The Subject of Subjects: Why Schools Should Focus on General Knowledge
- School Leaders, Teaching
- July 11, 2024
Children’s minds are shaped not only by what they read in their books, but also by what they see and experience in the world around them. Knowledge through perception is one of the most organic and fundamental ways through which students learn, especially when they are young. General knowledge as a subject facilitates this process of knowing one’s world by providing a wealth of useful information about it.
General knowledge is knowledge of many subjects as opposed to more detailed or specialized knowledge of a particular subject.
As the name suggests, general knowledge is knowledge of many subjects as opposed to more detailed or specialized knowledge of a particular subject. As a subject, general knowledge is multi-disciplinary in nature – formed by the confluence of knowledge-streams of various disciplines such as science, social studies, environmental science, mathematics and language, among others. As such, its significance as a school subject cannot be overstated. It offers a holistic view of the world and equips students with multiple perspectives to understand that world.
A number of studies have established a close relationship between the acquisition of knowledge and the shaping of intelligence. As children get to know more about their world, there is a concomitant improvement in their cognitive abilities. Also, knowing about new things increases the curiosity of children and prompts them to explore a particular subject more intimately. An interest in general knowledge, thus, makes children’s minds more receptive and provides a window to more nuanced pursuits of knowledge.
Research has shown that in the human brain general knowledge is stored as long-term memory or what is often called semantic memory – which can be understood as a pool of knowledge which a person has accumulated over the years and which is preserved through old age.
Acquiring general knowledge has several other benefits. Research has shown that in the human brain general knowledge is stored as long-term memory or what is often called semantic memory – which can be understood as a pool of knowledge which a person has accumulated over the years and which is preserved through old age. Thus, knowledge of common things acquired at a young age stays with us even in the later phases of our lives. Of course, this incremental spring of knowledge is enriched not just through books: it is closely intertwined with children’s everyday experience, which itself is rooted in cultural and social practices.
Learning about a wide range of things, besides sharpening children’s mental faculties, enriches their personality. In a world that is increasingly more competitive and aspirational, the key to success is confidence –the confidence to face our peers and to compete with them. And there is no better booster of confidence than the consciousness of knowledge –the awareness that one knows about things and is up-to-date with the latest developments in the world. Relatedly, general knowledge helps children excel in public speaking as well as in interactive activities such as group discussions and quizzes that often require participants to be knowledgeable about a wide range of topics. Even in less formal situations such as conversations with friends or relatives, children can benefit from a greater awareness of the world. General knowledge comes all the more handy when students have to leave the relatively secure world of school to embark upon the path of building a career. A major portion of several competitive exams focuses on testing candidates’ general knowledge – something that is unmistakably evident in coaching institutes offering specialized courses on the subject.
All this makes a strong case for general knowledge to be made a discipline in itself, to be taught in school as a separate subject. Many schools have woken up to the significance of the subject, and more are doing so by including it in the school timetables as a distinct entity, much like regular subjects such as science, maths or languages. It is important to understand that general knowledge cannot be taught in isolation: it stands in a dialogic relationship with other subjects, all the time communicating with them. As such, the decision of what to include and what not to include in its syllabus (for a particular grade) must be taken by factoring in the syllabi of other subjects (for that grade).
We inhabit a world that is oozing with information from multiple sources, the most prominent of which is the Internet.
Further, there is a need to move beyond a purely fact-based approach to teaching general knowledge. While a good portion of the subject will inevitably deal in facts, importance must also be given to the understanding of concepts. To give just one example, a general knowledge chapter on cricket should include questions based not only on statistics of a particular batter or bowler, but also on the meaning of a knuckleball or a doosra. Finally, considerable judgement needs to be exercised when it comes to the selection of facts or topics to be included in general knowledge books. We inhabit a world that is oozing with information from multiple sources, the most prominent of which is the Internet. This makes the task of the developers of general knowledge books all the more challenging: it demands a great deal of effort and sensitivity on their part to sieve through the heap of information to come out with real gems of knowledge.
Please check out ‘VOLT General Knowledge Programme‘, bringing a world of knowledge to every curious mind.
