It's funny how with time things seem to change so much. We expect more and more different aspects of education to cultivate new experiences for our students and help us emerge as teachers who prepare their students effectively. But what happens to the basic information? What happens to the adult readiness programs that help young people prepare themselves for bills, insurance, budgeting, and other practical endeavors that sometimes produce a stressful response in young people.
I wonder, why then, we don't incorporate education that sets up and prepares students to do things adults do. In senior year, a course should be required to prepare students for life and all of the technologies that they will be expected to know in order to survive. Students should know how to apply for car and health insurance, the different methods of insuring yourself or a car....why it is important to care for your property...the differences in owning and buying a house, etc.
I feel as thought tech ed could lend its' hand into the production of a course that begged to answer these questions; how can we produce students who know how to complete the basics that life demands from us? How can we prepare students who are more aware the ramifications of selecting a doctor or a lawyer to represent you?
My thoughts this week are directed towards using technology education for life readiness....now I just need some ideas on how to do this...
Nina, I couldn't agree with you more! There are so many students who enter the "real world" as clueless as can be. I have to admit, there are many things I would not have known how to do if it weren't for my parents guidance. Now, being in my late twenties, I still go to them for help/guidance, sometimes. Am I a product of what I did or did not learn in school? Was I not provided enough real world experience and practice to be prepared to enter adult life with minimal assistance? There are so many responsibilities adults have on a daily basis that kids just don't recognize because it is rarely or never addressed at a younger age.
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