Macro-Objectives for Education


How Should We Set-Up School Objectives?

Based on my experience of over two decades as an educator on three continents, I believe that macro-objectives over a multi-year period are the best way to benchmark students' learning.  All too often national or state standards are set that are very specific, either to a particular skill or a distinct age, and school teachers find themselves with little room for creativity and limited flexibility to adapt to their students' distinct needs.  Macro-objectives, however, act as guide posts along the educational journey, allowing for many different pathways to arrive at the same or similar destination.    

Early Childhood Macro-Objectives - Children 2-8 years old should learn to: 

Care for yourself independently (hygiene, eating, dressing, taking care of your own things, etc.)
Live in a community (share, take turns, be polite, apologize, tidy up, play fair, etc.)
Work out problems with others through dialogue
Express your emotions in healthy ways 
Read & Write 
Calculate & Think Mathematically 
Investigate Curiosity
Speak a Second Language
Express ideas artistically through drawing, visual arts, dance and music
Swim and ride a bike  

Middle Childhood Macro-Objectives - Children 9-15 years old should learn to:

Frame and solve complex problems
Develop multiple research methods
Develop multiple design methods
Engage in Socratic dialogues 
Plan extensive projects 
Communicate in multiple artistic languages 
Do field work
Campaign, volunteer and community organize
Develop healthy life practices
Play an instrument 
Play a sport 

Young Adult Macro-Objectives - Children 16-18 years old should learn to:

Write a business plan and act upon it 
Serve the community through internships and volunteer work 
Civically engage 
Deal with young adult issues responsibly 
Deal with the demands of an independent adult life 
Invest in a specific passion 

Publish an original piece of academic work  
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To transform education in order to move humanity forward to face the challenges of the 21st century, increasingly globalized world in a collaborative, creative, critical, connected and caring way.

The founder and primary contributor to Education for Contemporary Times is Sarah O. Weiler, long-time educator with a M.A. in Global Education from the University of Illinois and a M.A. in Social Sciences from the University of Chicago. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Education at the prestigious Institute of Education at the University of London in the UK.
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