Ontario schools are finally realizing the value of practicality.
Real world skills might be making their way into Ontario classrooms, and we’re not talking algebra or writing in cursive. Still, the government is missing the mark on what it is we need to survive real life.
This fall, an online survey was sent out to school boards, educators, and parents, asking what hands-on skills they think students should learn in school. The categories listed range from personal health and safety, household management, to time management and technological skills, with room for suggestions.
This survey will open a world of possibilities that have been lacking in the Ontario curriculum until now. As crucial as academics and traditional courses are to students’ development and post-secondary education, they can afford to take a bit of a back seat.
The Ontario government aims to introduce a “modernized home economics class,” where students will learn a range of practical skills such as washing clothes, chopping vegetables, repairing a bike, and managing virtual planners. It’s time to reconsider whether these skills are as essential as the government thinks.
Modern survival skills aren’t what they once were. With cell phones and new technology entering the hands of younger kids, solutions to bigger problems we once faced are available at the click of a button. If teens are hungry, they can choose from a plethora of food delivery services before touching a piece of kitchen equipment.
Yes, it’s satisfying to solve problems on your own and vital to be self-reliant. While it doesn’t hurt for students to have basic cooking or car repair skills in their back pocket, they’re just not as urgent, anymore. The urgent tasks are ones that technology can’t supplement for, ones developed through experience.
There’s a disappointing absence of skills that prepare students for life directly after high school. The survey fails to mention financial literacy courses, using credit cards, managing the cost-of-living, responsible cyber security, or advice on being a first-time renter. Surely these are skills that students and young adults will use in their everyday, real life—just ask any university student what they wish they knew before entering adulthood.
As practical as they sound, the province’s suggested hands-on skills are not practical to implement in a classroom setting. It takes time and training to qualify teachers to instruct these courses. And after recent budget cuts, Ontario schools certainly can’t afford to fund the resources or pay the fees necessary to run them.
There’s also the question of assessment. The need to grade performance might not align with the province’s goal of equipping students with practical skills.
Schools don’t need flashy new classes, when a simple revamp will do. Existing courses like home economics and Civics and Citizenship—previously, Civics and Careers—are dwindling in interest, but serve as a good starting point for implementing these relevant skills which genuinely spark intrigue. Students deserve to feel what they’re being taught is worthwhile.
While sewing and changing a car tire are arguably more applicable than some things currently taught in class, the world is changing, and more pressing matters should take precedence.
It’ll be eye-opening to see what adults believe kids need to learn, given their own experiences living in the real world.
—Journal Editorial Board
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