Big
ideas and plans come pretty easy to me. The really interesting ones I’ll kick
around and modify for years. For example, designs for my dream house went from
ensuring I had bay windows, to roller coasters, to cages for tawny frogmouths.
One
idea I’ve been working on for a few years was what classes every student should
come out of high school with. If I designed a four-year curricula for a school,
what would be covered, what skills learned?
So
here’s the breakdown, with explanations for why these classes are included:
There are seven period a day, fifty minutes each with a fifty-minute lunch
break. If class begins at 8, we’d be out before 3.
Freshman
year:
Visual
Art. Options: Photography, Ceramics, Drawing and Painting, or Sculpture. If we
value art as a society we must expose our children to it. And really, it’s not
difficult to get most kids excited about art. It’s a natural human creative
output, and should be fostered through these years for their development.
Feminism
and Gender Studies. As we move forward in society we need to address this early
on, not only as something you can optionally take in college. This class is
best suited for Freshmen, to get it out of the way and not create a school-wide
stigma of taking it ‘when older’. If we teach biology to Freshmen, they can
handle this.
Health,
Anatomy and Physiology. Now a standard science credit, it pairs nicely with the
above, which will be dealing with the differences between sex, gender, and
orientation. Health is often a state requisite, and needed for the current
generation. By starting with the body you set a groundwork for Biology as well.
Physical
Education. Should be a mix of sport and fitness-based activity. Will be
required for three of four years.
Poetry
and Creative Writing. A year-long English class, that covers these forms,
allowing for novels and drama to be covered in classes later. An introductory
class, that helps students with writing foundations and literary analysis that
they’ll take with them into upper-level courses.
Performing
art. Options: Music – vocal, Music – instrumental, Dance, Theater. Like visual
art, it doesn’t take much to get kids interested in performing arts. The
majority are tuned in to music, love to dance, or identify as actors early on.
To foster this appreciation leads to personal and societal benefits.
Multiculturalism.
A history-credit survey course of major world cultures, designed to inculcate
tolerance for a globalized generation. Would also take some burden off of world
history their Sophomore years, as they’d have basic familiarity with these
cultures and their differing values. It would include contemporary culture of:
India, China, Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and more.
Sophomore
year:
World
Civilizations/World Literature. A combined, two-period long, English and
history set of credits. World history would be taught in standard chronology,
while English matched it with world literature.
Physical
Education. Should be a mix of sport and fitness-based activity. Will be required
for three of four years.
Algebra.
A basic understanding of algebraic equations and problem-solving. This fosters
certain mental abilities and skills that are necessary for advanced neural
development, and lays a groundwork for higher mathematics.
Environmental
Science. A full year of learning about ecosystems, man’s role in the world, and
what needs to be done for the future. Basic biology will be covered in this
course as it applies to the subject matter.
Oratory
and Rhetoric. To ensure an ability to speak, be understood and create
meaningful confidence in front of peers or strangers. To learn how to identify
certain types of rhetoric and arguments, and how not to be convinced by the
last thing you heard.
Visual
Art. Options: Photography, Ceramics, Drawing and Painting, or Sculpture. If we
value art as a society we must expose our children to it. And really, it’s not
difficult to get most kids excited about art. It’s a natural human creative
output, and should be fostered through these years for their development.
Junior
year:
Physical
Education. Should be a mix of sport and fitness-based activity. Will be
required for three of four years.
Philosophical
Ethics. A basic ethical study, encouraging students to inquire into their
values and assumptions, and ask what should they do. Reaching from theology to
atheism, communism to anarchy.
Psychology.
A basic understanding of the human mind, how it’s thought patterns differ in
groups, and how it develops. Two of the best classes I ever had were Social
Psychology and Developmental Psychology. Wouldn’t it be nice if bystander
effect became unusual, due to education?
American
Literature. A basic survey of American literary achievements so the next
generation is culturally literate.
American
History. A basic survey of American historical achievements so the next
generation is culturally literate.
Chemistry.
No idea. Usually required.
Geometry.
Teaches certain mental processing skills that lay a foundation for senior-year
logic. Better for Juniors than Sophomores, who often regard it as the worst
class they have to take, maths-wise.
Senior
year:
Logic.
A study of formal rules and arguments. After not getting trapped by rhetoric,
this allows you to not get trapped by faulty reasoning, or be the spewer thereof
.
Politics
and Civics. Often a required course, civics lets people not be ignorant about
how a democratic republic works and informs them of the role of governments,
themselves as voters, the legal system, etc.
Physics.
The most math-heavy science, by this age they could actually learn the real
stuff, the non-Newtonian Relativity and Quantum Physics, in a basic way. It can
inculcate a fascination with the universe. Some astronomy should also probably
be thrown in.
Economics.
That they may learn how money works, how markets operate, why bubbles must
burst, how to budget for a home, and so forth.
Statistical
Literacy. Numbers lie all the time. Learning a little something about stats and
numbers will be really useful, that they may understand the Monty Hall problem,
the likelihood of a lottery ticket paying off, and whether to hit on 16 in
black jack.
Programming.
Technological literacy mixed with vocational training for the computing field,
could be more remedial for those with basic computer literacy issues. Would
help with basic languages so students have some skills and basic IT abilities.
Performing
art. Options: Music – vocal, Music – instrumental, Dance, Theater. Like visual
art, it doesn’t take much to get kids interested in performing arts. The
majority are tuned in to music, love to dance, or identify as actors early on.
To foster this appreciation leads to personal and societal benefits.
Then
at 3 you take a required after-school course. These would be one-semester
in length, which could be replaced by a sport or dramatic production.
Cooking
– learning about basic kitchen stuff, and being able to make more than ramen.
Recycling
– committing to environmental sustainability, conscious of waste and output.
Maintenance
– odd jobs around the campus, basic repairing and ownership of your space.
Gardening
– where food comes from, emphasizing going local and organic food.
Carpentry
– more advanced repair work, woodshop
skills and skill-building.
Community
Outreach – keeping a positive presence for the school in the neighborhood.
Preschool
– work with young children, basic parenting skills for infants, providing for
the community.
Yearbook
– working on a long-term project, creating an object that lasts.
These
would meet twice a week, and the other two would have optional study halls,
community meetings or other after-school activities (dances, etc). Friday
afternoons would be off.
Homework
should be no more than an hour a night, total. The school year should be the first
week of September through June, with a winter break, and a spring break, each
two weeks long, and a Thanksgiving long weekend. Other holidays may not be
observed.
So
that’s a rough sketch. Would you have wanted to go there?
1 comment:
I think more math is needed. The reason for algebra in the 9th grade and geometry in the 10th is to have enough time for trig and calculus. Also, in science, I'd suggest computers or coding or something. Finally, I learned logic in the 6th grade. It's the foundation for everything. Don't put it off until Senior year ...
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