What makes the core subjects, ‘core’

The American K-12 curriculum is guided along by one key idea, the core subject. According to Brian Miller in, “What does a High School Curriculum include?” the core subjects are english, math, science, social studies, and foreign language. In order for a student to legally graduate high school, they must pass whatever their state’s required amount of classes is for these core subjects. This is a simple enough concept to grasp. Its easy enough to see how subjects like science and english will play a role in students lives after their graduation, so we don’t really think about how or why these subjects are selected to be the core subjects. As it turns out, there isn’t any set of criteria that determines what the core subjects are. Searching for, “What is a core subject” will often yield results that tell you what those subjects are, rather than showing you how they benefit the students. For example, Information published by the College Board defines a core subject as, “mandatory classes you must take to meet graduation requirements in the subject areas of English, math, science, and social studies.” Unfortunately, this type of surface-level definition is the most common result when researching the topic. The issue with these types of definitions is that they don’t actually tell us the reason why the government requires students take these courses in order to graduate. They lack any substance. So is there a definition that can help give us the reason? What is the criteria that actually makes a subject “core?” And should be questioning that criteria?

Maybe its obvious to some what determines a core subject. All of the previously mentioned core subjects are umbrella terms that cover a wider variety of more specific topics. A student’s schedule would never say math or science, it would instead say statistics or physics, for example. So this means that one characteristic of a ore subject is that its broad enough to fit another, smaller subjects into it. You could argue that putting thought into the what we consider a core subject is useless because every subject somehow fits under those main 5 core subjects, however even if this is true, I still think its worth examining why we value the core subjects so much. Why do we value the problem solving skills that students gain from math classes, and why do we think that learning how the world works in the form of science is valuable? The answer to these questions will help us define what makes the core subjects, core.

One potential definition of core subject comes from the federal government itself, specifically, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nancy Saffer in a piece written for the Bureau titled, “Core subjects and your career” talks about both the general applications of each subject in the real world, but more specifically, the career implications that each subject has. For example, when writing about the benefits that taking english courses has, Staffer tells the reader how the communications skills that students learn in english classes are valuable to all career types, even ones that require little communication. Now we’re getting somewhere. This concept tells us that the skills we learn in core classes should be applicable to wide variety of potential careers. This makes sense because if everyone is required to take these courses, then those courses should teach you things that act as a foundation for any number of careers. We now have another piece of criteria that we can use to define a core subject. A core subject should be valuable in its ability support at least foundational skillset for any career.

If the selection process of core subjects was only concerned with how it impacted careers, then that would be disappointing to say the least. So what else besides careers are core subjects concerned with supplementing its students with? Well one answer could come from Jackson Best, who states that, soft skills can be learned through mathematics, a subject where soft skills wouldn’t seem too intertwined. According to Best, “But this same anxiety [anxiety of failing in mathematics] can be used to develop resilience instead of trauma if we give students the right tools to manage it.” What this means is that we see the core subjects as something that can enhance other skills that aren’t inherently related to the subject. These subjects must provide skills that students are able to utilize in different way. While similar to the careers criteria, this differs slightly because these soft skills learnt from the core subjects are able to be sued in environments outside of the workplace as well. These skills are used to prepare students for their adult lives.

Now we have our criteria for a core subject. A core subject must be able to fit other, similar subjects into it, it must prepare students with skills specifically geared towards careers, and it must prepare students with skills they can utilize in their adult lives. So how does it actually look in practice? One example that I think is extremely relevant is how in high school, I would often hear fellow classmates ask, “Why aren’t we taught how to do taxes in school?” I often agreed with their assertion that learning how to do taxes would be beneficial to the students. Let’s take a look at a theoretical ‘tax education’ subject, and if it would fit our criteria? Well, a tax education would first have to be broad enough to fit other, more specific classes as well. This might be a stretch, but students could learn different parts of tax law, so we’ll say it passes this criteria. This subject would absolutely fit our criteria with preparing kids for their futures, no questions asked But what about our criteria with preparing kids with career oriented skills that prepare for a broad variety of careers. This is where I have my doubts. This type of subject would be incredibly specific. Would the skills learned in this class be undoubtedly applicable to students and their wide array of careers? I don’t think so.

With this idea of a core subject now properly defined, we can now use it to determine what core subjects should look like moving forward. We can criticize this set of criteria and use it to change the education system, or enhance it.

Refrences

Best, Jackson. “Finding Soft Skills in Mathematics Isn’t As Hard As You Might Think.” 3P Learning, 2 Mar. 2020 https://www.3plearning.com/blog/finding-soft-skills-mathematics-isnt-hard-might-think/

Miller, Brian. “What Does a High School Curriculum Include?” – Education Degree. https://www.educationdegree.com/articles/what-a-high-school-curriculum-includes/#:~:text=What%20Are%20the%205%20Core,and%20a%20foreign%20language%20course. Accessed 22 Oct. 2023.

What’s the Difference between Elective and Core Subjects? – BigFuture | College Board. https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/help-center/whats-difference-between-elective-and-core-subjects. Accessed 22 Oct. 2023.

Nancy, Saffer. “Core subjects and your career.” – United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/1999/Summer/art03.pdf