I’m excited to see this article because curriculum is the aspect of education that I’m most interested in. When I was in college, I worked in math education research and with an institute that create elementary math and science curriculum. Clearly, as evidenced by the arguments put forth in this Wall Street Journal article, it has the ability to have the greatest impact on students. I would like to develop a model of engaging teachers so that they have the greatest impact on the curriculum. I think you want to have standards, but you also want to give teachers the freedom to engage their students.
This clearly is a very controversial issue. I’m upset and surprised by how quickly and easily some of the people in the article conjure images of war. Words have impacts and I don’t think that is impressed on people enough; maybe that should be taught in school.
I think religious education is a very good thing but I think it should be done at church, after school. I also think teachers make great church leaders, specifically because of the tools they learn in their day job. But I think it’s kind of lazy that don’t want to teach religion after school and insist on incorporating it in their day jobs. I think religious schools and religious after school programs are great way for children to spend their time, to keep them out of trouble and keep them from settling roots in front of the TV. There is a huge opportunity there that I hope people are taking advantage of. But I think it doesn’t belong in schools.
I also think it’s ironic that some reviewers of the curriculum insisted on teaching in a public school that separation of church and state has biblical origins....
Very touchy subject. I know that there is a great cult in the states that insists on teaching children at home and that fights education because this cult believes that god created the world in 7 days and so on. I was going to a catholic private school in Germany and trust me when I tell you: Biology and Religion were two seperate subjects that went hand in hand with each other. In biology they teached us about evolution and in the religion class about how for god onethousand years is one day and that everything we learned in biology is correct, but that it is just from a different point of view. Which actually helps you to understand everything better. And in the religion class we were also told about other religions and focused on what they have incommon, if historicly or moraly. Anyway, I think religion should not be teached in school (unless it's a private school) but outside of school to those who seek this form of education. How would it be if we would start to teach kids at public schools about atom physics? That is very specific and it's there for those who seek exactly that. Albert Einstein said that school is like when you force feed a donkey something that it don't likes. The school system definitly needs to be reformed, education is not a given. People underestimate the importance of good education. In Poland the education system is on a way higher standard than in Germany, not even to mention in the US. When my brother moved from Poland to Germany he was 16 and I remember, the first few years he was bored because he was way ahead and it took his motivation from him. I am also shocked by history in the states, in europe we learned about the history of the whole world, not only about the history of the continent that we live on. It is very important to have a curriculum that leaves the teacher some freedom, some space to grow and to breathe, to straight his wings. Only in a free atmosphere can passion be sparked that makes the whole experience fun and give the children a hunger for more education. The curriculum has to be a guidline but the teacher has to give it life and to fulfill it's purpose. Like everything that really works, it has to be an organic process, that's my opinion.
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