When government schools get really weird

Over the years I've seen some really weird things happen in government schools. For example the high school teacher who gave his freshman students an assignment to research internet porn. Or the fired teacher who continued collecting a salary and had even gotten two raises. Or the recent teachers abusing kindergarteners.

It is easy to become jaded over the multiple problems with public education. I often read another story of some strange thing public schools do and I just roll my eyes.

Today's account of a teacher advising schools to skip academics and focus on more important things like learning how to conserve energy exceeded my normal tolerance.

Joanne Jacobs reports in Unsustainable schooling:

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You may think the U.S. education system is daffy, but just look at the Brits’ struggle with the national curriculum: A government education adviser wants to stop teaching academic subjects, which are “middle class.” Instead of history, geography and science, Professor John White thinks students should “learn skills such as energy-saving and civic responsibility through projects and themes,” reports the Daily Mail. White believes that “traditional subjects were invented by the middle classes and are “mere stepping stones to wealth.” Which seems preferable to preparing students for poverty.
White served on a government curriculum committee that “reformed” schooling for 11 to 14-year-olds by “sidelining large swathes of subject content in favour of lessons on issues such as climate change and managing debt.”
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Wow. Words fail me.


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