KIDS TODAY - When I was young! - Page 2

alan2525 · 08-02-2007

One of the problems in Education now is that kids at primary school are given the knowledge needed to pass tests but not the actual basic skills they will need in secondary school. You find a lot of kids who can't use a compass, have no idea how to measure a piece of material or mark out.

The national curriculum also makes it mandatory to cover areas of the subject which at lower levels the kids really do not pick up anything from it. An example of this is where a project will be based 50% on design and Product Analysis and 50% on the final project.

Doing research on existing products, analysing products, making a specifiation for the item is all very fine but for many they don't see the point in that and the time spent on those areas is a little wasted. When making the actual thing they run out of time and end up with something which doesn't work.

An example of the sort of thing, in an H.E. lesson kids would make an Apple Pie, design a box for the Apple pie, market the apple pie, the kid who makes the worst damn apple pie you've ever seen can still do well because he's ticked a few boxes and has a scrappy sheet of A4 paper with a couple of lines of text about other Apple pies he saw for sale in tesco.

**Bunkerbarge** · 08-02-2007

It's a long number of years since I was at school, what's H.E.?

I agree with you completely, we need to give them more sticks and glue, let tyhem get dirty and learn how the materials around us interact with each other.

You would be amazed the number of kids who beleive that electricity comes from the socket in the wall!!!!!

alan2525 · 08-02-2007

H.E. - Home Economics

Which is actually now called - Food Technology

Woodwork and Metalwork are called - Resistant Materials

Woodwork and Metalwork used to be CDT - Craft Design and Technology but has since become Design and Technology, the Craft part was dropped years ago!

**Bunkerbarge** · 08-02-2007

Food Technology!!!, it's like calling the bin man a refuse engineer!!!

What is wrong with "Wood" and "Metal" it been OK for the last few hundred years!

Don't tell me anymore for goodness sake.

alan2525 · 08-02-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bunkerbarge

You would be amazed the number of kids who beleive that electricity comes from the socket in the wall!!!!!

I always laugh when they talk about Zero Emission Vehicles on the BBC news.

It's a shame we can't run everything on electricity as it's such a clean source of power! -apparently??

It's also funny how you can buy a hybrid Lexus 4x4 and because of it's tiny eletric motor and 300 bhp V6 engine, actually has more power than the regular Lexus 4x4 and is exempt from the central london "congestion" charge!

I should fit a Mabuchi 3 volt motor to my Ka, make it a hybrid and see if i can get off paying any Road Tax. :P

porschenut · 10-02-2007

Better than that though alan, It would be OK with ken livingston if you bought a HUMMER to central london fitted with 2AA batteries and a 3volt motor!
"Its a Hybrid"
Euan

AerynPk · 10-02-2007

Well I know that its now called resistant materials and food technology. I also for drawing with rulers and compasses is now called graphics. That was when i was a secondary school.

flytilbroke · 10-02-2007

Hi Char, would you like to reprint or rephrase the type of School you
went to?

SEXONDARY, INDEED!

Sorry, not. could not help it.

AerynPk · 10-02-2007

was funnyNo what i meant was SECONDARY SCHOOL I attend Chalvedon School and sixth form college.

new to trains · 23-02-2007

its sad, we run classes here at legoland that are specifically designed to fit in with the national carriculum, key stages 1 ,2 and 3

so when schools run school trip kids can actually do some hands on ' creating'
these are structured sessions which inlcude things such as structures, gear ratios, friction and similar ' basic' values,

the lego company sell techinc sets as they have done for years, in my childhood there were two types of grey technic connector pegs, one had two snap fittings- one either end, the other had a snap fit on one end and a cross profile on the other end..... we as kids never had problems 25 yrs ago working out which was which, we looked at the instructions or used our common sense.......

nowadays these two pegs are now produced in different colours because research showed that kids of today can't tell the difference- or they are so bored they cant be bothered to observe the instructions correctly....

we are dumbing down everything !- i think metal work and wood work should be re- introduced in school, CDT as it was know should be re- instated, its sad but when we recruit for staff we have highly skilled people turn up who can programme complex CNC machines, can produce intricate parts in 3D on a screen - but but they cant change a chuck on a lathe from a 3 jaw to a 4 jaw !- they could not turn or mill a basic part to a tollerence of 0.1mm without the use of CAD/ CAM technology- for gods sake engineering is a dying art, we need to teach the advanced technologies and CAD/ CAM but we also need to teach the basics, simple machining and turning, basic fabrication and similar, - education should not just teach youngsters to pass an exam - we should try and teach the very basics of what these youngsters need for life in the big nasty world out there !

i think teachers now have one hell of a challenge to turn round this opressive, league table obsessed, world !- let teachers teach,let the kids learn- rather than constantly test, check and assess - let em get on with the job in hand- its what they do best, we were not constantly league tested, we have exams each year and the odd test and we gained our exams and went on to higher education ok !