Our parents learned the list of the Goth Kings, we the list of prepositions in Spanish or the tributaries on the right and on the left of the most prominent rivers ... We all agree that, today, anything we want to know about we can find in a matter of seconds with our mobile on the internet and that, therefore, learn things from this kind of memory It makes less and less sense.
How High school teacherI often meet people who ask things like: why do we have to solve square roots If the calculator makes them and, above all, is it likely that a future will not need them? Why Princess Leonor is known by heart the periodic table? From the outset to say that for the calculators to make square roots someone has to program them and also add that the changes take time and in the education system we are working on it. Leonor and the periodic table is another story, but we go in parts ...
Official curriculum and culture
For some strange reason that I, of pure sciences, fail to understand, nobody argues that knowing and understanding information about historical highlights such as the discovery of America, classic books such as Don Quixote or famous paintings such as Guernica It is culture and they are general topics to know, however, in mathematics, physics or chemistry the thing changes ... Beyond anecdotes like Newton's apple or Schrödinger's cat, which give a lot of play to make memes, nobody considers it important for life to know about the theory of Einstein's relativity, Gauss's theorem or Lavoisier's law.
As hardly in that we would all agree there an official curriculum, established by law, which tries to homogenize, in a more or less balanced way, what we all learn during the different stages of compulsory education and that teachers, families and students must comply and respect as they do, or should do, with the other laws .
Learn by interests
But the laws are to change them and perhaps a more open curriculum could be raised, there are already many voices that speak of that option, to eliminate subjects, to work for projects, to search and develop talents and to learn by interests. There is no doubt that a person learns better and faster something that interests him than something he is forced to learn, but we cannot forget that there are many girls and boys, whom if we let them learn only what interests them, they would not learn anything. It is very nice to think so, that all children come super motivated of fabric to learn about science, technology, humanities or art, but the reality is that this is not the case. There are many who, if not for obligation, not only would not learn square roots, but would not learn to add or subtract. After all, that calculator does too ...
What they do develop in most educational centers are extracurricular or extracurricular projects that deepen aspects, there, depending on the interests of the students. Science Clubs or Reading Clubs are good examples, but there are countless projects of expansion and excellence in which students and students can learn about what they really like or are interested in, both as a hobby and to devote to it in the future in a professional way.
Integrated activities in context
If we cannot let students choose freely what they would like to learn during school hours, what teachers have to achieve is that what they have to learn by obligation interests them and they find it appetizing. In that sense, what is done today is to integrate learning and activities in context so that students can clearly see what the application is, of what they have to learn, in real life.
I also add that, in my opinion, that context must be interdisciplinary and with that I close the previous debate on whether to learn things about science or letters ... Sciences and letters are not at odds, on the contrary, they have to complement each other to provide a comprehensive and comprehensive training to the person. In education there are specific objectives, but also general stage objectives in which all subjects and disciplines have to add and not subtract.
Uncertain professional future
Beyond loose things, we have to think that what is involved, both in primary and secondary education, is to exercise the brain to facilitate the organization, storage and processing of information and provide students with strategies so that in the future they can adapt to diverse situations and so that they can learn quickly and easily everything they need for their personal and professional development.
Today's girls and boys have to live in a difficult time of constant change. Many of them do not know what they are going to be when they grow up, because it is more than likely that some of the works they develop have not been invented still and, in that sense, they have to be very prepared to be able to solve problems and face whatever comes their way. The more they know the better, the more prepared they are at all levels the better ... After all, knowledge does not take place, it is proven that those of my generation have the lyrics of all the songs of Mecano in our heads and we still have space on the "hard drive" for that and much more.
Speaking the people understand
Perhaps some of the above does not convince you because although a professional future that is presented to young people is complicated, adolescence itself is also complicated, a stage in which many are going through difficult times personal or family. In addition, many of you will be thinking that, beyond interests, not everyone has the same capacities and not all of us are as good in some subjects as in others ... Arriving at this point it is essential to remember the importance of communication of students and students with their families and their teachers, of the families with the teaching staff, of all the teachers of each group with each other and with the tutor ... We all have to row in the same direction, the one that leads us to the best experience, the best evolution and the best results for the girl or the boy. As simple as that!
If a student has problems with a subject, with a specific topic or due to a certain situation, one must speak either with the teacher directly involved, to support him, to establish reinforcement mechanisms or to be more flexible with evaluation procedures, or with the tutor of the group that will talk in turn with the corresponding teacher about the specific situation to take the appropriate measures that facilitate student learning and the achievement of objectives. Positive reinforcement is also essential in this case, when something costs us a lot of effort it is very important celebrate all the little achievements to continue adding with spirit until reaching the final goal, which with collaboration and work always ends up being achieved.
But why square roots?
So, with the general ideas somewhat clearer, going back to the square root issue, what the law "asks" in this regard to students in 1st ESO is: "It properly uses the types of numbers and their operations, to solve contextualized daily problems, representing and interpreting through technological means, when necessary, the results obtained . ”What I interpret of that standard, with respect to square roots, is that if I say that my house has a 20 m square room2 of surface, the student has to be able to deduce that it is between 4 and 5 meters long.
The point is that for students to get along with obtaining approximate roots in context, among many other things, it is usually necessary to explain one or several methods, carry out consolidation activities and sometimes also reinforcement and that is where they come from repetition exercises and resolution by imitation that for some it is boring and for others it is essential to achieve the objectives.
And why the periodic table?
Another issue that I know you care about is that of The periodic table. You have all seen Princess Leonor recite her in his parents' car before an ESO exam and you have been just as worried and surprised as I was thinking: and my son, why doesn't he know it that way? Because in 1st ESO there is no, at least not following the official LOMCE curriculum. In fact there is not even physics and chemistry in that course and the matter that Queen Letizia calls "natu" no longer exists in secondary school, in 1st ESO what is given is biology and geology.
In the 2nd and 3rd ESO the periodic table is introduced and students are familiarized with it in order to introduce other concepts that need it as a basis and work tool. It is not that they learn it by heart, but that they learn to handle it to obtain the information they want from it whenever they need it. It is 4th ESO the course in which the law establishes that students: "Write the name and symbol of the chemical elements and place them in the Periodic Table" and remember that in that course the subject of physics and chemistry no longer It is mandatory, but optional. Also, you don't really have to know it as is, just know it very well, in official exams including EBAU students are provided with a periodic table So you can extract from it the information you need when solving problems and responding to the questions raised.
Summarizing…
And so we could go on to infinity and beyond with any issue we raise in this regard. Also adding that one cannot be interested in what is completely unknown and in that sense it is important that many subjects are introduced in compulsory education so that children can choose with cause knowledge what they want to focus on in the future.
Obviously everything is likely to be changed and to improve: the contents of the curriculum, the methodologies ... But it is not good either make sudden changes without having checked before the results they provide are going to be significantly better and we must also bear in mind that the resources of each center are adequate to carry out these changes.
So calm down! With total disinterest, I have read the Regent and Lazarillo de Tormes and I still know by heart the blessed sonnet of Lope de Vega and here I am. It probably has not helped me much, but it has not been a big problem, knowledge and knowing better than about and not missing.
