A few weeks ago, as my all boys class was presenting their PLN entries, one student presented an interesting reaction regarding what classes are necessary for students to take in high school. This student felt that classes such as history, math, etc… were not relevant to high school students, but rather that in high school, students should be able to take classes that address their future careers. We talked about this for some time since many others have written about this in the educational blog-o-sphere as well as this student’s classmates had some insights of their own to offer. I was really surprised and amazed how many students are quite adamant about what classes students should and should not have to take in school. There are a number of my boys who feel that math is a ridiculous subject to take (trigonometry seems to be their focal point), history is outdated and is just a bunch of facts( why do we learn about stuff from the past), and I even had one student in particular who thought that learning how to write well was meaningless (my heart broke right there).
With this conversation, I asked the kids what jobs they are interested in the future. Therapists, counselors, police officers, culinary arts, meteorologists, biologists, bio technology, chemical engineer, astronauts, graphic designers, special operations forces were among the group. What puzzled me was not only that the one boy in particular found no relevance in writing being part of his journey towards his career as a counselor and therapist, but that many of the kids don’t see a point to their learning in high school. Which begs the question I hear from my own kids one of whom is 9 and the other is 8: “Why do I have to study [Fill in the Blank]?”
I wonder as a teacher, parent, woman, valued member of society, etc… what kind of job are we doing in education, if kids don’t see the relevance to what we are spending 59 minutes per day, 5 days per week, 36 weeks per year over 13 years? What am I doing if this boy thinks he doesn’t need to know how to write well? Is it he doesn’t see writing as a valuable form of communication? Is it because he has no frame of reference in regards to his future job? Do I need to hook up each of these kids with someone in their dream profession to see why they need History, Math, Language Arts, PE, etc…? What do I need to do in my own classroom so that my boys see the relevance and purpose behind being able to write, read, listen and communicate effectively? I want them to be able to fill in their own blanks.
23 comments:
I would suggest that since your students have no actual experience taking high school classes they are simply extending their feelings for classes they are taking now or have had in the past. Could this be a problem created in the elementary school?
I think that the reason the students don't feel these classes are relevant is because we don't tend to teach them in relevant ways. They don't see real world applications because we haven't modeled any.
With all that being said, I do agree that much of what is being taught in high school is not relevant to their lives outside of school. How many adults actually use the any of the higher level math skills we had to take in high school or college?
Being a student myself, I know where your student is coming from. I'm taking math classes and astronomy but I plan to major in being a history teacher. Yes, I took these classes to fill spots in my schedule because I have taken all the possible history classes, but I've always wondered why I had to take some classes irrelevant to my major. I do think writing should stay in the curriculum of all students because it is helpful. Maybe these classes I'm taking will help with little things but they won't help shape my career. Maybe by connecting these subjects to everyday use will keep the students interested and help them understand why it is important to take some of these classes.
I know math is a valuable part of our lives, and I'm a student. But I still ask my teachers why certain aspects of math are even relevant. They sometimes seem so random, it makes me wonder why I need to factor, but my teacher always has an answer for me that relates to the real world. I think that when kids are young and they choose a career path they don't know that they will need certain skills or that they may even deviate from that path, and choose a different career. Writing is very important, no matter what. If you don't know how to write well, what are you going to do with college acceptance letters, or job applications, or reports to superiors? It rightfully broke your heart
I am a student myself, and I can see that students want more classes based on what they want it to be, but they need to take the classes that are required like everyone else has to do. Writing, History, Math, and Science are all very important. When they are in college they can take classes on the subject they like.
I completely agree. I remember being in middle school and elementry school and sometimes having trouble with home work and I could go to my mom or dad for help. But now we are learning so much advance stuff that my parents are looking at my homework totally confused becasue they have either never seen this before or don't remember becuase the last time they did this stuff was in high school or college. I aree that when kinds are in high school they need to take multiple different courses to see what they are good at and what they like but they shouldn't take a course they know they are not going to advance in. I think that students should get the basics in different subjects such as chemistry and calculous and see if they are good at it because if they aren't, their year is going to go much slower and they will start to hate it.
Being a student in high school I sometimes wonder the same thoughts. However I never think we do not need skills in certain subjects like math and History, but rather look at certain teaching methods that will help me learn better. I think we all need to look at the picture logically, no one wants to sit in school all day long, especially being a hyperactive teenager. So it is obvious that at one point or other students will throw out the “this is so dumb, when will we need this?” Most students say that because they are bored, do not want to be there, or love being a wise guy. I understand the argument, but I think it is beginning to get dramatic. I am sure if you ask any successful adult now if they ever said “I hate school, when will we ever use this material,” they would most definitely say they have. These are the basic skills we need to learn now in order to move onto specific areas of subject that we desire to do in the future. Even if I do not use trigonometry in my career, I learned something from that class. Whether I learned simple organizational skills or took that information for the class and built my house a deck, I used information from that class I once thought “did not matter.”
What you said towards the end i think was a rather good idea. to have each student spend a day with some one who has a job in there dream profession. I think this would make kids such as the one you described more likely s\to see why he needs all of the basic subjects that are tough in our schools. i know personally when i was younger i hated to have to read and practice writing but now that i am older i realize that reading and writing are two of the most important skills that you need if you want to have a really good and successful job.
I agree with what the blog post is saying. I am a student and many times during classes or when I'm doing any work I question to myself, why do I need to know this stuff, when I know I'll most likely never see it again in my life after school. For example one thing that I personally think I will never need to know how to do is some subjects in.
As a junior in high school i can understand the opinion of the students but in reality what you learn in school can be of great importance in your future career. It may not be direct but other classes such as math and history can still be helpful. Although it would be a good idea to relate career into learning any subject because it would catch the students attention and will better prepare them for the years to come!
I think every student always asks themselves when they are a doing a certain worksheet or the teacher is giving them notes "why do we even need to know this stuff, I'm never going to use this in my life". Me being a student I always think this. Students should be able to pick certain classes depending on what they want to be when they are older.
I am a high school student, and I know that there is so many subjects that student’s think that is irrelevant and they will never use in their lives. I think that most of the times those classes are really relevant and there is a lot to learn but the ways that teachers teach is not always fun to get the attraction of the students.
I think we should change the boring way to teach a subject if a teacher had different ways activities every day a lot students would learn the subject, and they would stop complaining why I have to study this.
I am also a student and I totally agree. Although we have to take certain classes, you have to be able to learn them in order to know what you want to be when you are older. taking these classes help you with your future.
I am a student in Burlington , Ma and I am in the 11th grade. Although I sometimes get frustrated learning things that seem completely irrelevant to me, I firmly believe having a base knowledge to everything will take you a long way. Just by knowing simple facts about a topic, you can draw accurate conclusions to other things that are related or you will simply know the basis of something. I believe to truly succeed in a career, you should not be single-minded and solely trained on that topic. Everything is connected whether you believe it or not.
I am a student at Burlington High School, and sometime I have the same exact thoughts about why we do not just take classes about stuff that intrests us or what we are going to do in the future, but it is very neccesary to take math, science, language arts, and hisory classes because they are a requierment.
I am also one of those kids who think about that every day when I’m in a class and bored. I’m in high school and when I’m sitting in astronomy and learning about constellations I always think when will I ever use this again in my life. My future isn’t going to be an astronomer I want to be in business. Those two things are nothing alike. The only reason why I took astronomy was because I needed a spot to fill in. I have already taken all the business classes I can but why do I have to learn something I don’t need. When one of your students said that writing well doesn’t matter was shocked. I think the main skills you need to be successful are learning how to read and write. Every career that you will pursue you will write and read on a daily basis. I know one day most people won’t use the quadratic formula but you should know how to write well.
@Wm Chamberlain- I guess you are correct in that they are extending their feelings from previous experiences.
I do think though that kids are more resistant and more dismissive to ideas rather than trying out something out. If it is hard, or challenging, they dismiss it and think it isn't necessary.
I remember when I was in high school not seeing the relevance of many of my classes, but I was glad that I took all of them, including my double major in college that I dont use anymore. If I wouldn't have had any of those experiences, I never would be in the place I am today.
@Jillian- didn't previous historian use the stars to guide them in their discoveries? I guess I see the big world of learning as all connected as all relevant at some point in time. We might not see the connections at this point, but I think we need to be exposed to all information to become the person we are meant to be.
@ORCA@Liam@Erin@Michelle@Jason@Nick@Kevin@Gio@Rafeala@CMan@Kayla@mattack@walshie- I totally agree about writing. I see all learning as important and relevant.Thanks for the support!
Anne - Thanks for the thought-provoking post. I had a great time reading the responses of all of the students from my BHS web 2.0 class. Thanks also for recognizing their comments with a response. They are just getting into the flow of blogging and leaving comments so getting responses is great!
As we prepare to be a 1:1 school next year, I think that it is important for all of us (both staff and students) to be asking these questions.
Have a great weekend!
The kids are acting out of ignorance and inexperience. Of COURSE they need apprenticeship experiences.
I recommend that you (maybe the kids too) read http://amzn.to/aJufNg if you haven't already done so.
How heterogeneous is your "Boys" class?
I'd be sure to tell them that a well-rounded education gives them an equal playing field with other students and allows them to choose careers, rather than careers choosing them.
School should prepare kids to make any decision they choose based on preparation and sound information.
Education is not vocational preparation except for kids already sorted out by school.
I bet none of those kids wanted to be a garbage man, or other lower classed jobs. If us kids were to only learn about things that we wanted to be when we grew up, lots of jobs would go unoccupied. We go through all of these subjects so that can learn about every aspect of work, and be prepared for any profession. Lots of people want to play baseball in the pros, but we know that only select few with the skill set can do that. If a child was to devote all the school day to this and grew up to fail and not even make the minors; the boy would have nothing to fall back upon. That's exactly why we learn about all subjects, because at some point dreams cannot be fulfilled and reality hits.
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