What Are Our Schools Teaching?
I heard "the call" again this week. We hear over and over again that our schools need to teach more STEM studies--science, technology, engineering, and math. These disciplines are important in the workplace, but they are not what students need most.
Think about it. The greatest problems in our world, from our personal lives to international relationships, are caused by poor communication and regrettable human interaction. Children learn these subject skills in English and foreign language classes and the humanities. History alone shows us where people have been and how our communities came to be what they are. Where would the United States be today, were it not for our forebears' fight for freedom in the Revolutionary War and President Lincoln's foresight in holding the Union together, even at a heavy cost in human lives? Were we two nations instead of one, would we have been as effective in the two World Wars in fending off forces that threatened our freedom and that of free Europe, our friends and allies?
So, when you hear the call for "more math and science," tell your school board we need balanced learning if we are to have a well-educated well-functioning society.
In support of good well-rounded schooling,
Margaret
Think about it. The greatest problems in our world, from our personal lives to international relationships, are caused by poor communication and regrettable human interaction. Children learn these subject skills in English and foreign language classes and the humanities. History alone shows us where people have been and how our communities came to be what they are. Where would the United States be today, were it not for our forebears' fight for freedom in the Revolutionary War and President Lincoln's foresight in holding the Union together, even at a heavy cost in human lives? Were we two nations instead of one, would we have been as effective in the two World Wars in fending off forces that threatened our freedom and that of free Europe, our friends and allies?
So, when you hear the call for "more math and science," tell your school board we need balanced learning if we are to have a well-educated well-functioning society.
In support of good well-rounded schooling,
Margaret
