Date   : Sun, 02 Apr 2006 17:48:08 +0100
From   : Jules Richardson <julesrichardsonuk@...>
Subject: Re: Basic & BBC Basic

Andy Armstrong wrote:
> On 2 Apr 2006, at 16:42, Mark Usher wrote:
>> The worst things that schools do is to teach people things that
>> have little relevance and that are of no use later in life.
> 
> You really think that's the worst thing schools do? And how are you 
> defining utility?
> 
> I'm really glad I learnt Latin. It's had close to zero practical utility 
> but it gave me the start of an intellectual toolkit that has turned into 
> far more than a bit of vocabulary in a dead language.

Yes, I believe that schools should have a responsibility to teach pupils the 
basics from which they can then go out and make informed decisions about the 
bigger problems in life.

Too much of education these days - certainly in the UK, and it seems to be the 
case here in the US too - seems to be about spoon-feeding kids a set example 
of 'big' problems to solve, which means they're then totally unable to cope 
when they meet different 'big' problems later in life.

It's certainly the case with computing - the current generation of graduates 
are on the whole completely useless because they haven't been taught the 
foundations of the discipline and so lack the problem solving skills needed in 
the real world. Of course that's presumably just what the big companies like 
MS want because it discourages innovation in the field and production of new 
solutions to problems; everyone just complains about the things that are wrong 
with current hardware and software but lack the skills to actually do anything 
about it.

</rant>

J.