An Interesting Article

Most people agree that there are some things wrong with the modern educational system. All kids agree. That's for sure. Below, a great blogger form nerdcubed.co.uk discusses what he thinks school should be like. 


If there is one thing I hate…


Actually, I don’t. A friend recently pointed out that hate is too strong a negative emotion and strong dislike is preferable and more accurate. I like this way of thinking so Ill stick with it… OK, start again.
If there is one thing I can’t stand, it’s School.The complete education system, from primary to college, is just rubbish. I did it for a ridiculously large amount of my life and then I entered the real world. You know what those 15 odd years of education had taught me? Nothing. I’ve ended up getting jobs based on my hobbies. But fear not! I’ve come up with a brilliant way of fixing everything, for every level of education, and making school a useful tool in the world! Hazah!
(Note: If you are, or know, a government official then please put the following points into effect. Ta.)

Stage 1. Primary School.

Step 1. Lessons.
English, maths and science stay. Teach kids how to read and write, how to solve maths problems and a bit about how the world is glued together. Lovely.
IT. Much bigger focus here. All kids to be proficient users by leaving day with basic knowledge of computer languages. The earlier you start the easier it is to learn.
Art. Don’t teach about artists, just let kids piss around with crayons and PVA glue. If there is the tiniest bit of learning here then you are doing it wrong.
Religious education. Basic teachings of ALL religions. Not forcing a particular one down someone’s throat. Also note that this only takes place during the last year (When the kids are more gown up) and involves trips to a service at all major religious hotspots (Church , temple, mosque, etc.) REGARDLESS of child’s religious upbringing.
Music. Give every child an instrument and let them play with it for an hour a week. Nothing more, nothing less. No orchestras.
P.E. Games based on teams. That is all. No F***ing running (personal choice).
Foreign languages. Yes but only a useful one. Preferably Mandarin. Spanish for a European one. Start it early as well to help it stick.
History, geography. GONE! Both useless. Both rubbish. History replaced with a new subject. ‘Current affairs.’ Let’s teach kids whats going on around them. Geography becomes ‘general maintenance’. Essentially the basics of building and fixing. So freaking useful it’s untrue. Every child coming out of primary school knowing how to re wire a plug? WHY DON’T THEY DO THIS ALREADY?!
Also, cooking. Teaching kids to cook teaches independence, multi tasking and healthy eating. BAM. There goes childhood obesity…


Step 2. All test’s can go away. I mean it. They are unnecessary and cause stress for the poor little tykes. SAT’s crop up a few times and just cause problems. An 8 year old should be in the garden pretending he/she is a dragon, not curled up at 4am, coffee in one hand, red bull in the other, trying to master the 7 times tables. Saying ‘Child X is better then child Y’ is just unfair. Sure child X may be able to recognise different types of rock better then anyone and can spell Pythagoras backwards but, thanks to the new system, child Y can use a hammer properly and makes a mean duck a l’orange. See? Proper future preparation.


Step 3. Bring back trips to inspiring, interesting places. If you are handing out a clipboard with questions on it at the start you should be in hell.


Step 4. Stupid health and safety rules gone. Children are designed to fall over. Don’t keep them inside when its snowing. (More personal issues)
All right, that’ll do. On to…

Stage 2. High School.

Step 1. Lessons.
As above but get more advanced. All leavers should be able to solve equations, read or write anything, fix a large amount of electrics, plumbing and even be able to do some general welding. Oh, and fixing engines and PC’s (soft and hardware) are both essential too.
Current affairs lessons  would become more debate oriented, cooking would be large meals from scratch and medium to advance language skills will be had (both computer and foreign).
Art would evolve into a combination of painting, performance and music. You may focus on as many or as few as you like.
Shakespeare. Banned. No idea why we focus on this guy. Just a bunch of badly written plays all of which end in death of all characters. *Spoilers* Yes he transformed the English language but he did so by just making 
words up. You do that in an exam and see how highly you get praised.


Step 2: If a child at this stage is struggling with any subject they can drop it, as long as a basic understanding is had. This removes the pressure of lessons you hate. No child is good at everything so don’t try and force it.


Step 3. No options to pick as it’s too early for career thought.Took me till the 2nd year of uni to realise what I wanted. (Clue, not uni.)


Step 4. Cross country running. Illegal.
Now…

Stage 3. College.

College becomes about jobs. How to get them, how to keep them etc. Everybody at this point will have a sit down with career staff and say what they really want to do. Not what they want to study. What they want to do.
This part involves refining the studies of people who need to study and getting the rest into work. Uni pretty much stays the same so I wont bother mentioning changes. :p
Do you see what I’ve done here. I’ve opened up education to provide a) Actual real world skills that are vital and you are never taught. B) a happier time due to no forced lessons. C) Religious tolerance and a healthy lifestyle. D) The right tools for the future paths and finally E) NO MORE F***ING GEOGRAPHY.
It can’t just be me who gets the urge to headbutt anybody wearing a ‘geology rocks’ badge. It can’t…
Anyway, in the real world you need to know how to cook, how to fix things, how to be creative and how to enjoy life. You need hands on experience, not qualifications. The current way schools run isn’t right. School didn’t prepare me. It just kept me busy for the early part of my life. That’s time I could have spent watching TV or building a tree house.
In short. We don’t need no education.
Note: The author of this post has 6 A-Levels. However, since dropping out of uni in the second year he has 
had jobs, built a shed, learnt keyboard and now runs a website. His CV doesn’t mention the A-Levels.


Parts of this post are from nerdcubed.co.uk