attempting to answer some questions

In the running list of questions, there are several which refer to what the content of our curriculum should be, how curriculum should be changed or adapted, and how to implement a “new” curriculum given the restraints we currently have in our systems. While I don’t believe there is a specific answer for these I will explain the opinion I have been developing so far. This may lead to more questions than answers.
First, I think there needs to be some type of standard with a way of measuring it. I think there needs to be what I would call a baseline of information every person should have before entering society as an adult. (I am referring to graduation as most students are around the age of 18- what we consider adults) I also think this standard should be something we try to unify within our state, nationally, and globally. While being unified I think it would need to be vague enough as to let individual schools and even teachers have the most say in construction of curriculum. There are standards in place which help to define this type of individual and are certainly a good starting point. Having said that, I don’t think what we have in place is an accurate development process for adults in the 21st century. This in effect would need to be changed or adapted to be less categorical and more subjective. It would also need to be changed to take out unnecessary discriminating aspects, which are outdated and include information considered 21st thinking. Changing the existing standards is not something I think can be done without a lot of agreement, but I think most people can agree there needs to be a common baseline from which students can then use to direct their studies. This baseline can then help point students toward a relevant subject area which would certainly be effected by community, culture, and job opportunities among other things.
To create our baseline we need to take what we have and do some housecleaning. There are many things, which are being taught in schools, which are nearly irrelevant in the 21st century. Similarly, some of what we are teaching is taking up way too much time. I think most teachers would agree that time is something there is not enough of. So first, let’s consolidate our information to focus on the necessary aspects of our existing curriculum. This means taking out information as well. I think this is where technology can play a big part as we can give access to information we do not want to waste valuable interactive time in class on. Once we have consolidated we need to make sure it is relevant. One idea would be to poll the general public and in particular newer types of job employers to figure out what is being used for information after school, which was learned (and remembered) in our public school system. This may give us a good understanding of what the baseline should look like. It kind of goes back to the question , ”when will I ever use this”. It would be something for us to use as a guideline to begin creating “new ways of learning new things”.
There are many ways to approach teaching this baseline as we are learning in class through technology and operating systems of the 21st century. Without getting into it too far, I think the baseline information should be a staple of the elementary and middle school, and maybe early secondary curriculum. How it is implemented is another topic. From secondary schooling on I think there should be more of an individualized direction. Making it easier for students to learn new things in their own way. I think there are still certain aspects (subjects) which students should get exposed to but at the same time they need direction. By consolidating the essential information and making access to it and more related information available, hopefully there would be more time to incorporate new essential aspects of the 21st century society and give students more direction and understanding of their individual learning capabilities.