As a teacher I was also offended by the introduction of this article, which seemed to insinuate that schools are failing to teach our kids 'the basics' and that very few teachers make the effort to teach about life. Teachers have an incredibly important role in our children's lives, but that role has been stretched and blurred to include all manner of things that were once the domain of parents. Most are happy to -even strive to- incorporate 'life' lessons into an already busy curriculum, and do it well. For learning experiences to be truly meaningful and lasting, however, they really should be supported both at home and at school. In my experience, they often are. Many of the 'skills' listed here are indeed valuable, but could have been framed in a much more positive way.
On Aug 31, 2012 Australian school teacher wrote:
As a teacher I was also offended by the introduction of this article, which seemed to insinuate that schools are failing to teach our kids 'the basics' and that very few teachers make the effort to teach about life. Teachers have an incredibly important role in our children's lives, but that role has been stretched and blurred to include all manner of things that were once the domain of parents. Most are happy to -even strive to- incorporate 'life' lessons into an already busy curriculum, and do it well. For learning experiences to be truly meaningful and lasting, however, they really should be supported both at home and at school. In my experience, they often are.
Many of the 'skills' listed here are indeed valuable, but could have been framed in a much more positive way.