Saturday, April 06, 2013

Blog 8: New Curriculum Teaches 'More Cookery and Horticulture than Technology'

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In the United Kingdom, the Department of Education have proposed draft curriculums focusing on horticulture and cookery over technology by September 2014. With these changes, the department hopes to maintain an emphasis on basic mechanical maintenance tasks instead of becoming dependent on technology and computer-aided design within the secondary school systems. A Department for Education spokesman stated the draft design and technology curriculum would give pupils the "skills and expertise to develop the innovative and creative designs and products of the future".  Although, a chairman of the company BAE Systems, Dick Olver, believes otherwise and that the UK should double the output of engineers from the education system in order for the economy to be stable.  The curriculum now does not “meet the needs of a technologically literate society”.  As well as Olver, others advocating the education reform believe that this promoted curriculum fails to offer children a broad and balanced education.

It is interesting to spot the pros and cons of these alterations in the United Kingdom. On one hand, I agree that mankind is eventually going to be so dependent on technology that we will become “brainwashed” into constant consumerism.  The technology enhanced in this age is all a component to instant gratification and leaning towards the easy route over taking a second to think for oneself.  Though on the contrary, technology is becoming such a universal connector that it is principally essential for people to understand how to benefit from it, especially at a young age. With horticulture and cookery being a higher priority than technology in this day and age, it comes off as society as whole going backwards instead of forward.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2013/mar/31/school-curriculum-cookery-horticulture-before-technology

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