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Pupils to be taught about the Olympic games - instead of geography
Last updated at 00:52am on 07.07.07
Pupils won't be taught traditional geography
Traditional geography teaching is to be sidelined in favour of studying global warming, Third-World trade and the 2012 Olympics.
A major shake-up of the secondary school curriculum aims to make subjects "more relevant" by introducing "modern day issues".
Lessons in capital cities, rivers and continental drift will make way for "themed" teaching on issues such as the causes of climate change, the impact of buying clothes on poorer nations and the effects of the South-East Asian tsunami.
Other key subjects such as history and science will also be affected by the changes, which mark the biggest upheaval in secondary education since the national curriculum was introduced in 1988.
The measures, which come into force in September next year, will be unveiled by Schools Secretary Ed Balls next week.
Ministers hope they will encourage more pupils to stay on at school after the age of 16. But many teachers remain unconvinced.
A convention of history, English and science teachers on Thursday issued a plea for traditional subject disciplines to be protected.
The new curriculum will be followed by 11 to 14-year-olds. Other new subjects include "emerging" languages such as Mandarin and Urdu, as well as personal finance and practical cookery.
In cookery, pupils will be taught how to analyse a diet to ensure balance and variety, how to keep food safe at home and prepare contemporary healthy recipes.
The previous Education Secretary Alan Johnson insisted certain "untouchables" would remain in the curriculum, including the two World Wars. But swathes of other material will be relegated to optional status.
Mr Balls will announce that "sustainable development" will become a compulsory part of the geography curriculum. Pupils will learn to understand relationships between people and the environment by studying the impact of the tsunami.
They will also conduct fieldwork projects such as "the regeneration of East London as part of the 2012 Olympics".
And they will explore globalisation by looking at the impact of their choices as consumers, including buying clothes and trainers.
Schools minister Lord Adonis said: "We want geography to excite pupils so that they continue studying the subject when they leave school."
Reader views (5)
When I was in school in the late 80's we learnt about Canary Wharf and the regeneration of Docklands and the Garden Festivals held across the country and this was in a school in Bristol so not local then and shows that this isn't really new. I don't see the problem with schools teaching this sort of thing - the regeneration of East London is a massive project and to ignore it is ridiculous. If someone needs to know that Paris is the capital of France, they'll find that out for themselves, but if kids are now taught that actually the decisions they make in their lifestyle in this country can affect communities across the world then surely that's a good thing? And I would suspect that when they're learning about the impact of buying clothes on poorer nations or the effect of the South East Asian tsunami then they'll actually also learn what countries they're talking about.
- Stephen, Lewisham, London, 08/07/2007 23:54
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So - let me get this right - students will understand the causes of global warming but won't be required to know any traditional geography facts with which to bolster any such arguments? It would be perfectly wonderful to use the Olympics as a tool to teach geography and any good teacher would do that anyway. However, what Mr. Ball wants is the classroom to teach Labour Party Policy. People need to know the facts of places, peoples, cities etc in order to understand our planet. You can't skip the basics and go ahead without the basics. The purpose of education is not to further the Labour Party Agenda.
- Bill, Ilford, UK, 08/07/2007 12:26
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Why? The majority in real public polls are against London Olympics.
- Jacqueline, Hampstead, London, 07/07/2007 19:45
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More dumbing down. Stop it Labour!
- Jacqueline, Hampstead, London, 07/07/2007 13:55
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What a great idea. I presume as part of studying the Oylmpics they will cover maths looking at the budgets for the whole thing - for example £2 + £2 = £10billion or is that £20 billion, no best make it £30 to be on the safe side.
- Stuart, London, 07/07/2007 12:51
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