Martin Johnson, the acting deputy general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, a teachers' union in Britain, says the national school curriculum is "totalitarian" because it focuses on academics. What should schools teach, then? "Other" types of knowledge, he said. Like what? Like learning how to walk properly. "There's a lot to learn about how to walk. If you were going out for a Sunday afternoon stroll you might walk one way," he says. "If you're trying to catch a train you might walk in another way and if you are doing a cliff walk you might walk in another way." (London Guardian) ...And if you're thinking of sending your kids to ATL-led schools, run!
Maybe he's talking about what we used to call Physical Education, or gym class? I am sure learning how to walk would be only one basic skill students might be taught at school.
Funny, I thought schools existed almost totally to teach academic subjects! Wonder how many people in the UK are taking this critique seriously?
Wordmatic
Posts: 1390 | Location: Near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Don't you remember the old finishing schools, where young women from well-to-do families were taught the social graces, such as etiquette, manners, and poise?
Originally posted by Kalleh: There are vocational high schools in Chicago, but I don't like the idea. I think schools should teach academic subjects.
So do I. Unfortunately we are out of step with current thinking on the subject. Over here the Government seems to have the idea that if something taught doesn't directly lead you into employment then it isn't worth teaching. This is especially true in Further Education.
For a Government elected on the slogan "Education, Education, Education" it's a national disgrace that they now think that "education" and "vocational training" are synonyms.
"No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson.
For a Government elected on the slogan "Education, Education, Education" it's a national disgrace that they now think that "education" and "vocational training" are synonyms.
I wonder whether this attitude has anything to do with the fact that the members of the present government will all have had excellent educations but few if any will have had vocational training? In their ignorance (and some of them are pretty damn ignorant) maybe they assume that everyone in state education already receives education of the high quality that they, in their public* and private schools were fortunate enough to have had.
*Just to remind US readers, public schools in the UK are not the same as those in the USA. Here they are the most expensive and exclusive of the private schools. "Free" education is only available at state schools (roughly the same as US public schools).
Richard English
Posts: 8038 | Location: Partridge Green, West Sussex, UK
The ATL also has members in further education, at college level. Perhaps they will introduce an MA degree - Master of Ambulation - or a doctorate - Doctor of Strolling?
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
A vocational high school has existed in Portland for a century. Until recently it operated the only all-classical music station in town. I bet that was punishment for them there teenagers!
We always had public vocational schools everywhere I've lived also: Ohio, New York and Pennsylvania. It is a parallel secondary school track for students who are not academically inclined, who are better with their hands. They learn such trades as auto mechanics, hair dressing or carpentry. They also are taught basic academic subjects such as business math, basic reading and writing that the student would need to survive in business, etc.
Within the regular academic high schools, students also are given a smattering of practical subjects, such as home economics and "shop," which is, I guess, basic carpentry and other "fix-it" type skills. This is usually taught at the middle school level, but students can follow through right to senior year with these courses as electives, in addition to the academics, if they want to.
Wordmatic
Posts: 1390 | Location: Near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
We used to have an equivalent of your vocational high schools, but very few remain.
When state education was changed after the last war, thre were two main types of school introduced: "Grammar" schools were for the more academic students, and the less academically-gifted would go to "Modern" schools, where the emphasis was more on learning a trade.
In the 1960s it became felt in the world of education that this system was "elitist" and a new type of school was introduced, the "Comprehensive". This would be much larger and would theoretically contain a mix of abilities and cater for them all. In the 1970s and 1980s most local authorities became wholly "comprehensive", usually by amalgamating two or three Grammar and Modern schools.
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
