Is it really 'old fashioned' to teach basic knowledge, facts and figures?

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail....ll-TV-advert-dog.html

Today's school children may be brilliant when it comes to operating the latest electronic devices etc. but when it comes to all round general knowledge they sometimes tend to be lacking in many ways.

Are they not taught, or perhaps even their teachers are lacking in some way?

[SueMoneyRowley]

andy-hughes is right of course, also, many younger teachers have gone through a system which has not addressed issues such as basic grammar, spelling and numeracy and therefore have issues with these things themselves.

[anotheoldgit]

dave50

That would be a most interesting exercise, but I don't think it will ever take place somehow.

I wonder why?

ummmm

/// Dave....there have been loads of comparison papers posted on the net. ///

I read your answer while constructing mine, have you any examples to post?

[pa___ul3]

I wrote a little quiz today for Jeans for Genes day in the office, one of the questions was 'What is the nationality of Friedrich Nietzche?'.. one of our older colleagues only knew the answer because her daughter had mentioned it recently while talking about her homework.
I'm sure, AOG, that when you were in school, your parents and grandparents would claim you'd lose the skills of mental arithamtic now that you had such new fangled inventions like the abacus! ;)

[anotheoldgit]

/// I'm sure, AOG, that when you were in school, your parents and grandparents would claim you'd lose the skills of mental arithamtic now that you had such new fangled inventions like the abacus! ;) ///

/// mental arithamtic ///

Perhaps there should also not be any spelling mistakes, especially now that these new computer devices have 'spell checkers'? :0)

[DTCwordfan]

Rather than nit-pick contributions, what are your ideas for rectifying the situation, AOG?

[andy-hughes]

Steady on AOG - anyone who post the word 'sexiest' when they mean 'sexist' is on thin ice when carping about spelling on the AB.

I always lets your sp's go, as you do mine - it's a good policy, you should think about sticking with it for everyone else.

[anotheoldgit]

DTcrosswordfan

/// Rather than nit-pick contributions ///

Practice what you preach, you are a past-master at 'nit-picking' contributions.

[DTCwordfan]

I agree, Andy.

And he will not put forward any constructive ideas to resolving these problems, just like his other thread on Muslim ghettos a la Paris being formed in the UK.

It's easy enough to pull up problems but not so easy to give rational thought to (sensible) solutions.

[DTCwordfan]

Yes and I am asking you for your ideas......

[andy-hughes]

i know what that is doc - but I had to Google it to check!

[DTCwordfan]

Are you under 30, Andy?

Am still waiting, AOG..... I am more than equipped with a few ideas for this one but am interested to hear yours first, especially as you are the OP here.

[tamborine]

Most GK is gleaned from students home environment. Parents are as responsible GK is lacking

[boxtops]

I'm not alarmed that youngsters don't know who Churchill is - the World Wars are so long ago in their perception. We never went past Bismarck's time in my own years at school, and I left in 1966.

[cazzz1975]

general knowledge and intellect is down to the individual, Im sure there were children in school in the 40's, 50's and 60's who didnt care about capital cities and prime ministers, these children are not an accurate representation of the public at large.

my only issue with schooling is the consistancy of teachers, my daughter has had the misfortune to experience several rounds of maternity leave and it can affect the quality and delivery of education.

[andy-hughes]

I wish DT - I am fifty-seven in a couple of weeks!

I think that general knowledge cannot be tieds down to age ranges - I think that people learn as they go, and the younger generation simply learn from many different strands of information - as did we at their ages.

I know what a palindrome is, I also know who Kierkgarrd is, and I understand what satire is - and I learned all these things from ... watching Monty Python on TV as a teenager!

[anotheoldgit]

andy-hughes

Haven't you a sense of humour Andy?

It was in answer to pa___ul3's humorous remark about the abacus.

Did you not notice both pa___ul3's 'smiley' and also mine.

Interesting to note however that you keep a record of my faux pas, must remember to do the same with yours, that is if my computers memory is large enough. :0)

[Old_Geezer]

I can't claim too much knowledge in the field of child education, but from what I read and hear there does seem to be a lack of teaching basics in the rush to teach calculators and computers and the like. One should be able to depend on a decent grounding of all subjects before going on to teach how to gather more as a life skill.

That said, just happening to know one or another specific individuals from history, especially when a namesake has been so hyped recently, is hardly something I'd expect pupils to know. It's not a basic, it a general knowledge thing. For someone my age the politician should be the first thought, but for another, younger generation, the animation connection should be expected.

[anotheoldgit]

DTcrosswordfan

/// Am still waiting, AOG..... I am more than equipped with a few ideas for this ///

But obviously not on my previous question 'Should we be concerned also'?

Taking that into account, it would be interesting to know what your answers to this one are?

[ChuckFickens]

I can't recall the last time knowing who Winston Churchill was or knowing what the capital of Tasmania is cropped up in my work and I doubt there are many jobs in which that sort of knowledge would be useful.

What I find more worrying is the lack of basic maths skills which is something that will crop up in most jobs at some time or another, I can't remember the last time I was served by a "young" person in a shop that didn't have to check the till display (normally several times) to know how much change was required.