If you changed the education system

[flashplayer5]

If, by some miracle, you were put in charge of designing a completely new, fresh curriculum for whatever level of schooling you're in right now (High school, elementary, primary, secondary...), then what would it consist of?

I would get rid of PSHE (or whatever you call that class where they tell you weed is bad and a drop of alcohol will kill you and your entire family). It's completely pointless.

I would replace the free period with a "Life skills" class, which would include:

- How to change a tyre
- Basic first aid
- How to burglar-proof one's home
- How to keep on top of your finances

That kind of thing.

Another thing would be a complete revamp of the maths course. I would have it teaching only the relevant stuff, instead of X * a = 87547854587.68776547xa.

I'd get rid of big final exams too, replacing it with smaller tests at the end of every year, which would be sent away for marking at the end of the course, accompanied with a report card - style thing from the teacher, where your final mark would be decided on:

- How much you got right, obviously.
- How much your understanding of the course improved over the years
- How your behavior in that class has been

that oughtta keep keep people on their toes

- General interest level in the course itself.

How about you NG? What would you do?

[LakeWonder]

-How To hack 101
-How to use your parents Credit cards
-How To Make a fake ID
-How to Kill someone in 102 ways

[iamgrimreaper]

Grade 1 Math = Algebra + Fractions + Complex Algebra + Advanced Percentage...................

[BananaBreadMuffin]

At 11/14/08 12:35 PM, flashplayer5 wrote: Another thing would be a complete revamp of the maths course. I would have it teaching only the relevant stuff, instead of X * a = 87547854587.68776547xa.

You have no idea how relevant that shit is.

[mad-spyke]

At 11/14/08 12:35 PM, flashplayer5 wrote:

I would replace the free period with a "Life skills" class, which would include:

- How to change a tyre
- Basic first aid
- How to burglar-proof one's home
- How to keep on top of your finances

That kind of thing.

Thats not actually a bad idea ;D you get the job!
I dont know what id do. At school kids need to be able to learn different skills. Byt skills i mean like carpentary, bricklaying, plumbing etc. I never got the chance to and had to go to college to learn bricklaying. Im sure some school do it but only for dumbasses that would fail at other subjects. But anyways, your ideas are decent, start a petition? lawl

[flashplayer5]

At 11/14/08 12:39 PM, BananaBreadMuffin wrote:

At 11/14/08 12:35 PM, flashplayer5 wrote: Another thing would be a complete revamp of the maths course. I would have it teaching only the relevant stuff, instead of X * a = 87547854587.68776547xa.

You have no idea how relevant that shit is.

I really don't think it is, but feel free to prove me wrong!

[CyberDiablo]

I would destroy (yes you heard I mean read right, DESTROY) the rule about uniforms.

[TheMaster]

At 11/14/08 12:35 PM, flashplayer5 wrote: I would get rid of PSHE (or whatever you call that class where they tell you weed is bad and a drop of alcohol will kill you and your entire family). It's completely pointless.

What, all together? People do need to be taught this stuff. I agree that it could have been taught once at the start of year 7 and never taught again, but it needs to be said. People are thick, if you don't tell them these things they won't find it out for themselves.

I would replace the free period with a "Life skills" class, which would include:

- How to change a tyre
- Basic first aid
- How to burglar-proof one's home
- How to keep on top of your finances

That kind of thing.

Finances and stuff, yeah, but changing a tire? Really?

Another thing would be a complete revamp of the maths course. I would have it teaching only the relevant stuff, instead of X * a = 87547854587.68776547xa.

Yeah, who needs engineers or computer programmers? It's not like they're important in this day and age.

I'd get rid of big final exams too, replacing it with smaller tests at the end of every year, which would be sent away for marking at the end of the course, accompanied with a report card - style thing from the teacher, where your final mark would be decided on:

Modular testing already exists in many places. 3 or 4 smaller exams throughout the course instead of one large exam at the end. It's a significantly better way of doing things.

- How much you got right, obviously.
- How much your understanding of the course improved over the years

Irrelevant. An employer wants to know how good you are, not how much better you've become.

- How your behavior in that class has been

Completely irrelevant. Probably the most ridiculous concept you've got here.

- General interest level in the course itself.

Irrelevant. Employer doesn't care if you're interested, they care that you're able to do the subject.

How about you NG? What would you do?

I'd stop dumbing down the sciences. The GCSE syllabus that had been in place for years changed just after I left, I was the last year to do the course. My brother is doing the course at the minute. He had a practice physics paper to do for homework. There was a question about how a hangglider had gotten into the air. I told him to talk about air pressure difference above and below the wings caused by their shape creating lift, because I remember that that was taught during the GCSE course I'd taken, so I assumed that's what they wanted from him.

The correct answer was "He jumped off a cliff". That's not physics, not even in the slightest. It's disgraceful someone can get a qualification in a science by answering questions like that.

[ZenOfAnger]

Get rid of PSHE like you said, make English 100% coursework with no final exam. I get B's and A's in the coursework but do shite in the exams.

Every other exam I'm fine with but just english I fail. =/

[Superswat]

make every thing 25.95% easy and chemestry will be banned beacuse it is pointless (not foe those hu have a intrest for it)

[LakeWonder]

yes In Reality Though All we need To Learn Is Really Relevant Stuff like how to count your change when you buy that beer at the bar And not how to do algebra Most people will end up being common day jobsmen

[vagrant-fluke]

less emphasis on exams, by the end of school i felt like i was learning more about how to be good at tests than the subjects they were on, plus some people have exam anxiety and so their test results don't strictly reflect their ability

also more flexibility in what you choose to do, kids have to choose subjects at various stages that effect what they'll be able to study later. at 14 i was expected to know what career i wanted and choose chooses to allow me to do that career for the next 50 years, i'm 23 now and i still don't know what i wanna do

[TheMaster]

At 11/14/08 01:18 PM, vagrant-fluke wrote: i felt like i was learning more about how to be good at tests than the subjects they were on

Also this. Especially true in stuff like biology, where you can literally just learn the answers word for word and never have to understand it at all.

[Lucy]

You know, I really dont know what I'd do. There was always so much I hated about school, but looking back now, I kind of miss it.

[Rhino]

At 11/14/08 12:41 PM, flashplayer5 wrote:

At 11/14/08 12:39 PM, BananaBreadMuffin wrote:

At 11/14/08 12:35 PM, flashplayer5 wrote: Another thing would be a complete revamp of the maths course. I would have it teaching only the relevant stuff, instead of X * a = 87547854587.68776547xa.

You have no idea how relevant that shit is.

I really don't think it is, but feel free to prove me wrong!

Unless you're a maths major at university, then you have no basis for saying that. I think learning about the World Wars is a bit pointless, but it would probably be useful to know for a history degree.

[TacoFreak]

We have that type of lesson in Poland. lol.

[JeremieCompNerd]

I would begin by scrapping grades 6 and up. Really. All gone. By grade 5 you know what you like and don't like. If you don't like math by grade 5, it's not getting any easier. After grade 5, you hit precollege. You pick your courses, you learn. You can learn a much larger amount of a subject much faster if you drop subjects you don't like. I spoke quite clearly at that age, and I would have traded English for more Science in a heartbeat. The current system is set up to enable any person to get any job and do it well enough, but it would be far more effective to let the kid identify what type of job he wanted and learn only the skills relevant to that job. A history teacher only needs to know as much math as his taxes require, a chemist has little need of world history, and an engineer only needs to be able to read the parts index, so most jobs can drop one or more subjects without affecting the ability to work.
I know a lot of people will think this is a bad idea, and I get why things are done the way they are today, I do. But this is how I would have liked MY school to have been, and it may or may not work for you.

[flashplayer5]

At 11/14/08 02:11 PM, Rhino wrote:

At 11/14/08 12:41 PM, flashplayer5 wrote:

At 11/14/08 12:39 PM, BananaBreadMuffin wrote:

At 11/14/08 12:35 PM, flashplayer5 wrote:

Unless you're a maths major at university, then you have no basis for saying that. I think learning about the World Wars is a bit pointless, but it would probably be useful to know for a history degree.

I don't think the World Wars should stop being taught while the veterans are still alive. It seems very disrespectful.

[darkside430]

make a combat supreme class where youd have the kids line up and kill each other in different ways the ones surviving go into the milatary

[Nebula]

At 11/14/08 05:42 PM, darkside430 wrote: make a combat supreme class where youd have the kids line up and kill each other in different ways the ones surviving go into the milatary

Via Battle Royale?

[FC-Thun-Fan]

- I'd make maths facultative, starting from the point where it gets useless for normal people.
- I'd replace sport with a beating for anyone who'd rather have a minute of pain in exchange for more free time.
- I'd make people shit on a portrait of theit choice to build off stress.

Oh and btw. I can't believe you actually have a "stay off drugs and alcohol lesson". The closest thing we had to that was during the so called "life week" which was about sex and puberty; however it also featured an ex junkie coming to school. But the teachers weren't saying "Don't drink and don't smoke weed EVER!"

[DevourerJay]

uniforms would be mandatory

[LampFace]

Well i'd get rid of the shit fucking short course Citizenship, what's the fucking point? The able children shouldn't do a short course. We should just have a free lesson or a full course in it we'd probably all get As and Bs at my school and some A*s but no do it for the kids who can't do well in their GCSE and make the able kids do it as well.

[vagrant-fluke]

At 11/14/08 05:57 PM, FC-Thun-Fan wrote: Oh and btw. I can't believe you actually have a "stay off drugs and alcohol lesson". The closest thing we had to that was during the so called "life week" which was about sex and puberty; however it also featured an ex junkie coming to school. But the teachers weren't saying "Don't drink and don't smoke weed EVER!"

hehe, i remember my sister giving me her lesson in drug safety, boils down to this

don't do heroine or ket
coke is ok, as long as someone else is paying for it
acid is ok just be in a nice environment
everything else is fine

with my family it a wonder how i stay of drink and drugs

[SoulMaster71]

First off, PE goes down the drain. If a kid's not exercising in his own time, let him get fat, it's his choice. Let parents handle the drug and sex ed stuff, because they're in a better position to teach that sort of shit anyways. English, past about 8th grade, is optional, as I haven't learned shit in there since about 8th grade anyways. More math and science courses, the total abolition of homework, and an increased emphasis on civic education (why citizen participation in government is important, government institutions, etc.) in the earlier years are also a part of my plan for fixing schools.

[Lizzardis]

At 11/14/08 12:38 PM, LakeWonder wrote: -How To hack 101
-How to use your parents Credit cards
-How To Make a fake ID
-How to Kill someone in 102 ways

We have a winner over here!
Lol i would probably take out algebra and useless things like speed = distance / Time
I would have it so maths would be adding subtracting and some divition!
lol i can't be assed with school

I'm writing this at 11:42pm i'm sorry for spelling mistakes

[NewtTape]

Make it interesting and not just "Blah plus blah equals blah you slack idiotheads".
PLus, i'd make sure students get more rights.

[jbown345]

At 11/14/08 12:35 PM, flashplayer5 wrote: If, by some miracle, you were put in charge of designing a completely new, fresh curriculum for whatever level of schooling you're in right now (High school, elementary, primary, secondary...), then what would it consist of?

I would get rid of PSHE (or whatever you call that class where they tell you weed is bad and a drop of alcohol will kill you and your entire family). It's completely pointless.

That's important, but some schools go on and on and on about it.

I would replace the free period with a "Life skills" class, which would include:

- How to change a tyre
- Basic first aid
- How to burglar-proof one's home
- How to keep on top of your finances

Why a tire?
The rest is relevent.

That kind of thing.

You got a point.

Another thing would be a complete revamp of the maths course. I would have it teaching only the relevant stuff, instead of X * a = 87547854587.68776547xa.

Hell yeah! Half the shit they teach in math are skills we don't even need!

I'd get rid of big final exams too, replacing it with smaller tests at the end of every year, which would be sent away for marking at the end of the course, accompanied with a report card - style thing from the teacher, where your final mark would be decided on:

- How much you got right, obviously.
- How much your understanding of the course improved over the years
- How your behavior in that class has been

that oughtta keep keep people on their toes

- General interest level in the course itself.

How about you NG? What would you do?

Sounds pretty damn good.

Me? I would abolish uniforms (all schools, no exc
eptions), napy tiem for all teh grades :3, and let kids eat whereever they want in school. Update school videos, I'm tired of all the outdated 80's educational videos with all the "BOINK!" sound effects.

Slightly improved school lunches (by request), and more variety. More than likely Elementary School kids will request more often.