I must confess to being a bit of a science fiction nerd. I'm into Star Trek, Star Wars, Star Gate, Battlestar Galactica... basically anything with a star in it. It may seem like just some sort of geeky obsession, but I think science fiction can be an extremely valuable tool. Some people don't understand that while the fiction part of sci-fi is made up—obviously—the science part is often rooted in real science. What the authors do, is simply take cutting edge science and technology, exaggerate it—possibly to extremes—then paint a picture of what society might be like in those conditions. Maybe that picture turns out to be accurate. Maybe not. What's important is that we consider how things might change given the advance of science and technology. It's a way of testing out new ideas, but the test subjects are all fictional. Now that I've explained the value of science fiction, I would like to create a fictional science experiment of my own.
What if I proposed a theoretical curriculum for elementary school, then considered how that curriculum would affect students? How would it change their learning? Just for fun, I'm going to pull a quote from one of the most influential science fiction authors of all time—Robert A. Heinlein—and use that to inform my fictional curriculum. If you're not familiar with Heinlein, one of his books was adapted into the popular action movie, Starship Troopers. Anyway, in the following quote Heinlein lists off all the skills a person ought to possess to be effective and productive in society:
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." —Robert Heinlein
Some of the things on this list may seem out of place—plan an invasion?—but overall it seems to be a well-rounded list of invaluable skills. Let's see how many of the above items are covered by our current school curriculum. In language classes different forms of poetry are taught so writing a sonnet is there. The ability to balance accounts is implied in the math curriculum although I don't think it is quite often applied that specifically. Children are always taking orders from teachers. Children do learn to cooperate, act alone, solve equations and analyze problems. So, much of what I'm calling "Heinlein's Curriculum"—although he did not intend it as such—is already covered by our current education system. So, let's look at the things that aren't.
I think learning to change a diaper is a bit too specific, so let's extend that to mean "caring for infants." This was taught in home economics classes in the past, but honestly, I'm not sure if it is still taught today. It is definitely an important life skill in and of itself, but in learning it, students might cultivate a greater sense of empathy as well.
Planning an invasion? At first this seemed out of place, but using our science fiction thought experiment model, can we not extrapolate a time in the future, where we might be forced to overthrow a tyrannical government? It's happening around the world right now. What if it were to happen here? What if we suddenly needed to resist oppression, and were found lacking the know-how to do it? The results could be catastrophic. Although dystopian, post-apocalyptic settings are a huge part of science fiction, I don't want to dwell too much on the doom and gloom here. This is just food for thought—which brings me to the next point on the list.
To butcher a hog. Again, this is very specific, but I will take this to mean that we should learn where our food comes from, and how to gather it ourselves. I don't know about others, but it has occurred to me quite often that much of what I eat is of unknown origin. I am blind to the processes involved in getting the food from the environment to the supermarket. I find that extremely troublesome. We must eat to survive. We eat three meals a day, every day. By adulthood, we all ought to be experts on food. Yet, many of us know next to nothing. For our own health, perhaps we should cultivate a deeper connection to the food we eat, and where it comes from. Off the heels of that, Heinlein also suggested one should be able to cook a tasty meal. This is another thing that is not really offered in schools yet it is important for health reasons, but also social reasons. Being able to prepare a good meal is important for family gatherings, picnics, pot-lucks, and first dates, all significant social situations that usually revolve around good food and good company.
The ability to conn a ship. First of all, despite having heard the word used on Star Trek, I didn't even know what conning was, so I looked it up. Basically, to conn a ship is to control it's movements while at sea—or in space I suppose. Again, this is a pretty specific skill, so perhaps we should take this to mean "navigation." In other words, we should learn to be able to find our bearings wherever we go. This is a useful skill to have while travelling or planning a trip. It also provides a sense of self-efficacy, knowing that you can always find your way to your destination, wherever you are.
I'm going to lump designing a building and building a wall into the same category because I think they could be taught together. Anyone who has bought a house before knows that problems are inevitable. Whether it's a leaky roof, or drafty windows, or replacing an old kitchen floor with laminate tiles as I recently did. Learning the basics of structural design and construction is important. You need to know what potential problems to look for in a house and what questions to ask when looking to buy one. Even if you are not going to do any home improvement projects yourself, you will need to hire someone, and if you know a thing or two, you can find the right contractor and make sure that the work is being done properly. Just watch the television show Holmes on Homes and you'll see what I mean.
The next on the list is to set a bone. Setting a broken bone is something that should only be performed by an orthopaedic physician. So, I will infer that Heinlein was referring to basic first aid skills. This one, of all, seems to be the most obvious to include in any curriculum. Basic first aid training does not require a lot of time and resources and the potential benefits could be the difference between life and death, yet it is not taught in schools. If every student received a refresher in first aid and CPR on a yearly basis, by the time they graduated, they would have had years of preparation for emergency medical scenarios. Having worked as a paramedic briefly myself, I fully appreciate the importance of early interventions in life-threatening medical emergencies.
There are two items on the list that deal with death, so I will discuss them both here. The first is to comfort the dying, the second is to die gallantly. To be honest, I'm not sure I see any great importance in learning either of these. Perhaps that is because we live in a culture that tends to shy away from the topic of death until we are forced to deal with it. We all end up losing loved ones sooner or later. We all understand our own mortality. What we forget is that life can be fleeting. One minute we are full of life and the next we could be gone. To be able to look at ones life and say, "if I die today, I would be content with the time I had," might be an extremely comforting ability, yet not so easy to do. Similarly, with terminal diseases such as cancer, it is likely that we will each come to know someone who has to face their own inevitable imminent death. To be able to help comfort those people would be a great gift to society.
As mentioned above, students are always expected to take orders, but are rarely given the opportunity to give them. I think by this, Heinlein might have been referring to leadership skills. Which the current curriculum does touch on, but not to the extent that perhaps it should. Project based learning might be the answer to this, but it is not yet prevalent throughout the school system. So, there is hope to develop this within the near future.
Another potentially puzzling one on this list is to pitch manure. How could that possibly benefit young students? Well, like many others on the list, I took this as a specific example of a greater category of skills. In this case, it's just hard physical labour in a demanding environment. Whether it's shovelling manure on a sunny afternoon, or shovelling snow on a dark winter morning, there is something to be gained by engaging in some good old fashioned leg work. Rather than something that you can just teach, it's something that the learner must experience. It builds character and self-efficacy, because knowing that you are capable of performing in such conditions makes you feel like there is nothing you cannot do. When you push your body to extremes you understand what real work is like, and you no longer sweat the small stuff.
To program a computer. I think the benefits of this are obvious. Everything around us is computerized now. Being able to understand how computers work could help in innumerable ways. However, as an extension to this I suggest instead of limiting it just to computers, it might be understanding technology in general. Whether it's cars, microwaves, or computers, we all rely on technology in our day to day lives, yet most of us know nothing about their inner workings. Much like the food preparation example above, it is a shame. These are things we use all the time, therefore we should be learn as much about them as possible, but we don't.
Rounding out the list is being able to fight efficiently. Heinlein may have meant this in a military sense, as in everyone should receive basic military training. Some countries have this already, Israel, South Korea, Greece, and Finland are just a few examples. I'm suggesting that basic self defence be taught in schools as part of physical education. As a child I took martial arts classes outside of school and it has benefited me greatly. Not only am I able to defend myself, but I also increased my level of fitness and flexibility. Concepts such as respect and discipline are deeply entrenched within martial arts culture adding even more value for those who partake in them. If one of the goals of education is to produce resiliency—or grit—in students, than martial arts may be one way to do that. It may even help curb the bullying problem by ensuring that everyone can defend themselves. Apparently, Japan has tried including compulsory martial arts in middle and high schools with mixed results.
Conceptually, Heinlein's curriculum seems to be quite different from what we are used to. Interestingly, it has opened my mind to some novel ideas. However, there are many questions I would still like to explore. How would these skills fit into the subject-based school system we have now? Or, would it work better in an interdisciplinary setting, where problem based learning, and cooperative learning are the main modes of instruction? Also, how should the above skills and knowledge be evaluated by teachers? Perhaps I will explore these questions in a future post.
