4 ms·

While it's a noble goal, I'd say that the two classes that should be brought back are civics and geography. Did we really get rid of those two classes? I hones

by dvtrn 8y ago

While it's a noble goal, I'd say that the two classes that should be brought back are civics and geography. Did we really get rid of those two classes? I honestly don't know, and have no children to know what is being taught these days. I graduated high school in the early 2000's but to this day my favorite class was "Law and Government", so much of this had to do with my teacher's genuine enthusiasm for the subject matter. We did mock trials, a few of which I won as a fake public defender. That class was wildly informative looking back, you really do have me wondering what the state of that sort of curriculum is like these days. (random addendum but a few years back I ran into the gentleman who taught that class, at the voting booth-he was volunteering his time as a poll worker. Just as civic minded as I remembered him)

nerdponx 8y ago
In New York you have civics, history, and geography all lumped in together under "social science".
existencebox 8y ago
I was at a pretty typical city public school ~>15 years ago. Even then we didn't really have "civics" as it were. There were "world history" courses and things in that vein, mostly focused on europe and asia, with a gloss over the other countries. (laughably so, looking back). There was a large course in american history, but it was almost all rote, and had nothing to do with how I would phrase "civics" in terms of pragmatic participation and impact. Similar statements could be made re: learning about "the economy" in history and "home finances" (writing a check) in home-ec but nothing about pragmatic long term planning, college loans, any of that stuff. I shouldn't sell it entirely short, if you took some more esoteric extracurriculars/AP courses you could get some exposure but it was still very academic and VERY niche. To stop beating around the bush, speaking at least for my school (even around when you graduated) had very little to prepare someone to actually be an informed participant in society. This likely varies heavily by school however, but polling my wife as well, she echos an even more bleak story. (private Jewish school)
- dvtrn 8y ago
  I was at a pretty typical city public school ~>15 years ago. Even then we didn't really have "civics" as it were. Interesting contrasts we have here, eh? I went to a public HS in a hyper-rural area in the deep south. Law and Government I & II were classes required by juniors and then seniors respectively. My expectation was that city schools would definitely have these courses, it's interesting to learn in your case they didn't.
  - Jtsummers 8y ago
    It's state-by-state, usually. The curriculum in GA and NV (both states I went to High School in) in the 90s required a US history course and a civics course. In NV it was "US Government", a senior course (typically). In GA it was, in my district, just "Civics" and was one semester, sharing the year with a baby Economics course (which was really more personal finance than economics). School districts have some leeway to add additional courses, or to alter the typical order of them. For instance, that civics course in GA could've been a one year senior level course in a neighboring district. But the civics course was required across the state at the time.
- Retra 8y ago
  It's hard to teach history if you're going to test people on it. There's too much history for anyone to really know even a tiny bit of it, so it's probably better to teach it through literature.
boomboomsubban 8y ago
>That class was wildly informative looking back, you really do have me wondering what the state of that sort of curriculum is like these days. I had a similar class in the early 2000's, complete with the mock trial and enthusiastic teacher, but looking back see it more as blatant propaganda. For example, our trial was an incredibly idealistic view of what is a terribly broken court system. Most of the class was similar, teaching the ideals of being an American without any connection to reality.
- InitialLastName 8y ago
  > our trial was an incredibly idealistic view of what is a terribly broken court system What were they supposed to do, have your defendant spend years in jail waiting for a trial because they can't make bail? Automatically dismiss all the jurors with the same skin color?
  - boomboomsubban 8y ago
    Skip the mock trial and fairly assess the criminal justice system. The trial doesn't teach useful things, and instead leaves students trusting a system that could arbitrarily decide to ruin their life.

by dvtrn 8y ago

nerdponx 8y ago

In New York you have civics, history, and geography all lumped in together under "social science".

existencebox 8y ago

I was at a pretty typical city public school ~>15 years ago. Even then we didn't really have "civics" as it were. There were "world history" courses and things in that vein, mostly focused on europe and asia, with a gloss over the other countries. (laughably so, looking back). There was a large course in american history, but it was almost all rote, and had nothing to do with how I would phrase "civics" in terms of pragmatic participation and impact. Similar statements could be made re: learning about "the economy" in history and "home finances" (writing a check) in home-ec but nothing about pragmatic long term planning, college loans, any of that stuff. I shouldn't sell it entirely short, if you took some more esoteric extracurriculars/AP courses you could get some exposure but it was still very academic and VERY niche. To stop beating around the bush, speaking at least for my school (even around when you graduated) had very little to prepare someone to actually be an informed participant in society. This likely varies heavily by school however, but polling my wife as well, she echos an even more bleak story. (private Jewish school)

dvtrn 8y ago
I was at a pretty typical city public school ~>15 years ago. Even then we didn't really have "civics" as it were. Interesting contrasts we have here, eh? I went to a public HS in a hyper-rural area in the deep south. Law and Government I & II were classes required by juniors and then seniors respectively. My expectation was that city schools would definitely have these courses, it's interesting to learn in your case they didn't.
- Jtsummers 8y ago
  It's state-by-state, usually. The curriculum in GA and NV (both states I went to High School in) in the 90s required a US history course and a civics course. In NV it was "US Government", a senior course (typically). In GA it was, in my district, just "Civics" and was one semester, sharing the year with a baby Economics course (which was really more personal finance than economics). School districts have some leeway to add additional courses, or to alter the typical order of them. For instance, that civics course in GA could've been a one year senior level course in a neighboring district. But the civics course was required across the state at the time.
Retra 8y ago
It's hard to teach history if you're going to test people on it. There's too much history for anyone to really know even a tiny bit of it, so it's probably better to teach it through literature.

boomboomsubban 8y ago

>That class was wildly informative looking back, you really do have me wondering what the state of that sort of curriculum is like these days. I had a similar class in the early 2000's, complete with the mock trial and enthusiastic teacher, but looking back see it more as blatant propaganda. For example, our trial was an incredibly idealistic view of what is a terribly broken court system. Most of the class was similar, teaching the ideals of being an American without any connection to reality.

InitialLastName 8y ago
> our trial was an incredibly idealistic view of what is a terribly broken court system What were they supposed to do, have your defendant spend years in jail waiting for a trial because they can't make bail? Automatically dismiss all the jurors with the same skin color?
- boomboomsubban 8y ago
  Skip the mock trial and fairly assess the criminal justice system. The trial doesn't teach useful things, and instead leaves students trusting a system that could arbitrarily decide to ruin their life.