Do I ever use the quadratic equation? Do I sit and compare the themes of two novels that I didn't choose to read? If I need to know what country is currently being attacked would I refer to an encyclopedia and write a summary? The answer to all these is no! If I want to cook dinner do I know how to measure, adjust, read a recipe, and create a meal? If I rip my clothes do I know how to mend or sew on a button? If I need to determine how much money I need to earn in order to create a budget ensures food and shelter can I figure that out? The answer to all of these is yes! Yes, they rely on me being able to read and to understand math but more, these skills mean I can live day-to-day and face challenges that are part of my everyday life and contribute to our society.
In a recent meeting a discussion was taking place about what is taught in a middle school course that in some schools is "Family and Consumer Sciences" or "Living Arts" or some other fancy name to not call it Home Economics. The content was nutrition, drug/alcohol/tobacco awareness, and sexual education. I asked about cooking, sewing, budgeting. I was told the sewing machines had been sold or lent to another organization. Cooking falls in the nutrition area and the students learn about nutrition and fix healthy snacks during part of the year. I'm not sure household budgeting was mentioned.
I pushed on the topic of sewing and was told (by an administrator, not the teacher) that was fine for an after school activity but in this era we needed more time for content. That word "content" comes up a lot. I was pretty disappointed and shared my feelings. I was told if I could show a schedule that allowed "enough" time for content instruction and time for sewing to go ahead. What is enough "content" and why isn't the learning in all venues considered "content?" How can students apply all this content if they aren't participating in real life tasks. All these questions!
All these questions have left me reflecting on my education and trying not to sound like, "When I went to school blah, blah, blah." I went to school in Florida at a pretty good junior high (7th-9th with about 2000 students) and we had the typical 6 periods a day and a lunch break. I had English, Math, Social Studies, PE, Home Economics, Science, Spanish, Typing (that dates me!), Art, Photography and I'm others across a school year. Our school day was 7:25-2:25 (7 hours). I think our lunch was 30 minutes and there was some sort of recess/break time on the patio. Our class periods were probably 50 minutes five days a week.
I tend to think of the baby boomer generation as fairly well educated individuals who are readers and competent with numbers and concepts. We attended fairly traditional schools in a time of limited technology. With the advent and explosion of technology our society has certainly changed and our schools have to keep pace. I'm not sure the sharp focus on cramming content into kids heads is the answer however. Meeting curriculum standards is the buzz but it isn't new. There have always been standards (perhaps with other names) but they haven't been equal across or within states. Rethinking how we teach students in this age of technology is what seems to be difficult for educators. How do we make our schools look different and still ensure citizens who can think, read, write, compute, and contribute to a society? How do we prepare students for careers that don't exist or are so different from what we were prepared for the planning is impossible?
It is interesting to me that a simple statement like, "sewing isn't important when we need to teach so much more content," can push so many buttons for me! I want kids to be engaged, curious, interested, and occupied with tasks that are relevant and rigorous. Engaged students are what we should be striving for and returning to individuals who want to be part of a society that values all types of thinkers and doers. Perhaps planning, budgeting, learning through research how to make an article of clothing or craft as part of a class might engage students and lead to a lifelong skill that can be applied and adapted as need. Perhaps I'm completely wrong and my experience is unique but I think we still have a lot to learn as far as how we teach and raise this generation.
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