A Curriculum for Excellence

We have been looking once more at unpacking the Technologies outcomes in our school. It was a different process from the SBEA meeting earlier this year!
I think there is an opportunity for Business subjects to gain a larger foothold into S1 and S2 (yes I know it is for S1-S3) BUT at present very, very few schools teach Business subjects to S1 and S2. We are lumped into the generic umbrella of ICT or IT.

I think that there could be units that relate specifically to Business: Personal Finance (with the current credit crunch should our kids be more financially literate than the generations that have left schools over the past 20 years or so?), Marketing (pupils may end up with jobs in this creative discipline and they get the chance to look at product design, market research - perhaps desiging their own questionnaires that can be actually acted upon? - PR and advertsing) Enterprise - I would be all for teaching Enterprise as a discreet subject and I know some high achieving schools do offer this in S5/6 (because I taught in them!!!) and again pupils could form their own company and actually create and sell their products rather than having to wait for Young Enterprise in S5/6. Indeed some of the target group of pupils will have left school by the time Senior school comes along.

One gripe I do have with aCfE (why is education in love with acronyms?) is that the focus seems very much on Scotland. Now I am as Scottish as the next man, but I much prefer the idea of us all being Global Citizens and not being insular. My pupils and indeed myself are more interested in the practices and affairs of what is going on as Captain James T. Kirk would say: "Out there".
That means talking and researching MNCs; wondering if Hugo Chavez (the President of Venezuela) is right to nationalise many of his countries organisations; looking at the Tiger Economies and the incredible rise in productivity in nations such as China, India, Thailand and Malaysia; we're all still trying to work out the complex way the price of oil is calculated!, discussing the implications of California becoming independent and automatically assuming the mantle of the World's 8th Richest economy; looking in awe at Japanese marketing as they generate many products and let them sink or swim SANS (a little bit of culture there) market research; and on the subject of culture... the way people do business around the world is much more interesting than banging on for 20 mins about videoconferencing.

I love my subject and I just hope enough bigwigs who have influence realise that Business Education or Business Studies as it is still called in some places love it too. It is a vitally important range of subjects that are actually MORE relevant than many others because EVERYTHING we do, see, read or hear in the news and TV can be related to our subjects.

If we are serious about creating the conditions for first class students and future employees to emerge from the school gates, then MORE Business subjects are required.