Besides knowledge, what do you think they should be teaching children in schools?

[ShreeVishu]

Is the modern education system fit for purpose? Is it equipping children with the skills to be happy and successful in life? What additional skills do you think we should be teaching children in school?

I think it's called parenting.

People seem to think it's ok not to do it these days.

Several people have mentioned VAT.
That was part of maths when I did my GCSES (1991). I remember it because we had been over it so much it was drummed into our heads how to do the 15% that we could probably do it in our sleep. But then just before the exam VAT was changed to 17.5% and everyone panicked.
We were told that for the exam we could do either but had to write on the paper "I am doing VAT as 15%"
I can't imagine that's been removed from the current GCSE maths curriculum....has it?

Did they also teach it backwards, i.e. if the total/gross was £115, then the VAT was £15 i.e. 15% on the net £100, and not 15% of the gross £115 which is £17.25.

That is the biggest issue I see as an accountant, that even highly educated people like doctors, IT consultants, architects, etc., still do their book-keeping and VAT returns by wrongly multiplying the total paid (gross) by 20% VAT to find the VAT element of a payment, rather than doing it as 100/120.

Same with people like tradesmen who give a customer a quote for £200, VAT inclusive, and then write an invoice for £160 plus £40 VAT, i.e. just starting backwards with the total of £200, then saying the VAT is 20% of that, i.e. £40, and working backwards to a net of £160!

The sheer number of people who don't fully understand the difference between net and gross is unbelievable. People really shouldn't be leaving school and making that kind of really basic mistake, after 10+ years of compulsory Maths/numeracy education, even more so if VAT is specifically part of the Maths/PHSE curriculum.

But what do you do when the parents can't or won't "parent"? Someone has to step in and give the kids the skills that parents can't teach. Teachers often spend more time with the pupils than their parents do, so "life skills" linked to school obviously need to be taught at school, such as discipline, health, finances, behaviour, interacting with other people, etc. Otherwise their time at school is completely pointless & wasted as they're going to learn nothing if they have no basic life skills and will probably cause those around them to have a poorer learning experience too due to their behaviour etc. Especially when many of the life skills can be taught as part of normal school life/lessons, such as personal finance being taught in Maths/numeracy.

"normal", reverse and compound percentages are all taught.

Funnily enough, 4/5 hours of something between the ages of 12 and 16 doesn't seem to stick for most people!

Same with the spend an hour pretending to plan a wedding... Why? You'll never remember it.

@taxguru is was a long time ago so I can't quite remember. We probably did.
I do remember a lot of maths being we would do all the workings out and then do it all backwards again. Or that might have just been me cos I liked sums 😂
I can do %s pretty well that if I go into a shop and a sign says "20/25/30/whatever % off" I can usually work it out in my head - but if it said "25.5% off" I can't. It's that dastardly ".5" I can't do.

But are they "taught" in scenarios that people can actually relate with and identify with?

That was my point with compound interest being taught as an equation. Yes, it's being "taught", but generally without telling the pupil the application and relevance. Academic pupils can just learn it, but non academic pupils will struggle with a raw equation whereas they may have a "lightbulb" moment if the real life application and implications were taught, such as explaining how interest works on student loans, with a spreadsheet example rather than just a dry equation.

I'm pretty sure that percentages are taught both ways, i.e. gross and net, but again, is something "real life" like an invoice used as an example, or is it just half a page of raw examples on a worksheet? Given the sheer number of my clients who don't do it correctly, I suggest there's a problem with how it's taught!

@MultiplaLight pretending to plan a wedding is usually done in Reception 😂
Thanks to a dress up box, one bossy girl, a reluctant "groom" (he'd rather be outside in the sand pit) and 2 "brides" fighting over him because "I saw him first" and then someone's ponytail gets pulled.
It usually ends in tears and the teacher saying "If you can't play this game nicely we will put the dressing up box away" 😂
Average wedding really.

I teach it in context where possible. The problem is having to teach around the context, which then takes forever. Kids don't know gross, net, profit, loss, balance sheet, tax, invoice. Especially those that struggle. So I'd be spending ages teaching that language first.

Those adults would be better off attending a business course once they know they're going to be self employed.

I teach compound interest alongside payday loans, and alternative sources of credit. Most kids aren't that interested!

I was having a conversation with my 19 year old GD who said that she didn't vote recently as she had not registered and did not understand what it was all about.

Is this your god daughter? Grandaughter? Quite sad that nobody in her family has had this conversation with her!

The 'you can google everything' winds me up. If you are having a heart attack do you want the paramedics to start googling what to do?

I think learning to research effectively is worth teaching though.

Schools need to be freed up from progress 8, not all kids can cope with 8 GCSEs where they may pass 4 or 5 with good grades given more teaching.

Lots of practical things could be taught in 'clubs' after school by non teachers but it would be a nightmare to organise and fund.

I do think much of year 9 is wasted and this could be a good time to teach some practical skills. Schools with a 3 year KS2 are full of teens who can't wait to drop certain subjects. Those who start KS3 in year 9, well there is a lot of treading water.

I would totally reconstruct year 9. Keep the core subjects but then have the chance to try different things, practical subjects, different sports, outings to the theatre / cinema (with education about how to behave in those situations) museums, volunteering.Maybe some practical things like gardening or looking after some chickens.

Obviously in my dream school I have a huge budget and dedicated energetic teachers.

A lot of the life skills being suggested could be learned by taking a part -time job. Youngsters would benefit from taking a weekend job from age 14/15. It would also keep them off the streets and reduce antisocial behaviour.

......and to all those suggesting we tear up the National Curriculum and re-write it, I look forward to seeing you all in the classroom soon to help knackered teachers meet your demands.

@sashh i think you mean KS3 and 4

Typing
First Aid
To play an instrument
Financial planning/budgeting
Social skills
How to do a good presentation
Interview skills
How to cook a decent, nutritious meal on a budget
How democracy works
How the country is run at national and local level
Why they should vote

Most of that is already taught...

Clearly not very effectively given the sheer number of young adults who seem incapable of living any kind of adult life.

Just because change is difficult doesn't mean that we have to keep doing things the way they've always been done, when it's clear it's not working for a large proportion of people, both pupils and teachers.

These are activities which should be taught by parents

I think the start point is given for most of these at school and then it is up to the parents to extend the learning.

Things are not done the way they always have been. I’ve already said that I’ve been a teacher for nearly 30 years and the changes within that time, particularly to the PD curriculum, have been massive

@taxguru the problem is unless knowledge is put to use regularly it will get lost in a brain full of other stuff.
I did French for 5 years. Have a GCSE in it. Can I speak it? No 😂 - because after I left school (1991) I have barely spoken a dozen sentences of french.
I often say education beyond the basics of reading, writing and doing sums is just lots of random general knowledge that you will remember if it's of interest to you or if you use it regularly - or you will just forget about or it gets shoved in a tiny corner of the brain.
You either end up good at Trivial Pursuit or you don't.

Absolutely.

Memory is a prioritisation exercise. At 14/15/16 teens don't retain this stuff because they just aren't interested and think they don't need it.

By that logic, it's pointless teaching them anything at those ages. Why teach French which they'll forget (and most will never need) rather than personal finance which they may forget but is needed by virtually everyone? Why try to teach pythagoras that 95+% will never need/use in the form it's taught?

Yet my son's year 7 and 8 timetable was virtually identical to mine over 40 years ago in terms of subjects taught etc.

When we did secondary school tours, the schools, classrooms, labs and workshops all looked the same as I remember 40 plus years ago.

I don't deny there's been lots of change, but I think a lot of it has been titanic deskchair re-arranging rather than actual, tangible change. There's been lots of change, but it seems the more things change, the more they stay the same.