Schoolkids plan own courses

Schoolkids plan own courses :

"'It is a waste of time if you are learning something for which you have no use and in which you are disinterested,' the school says in a report on the project. 'You don't have to learn about all of it; you only need some of it. When you want to know and learn more, you will, and it will be useful to you.'"

Who doesn't know the difference between uninterested and disinterested???

I am sure the children will make some wonderful decisions about what to learn and overseas countries will be delighted to take our jobs because of an ongoing skills shortage. Various things train various aspects of our personality and brain. Student initiated learning will really help them get the edge...

On the up side, a tailored learning plan which is driven by educators would be a good idea. How many of us would have benefitted had we had some good advice and input from people who knew us as learners? I still don't know why I did year 12 Maths. I failed it and went back 5 years later and redid the course and got an A, but I really shouldn't have bothered. Yet, I cannot deny that mathematical thinking is something I needed to balance my very arts humanities bent. Thousands of years of proven educating is just being chucked out of the window. Elders are elders for a reason. Getting some input from students is valid when the course is set by people who are supposed to be experts in their field. I can really look forward to patient driven surgery. Homeowner driven plumbing and haven't we had dire warnings about doing our own electrical repairs no matter how enthusiastic? I gather we have abandoned the notion of education. The Summerhill student initiated learning has some profound and acknowledged limitations. Even my daughter came home the other day from uni and started a discussion about what on earth she was going to do if and when she had children because she thought the wheels had dropped off. "Mum, which country can I live in so my kids will get an education?" If the young twenties are asking themselves that , then we need to be asking ourselves what on earth we are doing and whether it wouldn't be prudent to review things more carefully.