I read a great article today. It’s part of the discussion the National Geographic magazine is hosting this year that explores food, specifically looking at the future of our food and where it comes from.
You can read the article for yourself here. It’s a discussion between three food writers about why we need to bring back home economics (now known as family and consumer sciences).
I’m 4 years out of high school and fresh out of college, and in the first few months of my full-time “big kid” job. This article really made me think. So I conducted an experiment.
The question: How many times do I use algebra in a day?*
The answer: 0
*Algebra teachers aren’t allowed to answer.
I may not use algebra often, but I do eat three meals a day, make numerous daily financial decisions, pay taxes, and make minor repairs in my home, among other activities. I can cook a meal for myself, sew clothing, build a dresser, and fix my bicycle. How many of any of those skills did I learn in a classroom?
None.
Let’s be honest, I didn’t really need those years of history and math classes I took after 8th grade. Anything that I needed to know to be a functioning member of society, I learned from my parents, 4-H, and life experiences.
I can cook for myself because my mom taught me through my 4-H projects. My biggest problem solving capabilities came from experiences working in college. Ironically, I learned more from something I was paid to do than sitting in the spot I paid for in a classroom.
The Great Debate of the Century seems to be about “fixing” the education system. Our society has decided that we need scientists and doctors and lawyers. Because we need all 300-some-million Americans to be a scientist or a doctor or a lawyer.
What was wrong with the education system before? Just talking about opportunities in high school, students could take math, science, history, English, foreign languages, keyboarding/computers, music, home economics/family and consumer sciences, agriculture, and shop, just to name a few. Budget cuts and emphasis in increasing standardized test results eliminated those music, home economics/FCS, ag, and shop classes. Today’s line of thought is that success on standardized tests means success in life. But why do we have to be restricted to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) and those required English and history classes?
Once upon a time, long before I passed through 13 years of public school and 4 years of college, high school was as far as most people went in their education. A high school diploma was good enough for a well-paying job to support your family. Today, a college degree is necessary for most of those same jobs.
Let’s have classes that teach students practical things. How to do taxes, how to cook, how to change the oil in a car. Let’s have classes that students enjoy. Bring back agriculture and shop and band. Throw out the standardized tests and bring in actual projects to assess our capabilities. Wouldn’t it be more rewarding to sew a pair of pants or cook a meal than sit in a chair for three hours deciding between A, B, C, and D?
I’ve been through our current education system. I’ve learned how to take tests (even though I couldn’t recite half of the equations I had to memorize in algebra, geometry, and trigonometry classes if you asked me today). Let’s face it, success in standardized testing does not mean success in life. Something needs to be changed.
What happened to learning?
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