What is the most important subject?

[Robodl95]

In your opinion what is more important Math and Science or Verbal skills (English, foreign language, history, etc.) Obviously the goal is to be good at everything but it doesn't really work that way.

[malfoya]

Verbal skills. Learning English. Coming from a country with about 4,7 mill people doesn't give you much of an option if you want to experience the world :)
For me arts also matter, since I suck at subjects like math and science. In my future job arts is actually all that matters besides verbal expression and language.

[Kailacat]

To be honest I think Science is most important. So much in the world relies on science - in fact, the world is science. Important if you want to get a job (of course, basic grammar and spelling helps too.) Science covers so much - astronomy, biology, chemistry, technology, etc - that it seems to apply to pretty much anything.

[Pax]

The ability to articulate thoughts, opinions, feelings, and ideas and understand/analyze those of others is the most important skill building factor. It opens up the door to everything else.

So, reading and writing.

[Robodl95]

All subjects are important. If one subject is less important in school, then what's the point in studying them in the first place? Therefore, they are all equally important. However, do they get equal funding? No. All schools, private or public, value the core classes (Foreign Languages, Language Arts, Social Studies, Mathematics, and Science). The electives can be chosen at free will (art, music, theatre, sports, etc.)

Yes, students want to excel at everything, and students have. There are straight A students, you know.

EDIT: I am not sure what is the purpose of this debate. Are you debating that one subject is more important than another? What do you mean by "importance"? Do you mean "importance" to be more valuable or useful in the professional world, or do you mean "importance" to be more valuable or useful in daily life? Most importantly, how is this question "in your opinion, what is the most important subject?" different from this question "what is your favorite subject?" Are we allowed to give a subjective, opinionated answer, or should we give an objective answer with facts and evidence? For this debate topic, please clarify what you mean by "importance".

Well first off in America foreign languages aren't even considered core classes (Spanish might be on the Mexican border though). Today you hear things such as how all the jobs are Math & Sci oriented, etc. and schools are changing to reflect that. When I was in 5th grade we studied Language Arts and Math about 60/40 but my brother who is in 5th grade now (Same school) is studying basically 40/60. (I don't know why they don't just do 50/50...)

I'm not talking about grades but more a societal outlook about which skills are most valuable in the real world.

To me I see Math and Sci. as important if you go to a career that involves that but with English you use it wherever. Medical is basically all science but you need strong verbal skills to write good scientific papers and speeches. Meanwhile you can get through life in most careers without much math beyond Alg. 1

[dutch]

I think although Maths and sciences provides you with the ability to think logically (well, at least it's supposed to), verbal skills help you in the real world, where making contact, earning trust, forming bonds are essential. Being better at these skills, IMHO, helps you get past the awkward stage when you step out into the society, and that's really important too, considering having a cutting edge above others is key in our current competitive world. And realistically speaking, while Science does help you in certain jobs, most of the time you will not be using all of that knowledge (unless you're like a hardcore researcher) and it doesn't aid you in real world situations.

[simbalena]

For me arts also matter, since I suck at subjects like math and science.

It could be that whatever a student finds the most difficult are the most important subjects, because they need the extra help to understand the topics. If you are naturally good at something you can learn in on your own.

[Robodl95]

I think English and history have taught me way more about thinking logically and critically then any math class has. In English you have to analyze literature, find out why did the author word it this way, what is this symbolizing, etc. and in history you really have to think about how one thing is related to the next, what does this document mean, etc. I've never really experienced anything like that in math, sure I've done proofs and things where it's supposed to promote "logic" but still there is one right answer (maybe in a different order) that you can't argue with. In history for example you need to analyze things from different points of view

[unalisaa]

I don't think it's possible to be a well-rounded person without a certain amount of intellectual curiosity.
Additionally, I find it offensive that foreign languages and history is separated from "science". Ortography and history are very much sciences, albeit not natural sciences. Specify or something; this imaginary schism between humaniora & the social sciences and the natural sciences is unproductive at best, and damaging at worst, with the humanities being deemed not "real" science.

[Robodl95]

History is indeed a science if you wish to look at it that way but as you said it is a social science, it's focus is writing papers, analyzing things, reading a whole lot, etc. not to be grouped with math and science which simply have a different focus.

I'm just repeating what you hear in the media, nothing more.

[whiterider]

Not necessarily. What about things like archaeology? Oceanography? These are part of humanities subjects - but they're just as scientific as microbiology. Why is astronomy considered a science, even though it's so closely related to geography?

As for which is more important - well, if we didn't have at least some people who know an awful lot about each subject, we'd be either seriously missing out or completely stuffed.

[Nekowolf]

A bit too late there for America though, isn't it? I mean, we're like, what, in the 30's among the top nations on education, or something like that. Because, oh hey, children aren't being taught this very same stuff, like math and science, at levels that aren't able to compete with the rest of the world. And the problem is a hard one, too: slashes in education budgets, poor educational planning, I think standardization is a real problem, the difficulty of firing inadequate teachers (especially if they have tenure).

On that last one, for example, my sis had a teacher for this stupid "Connections" class that started up half-way through my high school years. It was like an advanced study hall but with stupid life crap. Well she got stuck with a teacher, Mr. Bailey. She tells me stuff like he had underlying ideologies of sexism and racism (like, uh, schools want black athletes cause they mature faster than white kids and are therefore stronger, or that men are always better at math then women). Of course, he had tenure, so there was nothing that could really be done to fire his ass. Or in my personal experience, there was third grade. I had the meanest vile bitch you could have. She must've been in her late 70's [i]at least[i], no joke. My parents complained to the school a lot about her, and they tell me she would've been fired years ago, except tenure, and her union. When teachers like these who need to go, get a free pass to stay in, that's not good for anyone.

[malfoya]

Oh, cellphone language and dialect writing on official boards (here in Norway we have hundreds of different dialects) is a pain in the a**. Honestly I can never take a person serious if he or she tries to get through to me with this. Dialect texting should be used just for talking with people on your facebook page or when you're text messaging. Also it's hard for some people who doesn't have English as their first language to understand. It's pure lazyness, honestly.
It's really important to be able to read and write. Those are probably the basics of all knowledge. If you can't read you'll have a hell of a hard life in front of you.

[Rawra]

Verbal skills! Mostly because I LOVE Romanian and I HATE HATE HATE Maths.

[pinketamine]

Reading and writing. I think that nowadays people lose the ability to read and write. Obviously not reading and writing as such, but people no longer use proper language and the use of cell phones and computers made people illiterate.

Ok, so probably for the first time ever :rofl: I have to agree with Wotjek.
All subjects are important and students should learn all of them, but what worries me most is the horrible reading level some people AT MY UNI have. I have always loved reading, so to be honest I have an overall good orthography and express myself well, at least in Spanish. However, I have noticed people in theirs 15s and more that have an horrible orthography and don't even know how to properly write an essay.
So, in terms of what needs to be urgently improved in education, I would say that "language", in general: understanding capacities, expression, etc.

[Robodl95]

Some of the "how do you spell that?" questions I hear are ridiculous. Using "lol, omg, brb, ect." in appropriate situations though (online, texts) are fine, I'd prefer no one "tlkin like dis" but using chatspeak sparingly is fine as long as you know proper English.

[Sunbee]

Reading is the most important subject. If you can read, you can access any other subject area.

[malfoya]

Malfoya: Did you mean 'slang' language or various accents (like highlanders etc.?)

Both. Or well when people up here write in dialects they combine it with slang. We got two different typing languages, and they are prefered when you go public with something. Like debates, CVs etc.

"Me" on different dialekts: Æ, me, eg, ej, I, jeg, jei..
So many words just for saying "me". Hehe. And only "eg" and "Jeg" are concidered as typing languages.

[Petchy]

...a big deal, but I'm curious why it happens so often:) Do you have a 'jt' consonant cluster in English?...

I don't think so, but the way an English mind would split your Username would probably be Wo-jt-ek, which has two consonants together meaning REALLY hard to pronounce correctly. Alternatively, you can split it Woj-tek like "Wadge - tec" or, better still, move the T and the J around to make "Wok-tek" which is very much more functional. Just for clarity, how /does/ one pronounce your [and similar] names? :)
I'm postulating "Woe-j-tek" at the moment.. [LOL]

...topics. If you are naturally good at something you can learn in on your own.

I disagree, if you are good at something, you should be encouraged in the subject to excel, not fall behind on something you neither understand nor relate to. Sure, I may need more help in Physics than Art or Music, but I'd say that I ask for help equally in them. And for me, with fewer subjects, they are equally important.

I believe that you SHOULDN'T put "weight" on certain subjects, just for what they are - Why do people feel the right to look down at their nose at Art when Biology is so high praised, for example? Fine Art [the course I do] is one of /the/ most academic subjects and to make the top grades takes so much more work than revising three weeks before an exam. It takes MONTHS of preparation and physical practice to back it up. Same with anything else.
I'm not suggesting that Arts should be compulsory, I think everyone should have basic literacy skills [and hey, Science is good for a general basis, too] because I think many people are lacking in them, but there should be an equal balance between funding, effort, and praise [and though I say "equal funding" I don't mean the same -amount-, because you only need to buy a Textbook ONCE, You need to restock paint every month or so]

[el_flel]

I don't know if there is any one subject which is more important over others. Personally I feel that maths, science and english are the three most vital ones and most jobs will ask for a C grade GCSE in each of those. I think they're the most important because they teach basic skills that you need to know out in the real world. A lot of useless information is taught at school but I think those are the ones which are generally most helpful in everyday life.

Ultimately though, this question is probably largely dependent on what you actually want to do in life. As I want to work within forensic psychology things like art or woodwork are of no use to me, but maths, science and english are.

[and though I say "equal funding" I don't mean the same -amount-, because you only need to buy a Textbook ONCE, You need to restock paint every month or so]Might only need to buy a textbook once but that's once per unit per semester! I have five units per semester and two semesters a year on my three year degree. I will commonly spend about £1-200 on textbooks each semester.

[ElementMK]

I believe the most important subject one can take in the United States is History of Sports. That, or typing certification.

In all honesty, though, we have to look at classes which are the least useful and important when we want to give students a better education. Sure, physical education classes are great, but why do we have them guzzle 1/3 of the school budget? Yearbook is fun, but the things one learns hardly negate the substantial costs of running it.

Also, foreign language classes seem dated. Most American high schools choose (usually three courses) from a pool of Spanish, French, German, Latin, and Japanese. Why aren't students learning languages that are even more widely-spoken, like Mandarin Chinese, Russian, or Hindi?

[Oaktree]

I think that it important to have at least a rudimentary understanding of all of the "core" subject areas: science, arithmetic, history, and language.

Science is important because it is essentially the study of how nature works, which is important in everyday life, just as much as it is in particular job fields. Understanding, for example, that bacteria live on and in you, as well as throughout the environment allows you to act according to that information to prevent you from contracting terrible illnesses. Also, understanding evolution lets you know that using chemical agents, such as antibacterial soap, to destroy bacteria too frequently leads to the evolution of the population to be resistant to antibiotics. I think that a general understanding of science in a society leads to a better society. Science improves our quality of life, so having a widespread understanding of it would mean a better-off population. Further, science emphasizes logical thinking and removing oneself from the equation. These are skills that could be applied more generally and would probably reduce the amount of interpersonal conflict we see.

Arithmetic is something that everyone encounters in some way on a daily basis. Lacking a knowledge of basic arithmetic would be crippling. It is vital in money-handling, making appointments, and a variety of other tasks we generally take for granted.

History allows us to learn from our ancestors' mistakes without having to make those mistakes ourselves. It is particularly necessary in politics. The average person in the US is fairly apathetic about politics, but I think that is a grave problem with this country. A better knowledge of history and understanding of the likely consequences of the laws that are proposed and the actions taken by the government might make people more invested in the institution that is quickly expanding to fill all areas of our life (I would say too many areas of our life, but that is a debate for another thread).

Language is important because, without it, you can't have any of the other subjects (well, arguably, you could have math) and you have little way of successfully interacting with others. Language is one of the most important factors involved in getting us to where we are as a species now. If we couldn't share ideas, we couldn't build scientific concepts off of earlier theories and we couldn't learn from our past. Language is also important in smoothing interpersonal interactions. Those who do not share a means of communication are far more likely to have conflict, while those who do share a means of communication are more likely to empathize. I realize that I am taking an extreme view here, and the thread is mostly about the kinds of things you learn in school, but studying the general form of your native language, rather than the specific dialect you are likely to speak, allows you to participate more in your larger society. Particularly if you know English, Mandarin Chinese, and/or a few other oft-spoken languages, you can even participate in global society, which is becoming increasingly important.

I don't think it's possible to be a well-rounded person without a certain amount of intellectual curiosity.
Additionally, I find it offensive that foreign languages and history is separated from "science". Ortography and history are very much sciences, albeit not natural sciences. Specify or something; this imaginary schism between humaniora & the social sciences and the natural sciences is unproductive at best, and damaging at worst, with the humanities being deemed not "real" science.

I would agree with you on principle, but I think that many social scientists do not go about their study scientifically. The common example is Freudian psychiatry. Many Freudian psychiatrists are set in their theories, taking a wide variety of disparate cases to all support their conclusions. This isn't necessarily every Freudian psychiatrist, and there aren't as many Freudians as there used to be, but this lack of falsifiability does still exist in some areas of psychiatry, as well as other social sciences.

[and though I say "equal funding" I don't mean the same -amount-, because you only need to buy a Textbook ONCE, You need to restock paint every month or so]

And you need to restock the science lab every week, replace (expensive!) equipment maybe once a decade (sometimes it needs to be more often, but, frankly, getting a new mass spectrometer once a decade is pure luck for many schools), and pay for student access to scientific journals. Science is not cheap.

[vhanster]

In my school, the more important the subject, the more time you'll spend at school to learn it. For example, PE is not considered very important there, and have therefore 2 session slots per week. On the other hand, subjects for English, Science and math has around 8 session slots per week (and maybe there's actually more for science, since it's divided into 3 separate subjects: biology, chemistry and physics) since it's "more important".

[unalisaa]

Wow! The 'Æ' (is it a letter or a sound? [...]).
Yes.


Also, foreign language classes seem dated. Most American high schools choose (usually three courses) from a pool of Spanish, French, German, Latin, and Japanese. Why aren't students learning languages that are even more widely-spoken, like Mandarin Chinese, Russian, or Hindi?
I think it has something to do with the availability of teachers and general historical impact of the language in question. It seems to me that school curricula in general are "reactionary" in the sense that they will teach what has already mattered, not what they think will matter in the future. Therefore, Mandarin isn't taught because our lingua franca isn't Mandarin -- yet --, and Hindi isn't significant to us as a culture. There are not a lot of mainstream great writers or poets that might make it relevant to learn.
Japanese is an interesting odd man out, and the only explanation I can come up with is the sudden increase in its popularity, leading schools to want to teach it.
I'm not saying some languages are "better" to learn that others. I'm just saying that the school system prioritises after arbitrary values.

[malfoya]

Wow! The 'Æ' (is it a letter or a sound? It's so exotic!). I ask, because as far as I'm concerned the spelling and pronunciation in Germanic languages do not correspond with each other (unlike in Polish, where 'a' will always be /a/ etc., omitting several palatalizations, clippings and devoicing of consonants and of course neverending exceptions :))).

It's a letter. We have three extra letters in Scandinavia. Æ, Ø and Å. Also ö and ä which is basically the same as Ø and Å. Hehe.
I really don't know why, but you know we used to have this old norrern language that still somehow exists in Iceland.. so it's probably combined with the Germanic language.

[Robodl95]

At my school the languages are German, Spanish, French, (English), Latin and Chinese. I don't see anything wrong with those languages because people take languages for different reasons, some just want to take them for travel or because of their heritage. I'd like to see Chinese in more schools and I consider it fortunate that we have it here. Meanwhile I have cousins who have Russian at their school. I've never heard of a school around here offering Japanese.

Funding shouldn't be a factor in how important a subject is. Things like science and art with a lot of disposable and usable materials will need more money then history which needs textbooks and maybe some maps.

OT: I thought it was Wotjek, I feel really unobservant now XD

Edit: Just note that we're not really talking about electives (besides foreign languages). If someone takes art or woodshop or something then they obviously have an interest in that whether it be professional (with goals of being a professional artist or carpenter) or maybe just a hobby. If a student has an interest in something then the school should support that. Taking an art class probably won't help you in business but it would really help the kid who aims at art school. It does come down to what you're going to study.

[kattenijin]

Everyone knows that the most important subject in the USA is BOY'S FOOTBALL! (with basketball and baseball tied for a distant second place). I went to high school in a very wealthy/upscale town, which ensured high funding for the schools. However, at one point the art dept, drama dept, shop, home ec, library, music dept, and even some of the science labs got cut back for 2 years so that the school could re-build the football field, one of the gymnasiums, and the weight room. Granted, other classes had use of the facilities, but the football team always had priority. They weren't even a winning team.

[Oaktree]

Also, foreign language classes seem dated. Most American high schools choose (usually three courses) from a pool of Spanish, French, German, Latin, and Japanese. Why aren't students learning languages that are even more widely-spoken, like Mandarin Chinese, Russian, or Hindi?

Oh, I missed this one. I took Russian in high school. I barely remember it, though. :D

I realize that I am part of a tiny minority in that regard, but there are a few places that teach Russian and I believe there are some that teach Chinese. I can't quite tell if those are the quirky schools or if other schools simply haven't caught up yet. In any case, while it is a requirement for graduation, at least where I went to school, foreign languages are generally regarded as electives, and electives tend not to receive much funding.

[SuicidiaParasidia]

the most important? though i agree that theyre all important, at varying degrees, id have to say that the classes pertaining to language are most important.
(which is funny when you consider how often i am accused of mis-communicating my own thoughts.)

if you cannot verbalize or write down a plea for help when you need it, people are likely to assume that you dont need it, and this could be quite fatal in many circumstances.

[TheGuySim]

I think that the language and Maths subjects are most important, although saying which subject is important also depnds on the person themselves. Like me, my most important subject is Art, since I need to score high in it to increase my chances of getting into Art College (along with a portfolio) while my friend needs to score high in both Higher Level Irish and Maths, because he wants to become a school teacher.

And I agree with sports in school being so important. I'm surprised my school even has a Art Room since they spend every money on their sports facilities!

[Robodl95]

Japanese and Russian were two big language fads of the past, a lot of people are predicting Chinese being the next one. Japanese became popular with pearl harbor and WW2 and Russian during the cold war. I'm not sure why Russian is a very important language to push into schools atm...

[Elyasis]

Actually Japanese as a language course became popular in American schools during the expansion of the Japanese economy during the 80/90s. All that business potential, y'know?

Russian, hmm that one I'm not sure on... Might have to look it up.

But yeah, they wouldn't want to teach Russian during the Red Scare and McCarthyism.

[missy harries]

It depends on the person. Everybody has diffrent values, opinions and goals, it depends where you want to head in life.
eg. a Journalist won't need maths and science half as much as needing verbal yet a game developer won't get very far without maths and science though good comunication is always good for job interveiws! But you could be a work shy freeloader in which case I doubt you'd care about either that much.....)

[Tempscire]

Note: missy, this sort of starts as a reply to you then drifts off to my own thinking. Don't think I'm writing an essay against you! :) ETA: Oops, and it practically is an essay, too. Jeeze. Sorry.
It depends on the person. Everybody has diffrent values, opinions and goals, it depends where you want to head in life.
eg. a Journalist won't need maths and science half as much as needing verbal
Unless they're ever assigned to report on some scientific study or another, which they seem to inevitably get wrong (possibly a failing as well on verbal-reading comprehensions skills, too, I suppose). :P

Everyone has different goals and ultimately different skills that they will apply in different ways. However, everyone needs a certain base level of skills in common: e.g. everyone needs to be literate and numerate. Verbal skills are something most people acquire the basics of without too much trouble over their lives (though it's amazing how many people aren't bothered by errors like confusing they're/their/there).

Scientific skills could be helpful to everyone both in the way science teaches you to how to analyze a problem (how can I test this idea, what evidence supports it) as well as just basic knowledge about how the natural world works to avoid getting scammed with junk products (it's a water filter that makes you healthier by adding extra oxygen to your water!) or poor science reporting that skews data to a different conclusion, or even just basic knowledge about, say, germ theory instead of blindly following old saws about going out in the cold will make you sick.

There is not really that high of a demand for high-level verbal skills, at not in the U.S., though perhaps we're stuck in a chicken/egg scenario: people don't aspire to verbosity, therefore most media caters to the low level, which in turns means people have no need to aspire to higher levels, and so on. But whatever the reason, verbal skills (for most) are important but only to a certain point. Science skills are also important to the average person in their day-to-day life only to a certain point, but I think most people function well below that point. Like the verbal skills, it is all they need, true, but society would probably be better served by an emphasis on science, if for no other reason than people can affect various political and economic changes based on their own flawed ideas about how things work, or inadvertently potentially bring harm to themselves. (E.g. I remember people belittling WHO for declaring a pandemic because, omg, people are totally not, like, dropping dead all around me, I haven't even heard anyone sneeze, lol. This creates a feeling of disbelief and disrespect so that if/when a more fatal pandemic comes along, people may dismiss the threat through no fault of WHO. Alternately consider any example of people who haven't had a science class since they were 16 protesting/pushing for certain measures regarding things like evolution or climate change and their related textbooks or environmentalist measures.)

Ultimately, anything that teaches critical analysis is important. Haha, it might be nice to create a core class dedicated to it, just in case the point is being driven home elsewhere. Have students do case studies every week in which they have to pry apart what's being presented to them for truth and dishonesty and data manipulation and sheer wrongness. Because otherwise I think a lot of people, through funding abilities on the parts of the schools and intellectual incuriousness/pragmatism on their own parts (depending on how you look at it), do not come away from school relating their analysis of symbolism in A Tale of Two Cities or math proofs or science experiments with understanding of how they relate to their lives. Instead it's relegated to "that boring shit I had to do for homework every night in high school, and I'm glad it's over."

Alternately, touching back on my point about pragmatism again, perhaps the most important subject is one not presented in the first post: home economics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_economics). The single most useful class in my undergrad was not a sociology or history or organic chemistry class: it was personal finance. How to buy a house, what to consider when renting an apartment or opening a credit card account or getting insurance, the financial considerations of getting married, taxes. How many people out there barely know how to cook for themselves? How many people still know how to sew a button back on to a shirt or even own a needle and thread to do it with? How many people have any hint of what they should be doing to manage their money? Science vs verbal is a fine debate and all, but for what most people have to do every single day, at the core of their lives, they are useless abstractions.