There was a time when the West knew what it was about. It did so because it thought about itself — often in freshman Western Civ classes. It understood that its moral foundations had been laid in Jerusalem; its philosophical ones in Athens; its legal ones in Rome. It treated with reverence concepts of reason and revelation, freedom and responsibility, whose contradictions it learned to harmonise and harness over time. It believed in the excellence of its music and literature, and in the superiority of its political ideals. It was not ashamed of its prosperity. If it was arrogant and sinful, as all civilisations are, it also had a tradition of remorse and doubt to temper its edges and broaden its horizons. It cultivated the virtue of scepticism while avoiding the temptation of cynicism.

Classroom focus shifts to life skills

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/education/classroom-focus-shifts-to-life-skills/news-story/60121e302bd9d74b74a06bbee60c99b8

The underlying thrust of the NSW changes is to ensure students have a depth of understanding of topic, which means their skills are transferable.

“Depth in content is something that was previously, I would say, diluted, in order to achieve choice and diversity,’’ Mr Alegounarias said. “The point of the learning is to get to the depth of content and the rigour of understanding, and the confidence and mastery over the content.’’

“We have something called Shaping the Modern World,’’ Mr Alegounarias said. “Now that ­begins with the Enlightenment, it goes through the development of liberal democracy, the French Revolution, it studies the concepts of liberty, inalienable rights, the Age of Imperialism, capitalism, the Industrial Age, and manufacturing. So, there’s no shying away from the sort of comments that conservative commentators might accuse us of.”