Since I've been back in England I've become aware of a change that seems to be the result of a good intention - the prevention of those without an academic education feeling 'second class' - but that is having some rather disastrous results.
It seems to me that whilst I have been away there has been some kind of basic change in education, so that technology is now supreme and culture has been marginalised. I should think it would now be quite easy to find people in, say, their 30's and in positions of some importance and earning good salaries, e.g. bank managers, IT consultants or advertising directors, who would be unable to a) explain who Hannibal was b) explain the reasoning behind either the apostrophe or the circumflex accent in French or c) has actually read either 'Paradise Lost' or the Bible.
Call me an intellectual snob if you will - and I guess a great many will - but I believe that we are in danger of losing our cultural heritage because it is no longer taught. I wonder who, other than me, bemoans the fact that grammar schools (where these still exist) no longer teach Latin?
There are no longer music classes in all schools. So young people can leave school knowing nothing about Bach, Handel or even British composers like Walton and Vaughan Williams. Young people can leave school unable to spell or even, sometimes, to read or write. Most of them can add up. Which leaves us asking what, precisely, it is most important for young people to know in this day and age?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Interesting comment....
ReplyDeleteAs a 38 year old, I guess I have a mid-way perspective on this....
At school we did no poetry and no shakespeare, but we did do some classical literature (5 books for O level lit). We did have RE and music classes for the first 2 years.
So I could not tell you who Hannibal was (other than a character played by Anthony Hopkins)... I feel no great loss about this, I could find out if I felt it made the slightest difference to me connecting with the world and those in it. I could find out because I was endowed with a curiosity and an ability to seek out what I want to know, and skills in literacy, numeracy and reasoning.
BUT...
I feel the overall standards in education have dropped since I was at school/university, with people starting PhDs who are lacking in some of the most basic skills after having completed degree courses!
In trying to get education to the masses, a noble intention, we have democratised the degree. And what would serve those being educated better is a more student-centred approach. What does each student need? In some cases a more vocational approach will deliver more to those now joining the dole queues than a degree ever could.
Bring back apprenticeships in a real way. Make the degree something for those who really want to go somewhere in the subject they are studying.
I agree with bringing back apprenticeships so long as the apprentices are properly trained. I guess it feels as though people are just taught what they need to know and nothing else these days. What horrified me most is the number of people who are leaving school unable to punctuate or spell, or to write a decent letter.
ReplyDelete