It's not just biology. It's basically every subject in high school. The amount of knowledge in the world has exploded in the last 100 - 150 years, yet our school system refuses to adapt and pretends we're still in the early 1900s. Back then you actually could get a good and reasonably in-depth overview of what makes the world work before going to college or work.
But those kinds of aspirations are completely futile these days. People in the ministries of education and other responsible bodies will argue that high school's purpose is not to educate on a subject in depth but to give a broad overview of many subjects but that's completely besides the point. Because the point is that the only way that they are able to "give you a broad overview" these days is by force-feeding you ever more facts and knowledge in sliced up classes, compressed into ever more shallow and boring text books and then letting you puke it all out in brain dead exams, many times a year for many different subjects, in parallel. Bulimia learning.
Which is beyond sad, because basically every subject can be the source of wonder and amazement if taught the right way and with enough time to explain and explore. Which is why we need to let our kids choose the subjects they are interested early in school and get comfortable with the fact that they won't have any knowledge about other subjects when they leave high school. There simply isn't any other way.
There's an argument that the role of school is not just to dispense knowledge, but to also act as a gym for the student's brain, teaching and training it how to process different kinds and structures of information, how to solve different kinds of problems. And I would add that one aspect of this training is the ability to deal with subjects student isn't particularly interested in.
With this in mind, I don't see what subject would be safe to sacrifice early in school without danger of crippling some aspect of development. And as for mid-high school, I would imagine specialization is already practiced. High school specialization got introduced in a number of schools in my city in the early 90s - pretty much immediately after the collapse of USSR.
> And I would add that one aspect of this training is the ability to deal with subjects student isn't particularly interested in.
What good does it do?
I don't think that you improve the ability to ingest irrelevant information and make them stick. What you can do is to try to trick your brain into thinking it's relevant - but then, why not make it relevant?
In the end, we don't learn for nothing, we learn because it should help us. If one can't answer why something would be helpful, then I say: don't teach it. If it is helpful (even if it's in the far future) then find a way to show that relevance right now or find something for which the learning is helpful _right now_ on top of the actual purpose.
Aren't you going to learn that eventually, out of necessity? But hey, this way you get to start hating the school (including the interesting parts - if there are any left) and you might also get the (incorrect) impression that the only reason you need to do things you don't enjoy is because some assholes decided that you must. Great life lesson.
> but to also act as a gym for the student's brain
It sounds like a good goal. But in most cases, it is the opposite - based on memorizing facts or applying simple algorithms. These tasks are easy to measure and standardize, and after reducing their difficulty, ensure everyone can pass.
It's all incentives for the administration (who are the decision-makers), not - students.
Specializing earlier means the children must earlier pick their path, when they're even less grown up and sure (some are, some aren't). It could also lead to a defeatist approach when the plan fails. There's something to be said for both generalizing and specialization. Both have their pros and cons, and the latter still happens at e.g. uni (but also bachelors and such).
Sometimes I ponder what would've happened if I'd have been able to start earlier with using computers seriously instead of opposed to gaming on DOS. I end up with the conclusion it doesn't matter, and that pondering about it means I don't accept the current path I've taken.
UK centric, but I think the first three years of high school/comprehensive should be selling the subjects to the kids, before they start their GCSE at age 14/15. Teachers should inspire children and make them have that feeling of wonder for three years.
Perhaps you're labouring under the illusion that education is for your good as opposed to the good of those who manage people? Why change a winning formula?
The practical purpose of public schooling is to A) catch the odd prodigy to send to the big leagues with the private school kids, B) get the well-behaved used to 9-5 hours, and C) have somewhere to keep the rest while the parents work.
University used to be just the first group, nowadays it includes the second.
I guess your comment is provocative intentionally. There are many countries in the world where - thankfully- certain public schools/universities are more prestigious than private ones (it comes to mind Germany, Switzerland, Spain, France).
About B) and C) I sort of agree though
But those kinds of aspirations are completely futile these days. People in the ministries of education and other responsible bodies will argue that high school's purpose is not to educate on a subject in depth but to give a broad overview of many subjects but that's completely besides the point. Because the point is that the only way that they are able to "give you a broad overview" these days is by force-feeding you ever more facts and knowledge in sliced up classes, compressed into ever more shallow and boring text books and then letting you puke it all out in brain dead exams, many times a year for many different subjects, in parallel. Bulimia learning.
Which is beyond sad, because basically every subject can be the source of wonder and amazement if taught the right way and with enough time to explain and explore. Which is why we need to let our kids choose the subjects they are interested early in school and get comfortable with the fact that they won't have any knowledge about other subjects when they leave high school. There simply isn't any other way.