Should Schools teach code??

[Cyclone]

Few people need to learn Geography, History or Art but everybody gets an introduction to those subjects. The idea of teaching the basics of coding at school it to introduce it to people who would otherwise not have considered it.

 

The approaches to problem solving used while coding are also helpful in other areas than the subject itself, in the same way bits of Geography, History and Art everybody learns enrich peoples lives outside those subjects.

 

All true. But then lots of children leave school apparently barely able to read and write, so maybe more time should be spent on English. If they can't read or write English they're not going to get very far writing or reading code.

[altus]

All true. But then lots of children leave school apparently barely able to read and write, so maybe more time should be spent on English. If they can't read or write English they're not going to get very far writing or reading code.

If you follow that argument to it's conclusion we'd abandon all subjects other than English.

 

That's not to say there shouldn't be more help for those struggling with basic literacy and numeracy, but it's not a good idea to teach only on those to all pupils.

[Cyclone]

No we wouldn't. We'd prioritise English over new 'subjects' that were suggested such as "Programming".

 

I didn't say that English was the only subject worth teaching, simply that it's more important than programming and indeed is a prerequisite to learn to program.

[altus]

No we wouldn't. We'd prioritise English over new 'subjects' that were suggested such as "Programming".

 

I didn't say that English was the only subject worth teaching, simply that it's more important than programming and indeed is a prerequisite to learn to program.

English is a prerequisite for just about all subjects other than PE. What are the implications of your argument for old subjects for which English is a prerequisite?

 

The vast majority of pupils come out of school perfectly able to read and write. You are suggesting they should have their educational opportunities curtailed because some don't. As I said, provide more help for those struggling with basic literacy and numeracy but that doesn't mean that the vast majority of pupils can't be introduced to coding.

[Cyclone]

I don't think there is any implication. History isn't taught until there's a basic grasp of English, anyone that doesn't have that grasp shouldn't be wasting their time, they should still be learning English.

Given that there's a limited amount of time to teach people, adding in something knew, programming in this case, means squeezing something else out, so what should be taught less in order to make way for it?

[Bonzo77]

adding in something new, programming in this case, means squeezing something else out, so what should be taught less in order to make way for it?

 

Religious education. I'm not saying get rid of it completely, but you should have the choice to opt out. Too many schools teach this as a mandatory subject.

[Cyclone]

It should be mandatory, learning about all the weird and wonderful ways that groups of people see the world is important when you have to interact with them.

RE is teaching children about religion, not teaching them to believe a religion.

 

Does it even exist as a subject on it's own now though, or is it part of some broader 'social' teaching subject?

[Bonzo77]

It should be mandatory, learning about all the weird and wonderful ways that groups of people see the world is important when you have to interact with them.

RE is teaching children about religion, not teaching them to believe a religion.

 

Does it even exist as a subject on it's own now though, or is it part of some broader 'social' teaching subject?

 

They still teach it at my old school, my sister has just finished there.

 

I agree that it's important, but it should be treated as a fringe subject rather than a core one.

 

There are far more suitable subjects that need to be improved on, like IT, home ecc, PE, design etc.

[honeyb35]

I don't think it should be a mandatory subject, but maybe as an option for GCSE's? I did a computer studies course which basic programming was part of, maybe something like that? Not the basics of using computers such as office programs, using the internet etc (that should be mandatory!) but programming, or building computers from scratch, things like that.

[adamf]

COBOL is the answer for jobs!

 

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/03/11/cobol_paradox/