Big moon

[EternalOptimist]

I can't help thinking that, if my dad had done that to me, whenever l walked along in the dark in future I'd believe there could be people lurking in the bushes watching me...

yeah, its not easy, this 'being a dad' lark.

If I had told you I took a 4 year old lad into formby woods and made him see stars, you would have had even more to complain about

[BrilloPad]

I think the plan is to teach such things after the 16 yr olds can count to ten and read a line from a Janet and John book.

They should get an A level at 16?

[Mich the Tester]

But if you mean a whole GCSE or A-level subject on it, I think the Department of Education are trying to phase out things that aren't job oriented. The classics have taken a battering, and I read recently that geography and history are to be 'downgraded'.

This is criminal. The Dept of Education have no blinking idea of what the job market of the future will require. Where would we be without space exploration, pure science and the interminable desire to find out what's out there? Right now, we know about the earth's climate thanks to space technology. We can transmit data around the world in seconds thanks to satellites. Who knows what we will do in the future? All I know is that if kids don't get the chance to learn about astronomy, we won't do much.

Copernicus and Galileo gave us the heliocentric model of the universe. Newton gave us the laws of motion. Einstein gave us the laws of relativity. What have our 'job market oriented' education systems given us? Bloody worthless credit-default-obligation-swap-derivative-tulipty-boring-thingummyjigs.

[TimberWolf]

This is criminal. The Dept of Education have no blinking idea of what the job market of the future will require. Where would we be without space exploration, pure science and the interminable desire to find out what's out there? Right now, we know about the earth's climate thanks to space technology. We can transmit data around the world in seconds thanks to satellites. Who knows what we will do in the future? All I know is that if kids don't get the chance to learn about astronomy, we won't do much.

Copernicus and Galileo gave us the heliocentric model of the universe. Newton gave us the laws of motion. Einstein gave us the laws of relativity. What have our 'job market oriented' education systems given us? Bloody worthless credit-default-obligation-swap-derivative-tulipty-boring-thingummyjigs.

Isn't this giving schools a little too much credit for personal edification and nurturing one's interests? I think we learn little at school, and all the important stuff is done on one's own.

[AlfredJPruffock]

It goes further - we have waged wars on the basis of furthering Democracy - but if our own people are not educated to appreciate or understand the origins or concept of Democracy - its all been a terrible waste of time.

So now they want to scrap History - it will teach us nothing.

And that - does in fact matter.

Lots.

[Mich the Tester]

It goes further - we have waged wars on the basis of furthering Democracy - but if our own people are not educated to appreciate or understand the origins or concept of Democracy - its all been a terrible waste of time.

So now they want to scrap History - it will teach us nothing.

And that - does in fact matter.

Lots.

I agree. As do art and literature and music. How else can people develop empathy and the means to see and feel the world as another person might?

[DimPrawn]

I agree. As do art and literature and music. How else can people develop empathy and the means to see and feel the world as another person might?

Just teach them Excel and get them in some office somewhere as a Civil Servant.

[Doggy Styles]

I agree. As do art and literature and music. How else can people develop empathy and the means to see and feel the world as another person might?

I'm all for that, but what jolly p1sses me off is the way subjects are changing.

My daughter loved learning history and could tell me all about Stalin, women's suffrage, the Vietnam War and all kinds. But the examiners didn't want to know what she'd learned. The exam papers asked her to explain and compare sources, what bias they had, etc., or asked her to compare Trotsky with a kangeroo's arse or some such nonsense. That didn't interest her much at that age. So she packed up history.

The ex-head of OFSTED (can't remember his name) was right when he said we aren't teaching young kids history anymore, we are teaching them how to be historians.

When they're young, kids should build up knowledge by learning facts and how to work out distinct answers, not waste time on the meta-subjects and woolly thinking. Plenty of time for that when they're older.

[Doggy Styles]

yeah, its not easy, this 'being a dad' lark.

If I had told you I took a 4 year old lad into formby woods and made him see stars, you would have had even more to complain about