, it would avoid violating the separation of church and state, but provide some much needed lessons in respect and tolerance for those who do not share your beliefs.

respect and tolerance i think is a scarcity in human history and i totally agree with you that education should formally address these notions, but a mandatory class on a religion which the student is unfamiliar with, i dont think will have the effect your hoping for. respect for another's social identity and tolerance of disparate religious orientation are cultural values and not innate values of an individual. so these notions can be passed down as cultural heritage, but this isn't secular, it is a violation of separatism. your idea is effectively imposing cultural values, which is not a matter of enlightenment but of conformity. i think foreign religions should be discussed to help encourage the individual to broaden his/her perception of society because tolerance is the route to peace and prosperity, but religion should only be discussed in school and not taught in any form in compulsory public education or at least it should play a trivial and indispensable role in the curriculum. shared cultural or religious sentiment is not economically valuable to society and it will not better humanity.

 

[webby]

There are lots of subjects in schools nowadays, but do we need something new? There are some subjects which - lets face it - are pointless. (eg. Year 10 English. We all know English, now we're just going in circles) So, what do you think schools should have? Something that will really be useful in our lives. Something that the kids today really need. Anyway, that's enough from me. Off you go.

You deem English as a pointless skill? Really? Regardless of what field you go into you will need to be able to express your ideas cogently. How will you manage that? By using English of course! Plus, based on the evidence I obtain from the internet people really don't know English or even grasp the basics. Too many errors with your, yore, yaw and you're, same with their, there and they're.

This is a concept that actually irks me. New subjects are far from needed when people still fail to grasp rudimentary science and maths. Start ensuring that everyone is leaving with a solid grasp of these basics then consider adding further studies, as it is so far adding more studies would be an expensive and pointless waste of everyones time.

Specification of studies comes later in life when you hit college/university, expecting high schools to churn out subjects to suit your needs is selfish and ridiculous.

 

[El Poncho]

A compulsory class which teaches kids to criticise everything they are told. This will hopefully stop people from being fucked over by the government and other organisations.