In America or any other civilized part of the world, the purpose of school is not as obvious as one would imagine. There is no direct correlation between the curriculum and our survival. It is not like the education a child would receive in the jungles of Borneo. It would not be uncommon to see a child as young as four running through the woods carrying a machete. At an early age they are taught how to hunt, evade, gather food and everything else directly related to survival. They understand the importance of learning the daily lessons and how it will impact their future. The purpose of their education is obvious.

The kids in America however, don't always understand the reasons behind the curriculum they are being taught. Something I heard quite often in the algebra classes I taught was "when will I ever need to use this?" I was asked that question by a student in every period I taught for the past ten years. I am sure that every teacher in every subject has been asked that question at least once in their career. After learning how to read, write and do basic math, the rest seems to be pointless. It is safe to say that 97% of the population will never have a practical use for the quadratic equation and yet it is a required topic. Just because it has no practical use doesn't mean that it has no importance. The agenda of our school system is not very obvious so when I get asked "when will I ever need to use this" I stop the class and tell them a story.

I started the story with an attention grabbing sentence about life in Air Force basic training. The thing I remember most about basic training was that I was required to fold my underwear in perfect six inch squares. And the hangers in my locker had to be placed exactly one inch apart. On inspection, if my tee shirts or underwear were not exact, the drill instructor would throw every article of clothing I owned on the floor and I would have to start again. At the time I thought that was the dumbest thing, after all, in real life no-one folds their clothes into perfect six inch squares. I don't think of it as being dumb anymore because it probably saved my life. I left basic training and became a flight engineer. During the Gulf war I flew 8 missions into the combat zone. One of my tasks on the plane was to set the rheostat. It took a 4 digit code that identified our plane as friendly. We were given the code just before takeoff and if it wasn't set correctly we could expect to be taken out by a missile launched

• 1
• 2
• next page >>

---

Add your voice

Know something about A curriculum of unquestionable value and lasting relevance?
We want to hear your view. Write now!