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Meditator

What do you personally think needs to be added to the modern day curriculum?

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What do you think we are missing? I think we are really missing something by not embracing philosophy.. I mean there is a rapid change occuring in our modern world regarding the philosophical views of our people in general.. We should make that an awareness for these generations to come for example. Understanding this will just add on to the shift that is happening in a good way.

We are also inhibiting our children and young adults by not informing them on the spiritual reality of the world and more philosophically the nature of reality itself.

A few lessons on consciousness and perception can leave lasting impressions on a person.

Also we really should be teaching kids what drugs do damage your brain and which ones dont.. Like they tell us drugs are bad and they damage our brains yet they only tell us which ones are the worst (meth crack heroin and ecstacy). Yet they dont tell us DMT and related serotonergic psychedelics do not damage the brain... And they should gather enough long term health studies on marijuana so they can ACCURATELY inform us about the effect marijuana will have on us long term.

They dont say "okay kids we understand that some of us in this room already have an interest in drugs and what you can experience using them, so were going to cut the risk of you going and doing the wrong drugs. So here it is. the truth of the situation." And tell us what drugs are actually bad and good.

I think the study of modern day anthropology would be much more useful than history.

Also a deeper understanding of psychology would be of much use.

So what do you think?

Edited by Meditator
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Personally, I think you're dead right about philosophy. It could even be started in the latter years of primary school, we will find the tine by shafting religious studies IE grooming state educated kids for Jesus.

History was my favourite subject but perhaps something different in a similar vein would be good also.

I think high school English is a sad sad joke, if they are done teaching actual English skills in primary then leave that space open for countless other subjects.

I don't think math should be mandatory either, or if it is the mandatory maths should be a continuation of useful skills as you'd learn in primary school, no trig, no calculus, no calculator for the most part!

Drug ed would be such a touchy subject, even more than sex ed.

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I think growing things should be taught, get rid of history as all teaching that does, is teaches kids to regurgitate facts that may or may not be true.

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How to meditate.

How to grow food.

How to care for animals, and perhaps farm them on a small scale in high school.

How to interact respectfully with other people.

What is abusive or neglectful behaviour. (I know it's generally taught, but not always, could be a real eye opener for some kids to have confirmation that their parents are treating them unfairly.)

How idealistic are we talking here?

How to build a small house.

How to survive in the bush for a month with minimal physical preparation (mental preparation is the best)

How to manage money & other more tangible resources in such a way that one could escape the rat race.

Negotiation skills.

How to generate free electricity.

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I think meditation should be taught in a manner that will intruige those paying attention, and only those paying attention are going to want to learn these things for the most part.

But if we told these kids that the fruits of meditation are immensly blissful and ecstatic states of consciousness rivaling that of drug experiences, growth of intellect and of ones intuition and wisdom, and growth of braincells (yes studies have shown meditation causes neurogenesis in the brain) im sure more than a few will be interested in it.

The positive effect that would have on the next generations lives would be gigantic.

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It's a difficult question. Because A. There are things we need to learn as a species, heart-centred social dispositions, but B. there's a risk in only teaching these things because the current society we live in is harsh and cruel, so there are a multitude of modern survival skills needed too.

We need peaceful warriors. Those who are brave to stand up for their own truth, and won't be easily usurped by the current authorities.

I think all teenagers should have the opportunity to learn Qi gong. It's benefits are multifaceted, not only does it help to generate a calm clarity in the mind, it sharpens the mind. It shows you where your limitations are and helps you flow through them. It replenishes the health of the physical body and removes reliance on prescriptive medicine. It strengthens the spirit, aiding intuition, instinct, insight. It teaches discipline and commitment, and shows one first hand how to and why you should respect your elders. (And I mean real elders, not just people who are chronologically older than you, people who are wise in the ways of both worlds)

Qi gong puts your power back in your own hands. Everyone should have the opportunity to try that.

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I think meditation should be taught in a manner that will intruige those paying attention, and only those paying attention are going to want to learn these things for the most part.

Makes sense, yes, but if this were the way, it should always be open to those who haven't really connected with it yet. Perhaps this would even work better than encouraging everyone to begin at the same time. Instead of trying to hold restless children in that space where they would be distracting others, who might be more naturally engaged, let them run free. I feel it should be optional, yet open to anyone always, because once a programme is established, the benefits will speak for themselves. And children often listen to their peers more seriously than someone they know is paid to tell them that something is a good thing for them to do.

Imagine the busy-body kid who would much rather be running around in the woods than quietly sitting in a room. One day a friend who had spent the last year learning meditation techniques might tell him of an experience he had while meditating, sparking forest-boy's interest. Then forest-boy can be welcomed to explore his internal woods, and likely will do so with fervent interest as he has been able to come to it in his own time and for his own reasons.

Great thread, thank you.

Edited by bogfrog
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My kids are learning to meditate at primary school, they're also learning things like facial massage and some other basic massage techniques. At this early stage I don't think there is a spiritual aspect to it but if they meditate enough that should flow in its own time.

I believe just blindly cramming "facts" into them is the wrong approach for all but a few kids who have that personality type, it clearly doesn't work for a lot kids.

My approach to teaching my kids is much different to a school regime. Before they were born I was reading a lot about Gandhi and his life. He took the approach where lessons were in the form of questions with kids. He would often present kids with moral dilemmas and gently probe their responses to help unlock their innate intelligence. When you take this approach, it's amazing what they come out with and some of their responses are absolutely astounding and seem like answers coming from a wise old sage. If you ask the right questions you can gently guide the conversation to create a lesson on many subjects at the same time.

I also believe in being completely honest with kids, if you hide things from them they will find out anyway. There's no censorship of anything in our house and my kids know they can tell or ask me anything. If I don't know the answers, we look it up together on the web and never rely on a single source of information.

Kids are much smarter than most people give them credit for.

One of my main philosophies as far as education is concerned is

If it isn't fun it isn't learning, it's a drill.

Edited by Sally
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Your kids are learning to meditate at school o_O my god this is huge this should be on the news. Can you give more details?

Edited by Meditator

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I don't think it's part of the curriculum Meditator, as far as I know it was just one teacher responsible for it. It's a public school and I haven't heard about any other kids meditating.

I only heard about it two days ago when my oldest boy came home and taught my youngest boy (age 6) to meditate.

I was stunned to hear it and we had a good talk about it. I was very impressed.

Now my oldest boy is recommending that I should meditate too. He's quite happy to teach me.

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What do you personally think needs to be added to the modern day cirriculum

ACURATELY

How about some good old basic spelling lessons.......what boggles me is even with spell checking software, people insist on misspelling words....and if a person demonstrates their gross ignorance of proper spelling, what else are they ignorant of that they aren't spelling out????

smart phone

smart tv

smart (utility) meters

smart cars

and a whole planet full of brain dead or near brain dead human beings so totally reliant on their 'smart' devices they can no longer think for themselves.

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I think SAB should be added to the international curriculum

plus Magick and Shamanismo

and music lessons should all be metal or other psychedelic musics and taught by Steve Vai and Herman Li

[even in the future after thy pass on ...live and direct from spiritworld]

Mycology should be a baseline in all education

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i tend to agree with some current modalities of education.

i think maths and science should be compulsory. people need to be able to learn to reason, and understand how and why thinks work and make sense. particularly be able to understand statistics and be able to reason out when some thing is bullshit. science works, kids need to learn to make it work for them, and know when they are being told bull by misinterpreted science. im sorry but there is too much hippy shit that gets around, and people get swayed by persuasive arguments rather than straight up science.

english is essential in order to be able to communicate ideas. i have tutored high school kids and i am incredibly disappointed with the changes in what kids get taught. bring back the classics, shakespeare, ovid, chaucer, nothing younger than 100 years. modern teen books especially are crap.

i like the point about philosophy and morality being taught from day dot in schools.

sport needs to be replaced with non competitve activities. meditation, tai chi, building, even hiking incorportated with other activities, plant id and fungi id. activities that teach focus, attention to surroundings.

primary school needs to be a better balance between learning essential skills, english, maths science, philosophy, but also getting kids to find their passion rather than pushing traditional ideas of getting a job.

and lastly sociological, psychological, and ecological ideas need to be discussed earlier. my kids got heavy doses of ecological though and marxism at a young age. it has helped them realise the mess we are in, and have a better idea how to face the future, what to buy and why.

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*adds aquaria / aquascaping as a merger class 'tween biology and chemistry/ physics mathematics:

and perhaps under a broader heading [as one of the branches] of "symbiosis lessons"

... so Acacia and bradyrhizobia would be fun lessons :3

* adds languages: theban, majai and lots more cool ancient languages [all if poss]

Edited by ☽Ţ ҉ĥϋηϠ₡яღ☯ॐ€ðяئॐ♡Pϟiℓℴϟℴ

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My boys are interested in science. My oldest has the periodic table over his bed and he knows the atomic numbers of more elements than I do. We got a few kids vids from ASAP science a few years ago and they learned to sing the periodic table song. They know that everything is made of molecules and molecules are made of atoms. They even know about atomic orbits and can tell me how many electrons there are in each shell ect.

I'm not overly fussed about the American accent, but the info is presented in a way that kids really seem to enjoy. I'd rather have them learn from someone who's passionate about it than the dreary science teachers I had at school.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUDDiWtFtEM

My daughter is not so interested, so I don't force it onto her. Art seems to be her thing at the moment.

Edited by Sally
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I sort of think that it's less about the curriculum and more how kids are taught. We have an educational process that values the ability to memorise and regurgitate tracts of information - the value of which is getting lower and lower as information becomes more and more freely available. Add to that the fact that my personal experience tells me that people only do well on things they're interested in means that I'd really like to see a focus on elements such as :

  • Scientific method (this is a structured way to formulate ideas and test them)
  • Simulation (here's an problem, apply your thoughts - see what happens and build understanding)
  • Information acquisition (tell me about something, but also tell me how you thought about framing the topic and finding the knowledge)
  • Sponsored inquisition (less structure, but let's get out of the way of an individuals 'sense of wonder' and let them spend some of their time focusing on what really inspires them)
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Who else thinks we should be applying these ideas in creating an sab-seeded school?

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I think this news article is kind of fitting.

Teaching primary school children philosophy improves English and maths skills, says study

The 3,159 primary school pupils from 48 schools who took part in the trial saw their maths and reading scores improve by an average of two months. But the benefits were even more pronounced for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, whose reading skills improved by four months, their maths results by three months and their writing ability by two months.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/schools/teaching-primary-school-children-philosophy-improves-english-and-maths-skills-says-study-10378958.html

edit:

One thing i've noticed. When I was in high school I learnt 'Modern History'. Our teacher taught us about critical thinking, primary and secondary evidence and bias. This sort of thing should be mandatory. Many people do not know how to separate bias information or weigh out whether a source is accurate.

Edited by Distracted
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One thing i've noticed. When I was in high school I learnt 'Modern History'. Our teacher taught us about critical thinking, primary and secondary evidence and bias. This sort of thing should be mandatory. Many people do not know how to separate bias information or weigh out whether a source is accurate.

Couldn't agree with this more!

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Distracted what else did you learn in 'Modern History'?

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Well the curriculum for the year 11 course contained mainly revolutions and the two world wars.

The american revolution against britain fueled mainly by monetary concerns to get a certain minority a lot of money.

The russian first and second revolution against the tsar and then the interim government. The tsar unfortunately were too socially disconnected from the people, they formed a protest asking for food, they loved the little father of russia but they were hungry. the rich rulers were confused and scared and put the military to task to deal and disperse the threat. The people never quite forgot about that and eventually revolted, then revolted again. Communism started off somewhat ok but didn't work so they changed it and made people get a bit richer if they worked 'harder'. Then they made it even better for the 'harder workers'. Also most of the government had it a fair bit better than the common folk.

One thing I thought was funny was that the Australian wide exam on the subject featured a critical reading part about the jfk assassination. The only correct conclusion from the fact they gave us was that the magic bullet theory was full of shit.

edit:

so the critical thinking thing came from given propaganda from the american revolution where a lot still couldn't read properly so they were mainly using images in pamplets or on pub walls to communicate. So they had to use clever imagery in order to tell their story that britain was full of shit cunts and they'd be better off on their own. We'd disseminate those pictures to find out what they mean. People being fat indicating power or on horses, if you're higher you're of higher stature.

or given a few sources and being able to determine how useful they are and asked questions based on the information you're given.

Edited by Distracted

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cool

i learned mainly about the imperialism and arms races basically leading into and out of the world wars.

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One thing I think needs to be included in the curriculum at an early age is to teach the kids strategies for dealing with bullies.

It never affected me much when I was younger as it was always face to face and I could give as good as I got. These days it's moved to cyber bullying and it seems worse in some respects. The kid being victimised gets it all day at school and then when they get home they cop it over the phone or on facebook ect. Kids in that situation don't have anywhere they can go to escape it.

It's a bit of leap to suggest that kids these days are in any way weaker willed than they were, I think that they just don't have very good interpersonal skills (partly because of mobile phones and the internet) so they are more susceptible.

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