Is there a problem with "Core Curriculum" schools?

momofboiler1
Tue, 28 Jun 2022 13:41:57 +0000

I will share our family story. I went to a school with a ton of graduation requirements. I loved it. Some of my favorite courses that I remember to this day were because I “had” to take them to graduate. One was an archeology class with, unbeknownst to me at registration, the premier underwater archeologist of his day. One of his finds was on display in a museum we visited decades later in Europe. Very cool to have that connection. Another was a bioethics class that I took in the law school at my university (but as an undergrad) that unexpectedly ended up helping greatly in my career.

For my D, that would have been torture. She wanted nothing more than to study what she wanted. Because her school was very generous with AP/DE credits, she only had one gen ed - an oral communications/speech class. She ended up having a ton of room in her schedule to take all kinds of courses that she found interesting. She ended up doing a series of communications classes that earned her a certification in collaborative leadership, had room for a concentration, was able to take management/econ courses, has room for research as a class, etc…

She absolutely does not have the “well rounded” experience that I did, but she has enjoyed every minute of her education and has positioned herself exactly where she wants to be for her chosen career. She had the most call backs, interviews, and job offers out of all of her friends. She knows very well her strengths and interests and it has worked out very well.

The beauty of the US educational system is that there is a good fit for every student and we don’t have to be pigeonholed into something that doesn’t work for us.