Minimalist Core (Curriculum?)

What's at the core of Education?  Or, rather, what should be at the core of education?  Often we refer to "Core Curriculum," but many of us are not even sure that the curriculum is at the core.  Maybe it's the school's environment?  Maybe the side-effects of schooling, such as socialization into the larger society, are at the core?  And what is that socialization about - is it about becoming a good citizen?  A productive (economically of course) member of society?  A subservient employee? A well-rounded human, whatever that is?  A happy person?

As usual, more questions than answers.  And maybe that's good, as Isidor Rabi would say.

Without noticing it, the main question became "who is the desired graduate?"  I wrote about that some two years ago, but this time I will go towards the minimalist end.

Let's start with two levels of characteristics of the graduate:  Personal and Society.  Notice I leave the Transcendental/Spiritual outside the short-list.  Not saying it's unimportant, but feeling that it cannot be discussed and agreed upon by different people of different spiritual denominations.

Personal:
Everybody wants the best for their kids.  Different people think that "best" is different things.  No reason to formalize it in state laws.  Let parents and pupils select a school from those offered, according to their own perception of what's personally good for them.  Spirituality can fit nicely here, too.

Society:
We tend to want the graduate to be a contributing member to society, and again an avalanche of questions ensues:  What do we expect from everyone:  Economic contribution?    And how much is enough economic contribution?  From each according to his abilities, as Karl Marx would have it? Full participation in the democratic process?  And what is enough participation?  Participating as a voter? as an activist? as a candidate for a public post? as a member of the crowd cheering to a Dear Leader?  Do we expect many people to volunteer their time for civic society activities?
But the title says "Minimalist."  This follows the basic understanding that the wider the demands, the farther we get from the possibility of consensus.
So, instead of requiring everybody to be a contributor to society in many ways, let's just try to make sure nobody harms society beyond what it can tolerate.  A sort of societal Primum Non Nocere - First, do no harm. And here is my personal opinion, correct to September 27^th, 2011, 14:11:30

• Reading, 'Riting, 'Rithmetic.
  Without a good grasp of all three, a person is likely to become a burden on society.  There is room for some details, such as the required level of reading, the content of arithmetic studies, etc.
• Democracy
  Representative Democracy, to be exact.  This is the modern western state-religion, and deviations from it are dangerous to the stability of such societies.  This core subject includes several important requirements
• An understanding of the mechanisms:  Voting; Parliament; Government; Judiciary; Journalism; Lobbying; Good-old-boy networks; Politics
• Various granted freedoms
• Equality
• Violence is the Monopoly of the State.
  Modern western society is quite adamant about that, and can't tolerate almost any violent behavior by individuals.

The issues above may be the only absolute requirements.  Beyond these, society - through the state - may choose to encourage (but not require) a few more core issues:

• A positive attitude towards learning
  
• Good command of English as a second language, for those who don't speak English as a mother tongue.  English won.  For now.
• A deep connection with one's own culture
• A deep understanding of the scientific method.
• An understanding of technology.
• An understanding of historical processes.
• A positive attitude towards Representative Democracy.  Did anyone say "indoctrination?"
• A positive attitude towards participation in civic society.  Volunteering one's time and efforts
• A positive attitude towards personal economic viability:  Being an effective producer and a voracious consumer of goods and services... See why I prefer to be a minimalist?

These may constitute the core of education.  What's required and what's merely encouraged.  All the rest may be left to the individual schools, teachers, parents and pupils.  No state-mandated content, teaching-methods, timetables, etc.