My curiosity and interest in learning originated far prior to the Pandemic. Despite not having the full appreciation for school that I possess now in high school, I was still extremely passionate about learning more and being able to apply my learnings to the real-world. Teachers are not at all appreciated for the tireless work they do to shape the future generation’s minds. These experiences can have such an exponential impact that could lead to potential career interest, the way they form opinions, and how they continue to explore life as a ‘learner.’

After 17 years of school, there are topics that I wish I had learned in high school that I describe below. However, it is the intentionality with which teaching is conducted that will allow for whatever is being taught to be best absorbed by the students. This becomes nearly impossible with the low budget, time consuming schedule, and far below what should be acceptance wages that teacher’s obtain for their position. If we were to recognize the impact these individuals have and the importance they hold, shifting monetary resources to better support them could help them with focusing on the how of teaching vs the what. In Lies My Teacher Told Me, James Loewen discusses how the subject of History is being taught not only incorrectly factually but also with a fact-based approach rather than incentivizing students to think and spark insightful debates (Loewen). This intentionality and the addition of a few ‘real-life’ courses will truly best prepare students to set forth on their life journeys with adaptable toolkits in their belt.

1. Personal Finance

The amount of things that I didn’t learn in my 18+ years of schooling pertinent to financial literacy, investments, and all things personal finance blow my mind. I question almost every day why this wasn’t part of my high school education. “Having basic personal financial skills is one of the most important things you can do to live a healthy, happy and secure life. Your level of understanding around the fundamentals of budgeting, saving, debt and investing will impact every part of your life and can mean the difference between prosperity or poverty (Forbes).”

2. Fitness & Wellness

I’m taking a Fitness & Wellness class right now that’s an elective and it should truly be required for EVERYONE. In the first chapter itself, I learned about the benefits of exercise and physical activity being countless. To name a few, they increase emotional wellbeing, promote weight control, lower risk to mortality (cancer, accidental, and CVD). The federal recommended guidance for exercise in adults is 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week, this ends up being 30 minutes per day for 5 days. If you prefer vigorous-level activity, it is recommended to do 75 minutes/week. Additional benefits come with increasing this amount. Additionally, two days a week should be allocated to strength training (Hoeger and Hoeger). A study conducted in 2019 showed that only 1/3 of the US population was participating in this recommendation and studies during the Pandemic have shown an even greater reduction in exercise and physical activity, approximately 40% (Gallo).

3. Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence refers to the ability to identify and manage one’s own emotions, as well as the emotions of others (Psychology Today). This is so critical for success in personal relationships, effective leadership, and ability to manage conflict. Recent studies have shown EI across the workplace having an essential component in determining the leadership effectiveness (Srivastava).

4. Government/Politics

I still remember during my Senior year in high school how my World History teacher would hand out voter registration forms for students on their 18th birthday. This was a great example of teaching kids to get involved early and the value of getting to voice their opinions through voting. There was an American Government class offered at my high school but it wasn’t mandatory so I didn’t take it at the time. Learning about the government will help us understand the individuals who are running to represent us and make the best decisions based on our personal platform desires (Winthrop).

5. Critical Race Theory

While we would like to think that Critical Race Theory is common sense, I held that opinion until my eyes were opened to the surplus of people who don’t understand it and continue to think there is no problem with systemic racism in this country. It is for this reason among many that it should be a required course in which students are able to open their eyes towards the crooked foundational pillars in this country and it might even inspire them to ensure that the systems they build don’t share the same broken bones. “In fighting the ideology of white supremacy, teaching racial tolerance or multiculturalism in history or English class won’t do the trick. Along the science hallway, America’s schools are wasting a critical opportunity to use data-driven knowledge to unpack the country’s most enduring falsehood. To combat racism, schools must work harder to unbuild what young Americans learn as racial common sense (Time).”

Sources:

“Emotional Intelligence.” Psychology Today, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/emotional-intelligence.

Frazier, Liz. “5 Reasons Personal Finance Should Be Taught in School.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 30 June 2021, https://www.forbes.com/sites/lizfrazierpeck/2019/08/29/5-reasons-personal-finance-should-be-taught-in-school/?sh=41006b0c5178.

Gallo, Paul. “Session 1 - Overview: Exercise and PA.” BBSR4090 Physical Fitness, Weight Control, and Relaxation. BBSR4090 Physical Fitness, Weight Control, and Relaxation, 23 Jan. 2022, New York, Teacher's College, Columbia University.

K., Hoeger Werner W, and Sharon A. Hoeger. Fitness and Wellness. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2011.

King, Charles. “American Students Are Not Learning the Truth about Race.” Time, Time, 6 Aug. 2019, https://time.com/5642773/american-students-taught-race/.

Loewen, James W. Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong. Simon & Schuster, 2007.

Srivastava, Kalpana. “Emotional intelligence and organizational effectiveness.” Industrial psychiatry journal vol. 22,2 (2013): 97-9. doi:10.4103/0972-6748.132912

Winthrop, Rebecca. “The Need for Civic Education in 21st-Century Schools.” Brookings, Brookings, 4 June 2020, https://www.brookings.edu/policy2020/bigideas/the-need-for-civic-education-in-21st-century-schools/.