Schools need to teach media literacy. So if I had to do anything it would be this.
Great answer and I completely agree.
Communication. Because too many people suck at it
A real subject? CS Easy with what my Job ist, especialy the explaining it to the Client Part - and i am Not a Programer or Developer but Specialized in IT-Service and Consulting
A made-up subject? Democratic Literacy Critical Thinking, democratic Processes and the learnings from History All-Over-the-world made to improve and strengthen Democracy to the Pupils. In my opinion its the Most important Thing that Kids can be taught right now.
In high school, likely physics. I could also teach various math classes.
Real topics: Data Science, or maybe Quantitative Physiology
Topic near and dear to my heart: How to pick up a new hobby quickly and then immediately move on to the next hobby.
I do teach English as a Foreign language, I used to teach computer programming (at a beginner level), and sometimes I daydream about teaching math according to principles from the essay A Mathematician’s Lament by Paul Lockhart, but I am unlikely to be given the leeway to try.
I would teach Shop (that was still a thing when I was in high school in the 90s). I'm really good at making practical things, and making repairs. I would love to teach the basics like how to change a tire and whatnot.
I would teach arts and crafts to grade school kids. I'm really good at that stuff (I even have a degree). And I have a good course plan worked out.
Everybody tells me I'd last about an hour tho. I am not good with stress. Grade school kids have like 3x normal energy.
I have had to teach a subject in school. Part of my education was a minor where I had to teach a class for a trimester.
I had to prepare materials (presentations, homework assignments, study material, quizzes and the exam), teach the class, answer student questions in person/mail/school system etc. There was a professor that helped me, was always present and officially taught the class otherwise the students grade wouldn't count. But as it was my assignment the prof was very hands off and was there only as a fallback if I fucked up and to evaluate my performance. We got along pretty well and she gave me an excellent grade in the end.
The class I taught was uni level cryptography, basically a math class. The math would get pretty advanced and a lot of the problems students had to solve required a long working out. There usually wasn't an answer to the problems, the working out was the answer. The exam was also pretty though, but almost all of the students got a good grade and nobody failed.
Feedback from students was that I was pretty strict, but they learned quickly and had a good time during the class. Remember these were 2nd year uni students, so discipline wasn't an issue, everyone was there to learn and wanted to be there. Most of them were maths nerds themselves and loved the subject, which helps a lot. Ages of the students ranged 18-25. So my teaching was focused on the subject matter and not managing kids.
Would I teach again? I don't think so. It was a good experience to have, but I can see it get boring very quickly. Imagine teaching the same class trimester after trimester, year after year. Sure some new stuff comes along every now and then, but even in the more advanced classes you teach the basics, not the new stuff. As I enjoy the subject more than the interaction with the students, I don't think I could do it for long.
English or history. They were both subjects in high school where I could not even study and just wing it with walls of text. As long as spelling and grammar and shit were good and in the case of history, being able to refer to key things from the text book occasionally, I was scoring in the 90s. I've gone a bit feral in that regard over the years since then but if my path was to be a teacher, I think that's what I would've gone for.
Just want to add that a big deciding factor in that as well is how cool my english and history teachers in high school were. A married couple that I honestly credit with helping shape certain good parts of who I am. I was honestly borderline anarchistic (definitely anti-authoritarian) in my writings and I think they liked it and nurtured it a little bit.
One moment that stuck with me that I never realised the significance of was my history teacher bringing up how schools have a hidden curriculum. How beyond being taught how to behave in society, it also enforces cultural things like one race's set of norms and standards or teaching boys to behave like boys and girls to behave like girls (which is a line I even specifically remember him using). And I remember being a little bit outraged about the idea of a hidden curriculum and this fucking guy smiled and kept the conversation going and told me more.
Here's to you Mr. and Mrs. Owen. They'd be pretty old if they were still alive. I'd be either an english or history teacher because of them.
Edit: just for extra context, for high school I went a boarding school in a very Christian and religious small town and it wasn't the best of times for me, to say the least. There were a couple of decent teachers but most are wrinkled up, mean, dogmatic pieces of shit in my memory. So these two teachers were special.
Well, it turns out that I'm particularly good at explaining maths, up to algebra. I've helped family go from bad grades to good ones via tutoring, eventually to the point that they no longer needed me to be able to get good grades on their own.
Same with english, usually. The caveat to that one being literature not always working out right because a teacher wanting specific answers rather than the students showing their comprehension and analysis. But, if I was teaching, that wouldn't be an issue.
Sure as hell couldn't take anyone past high school levels in either, though I could likely teach creative writing at intro levels (which really isn't that hard at all)
The real issue is the stuff you have to do to be a teacher. It isn't as easy as understanding the subject, or being good at conveying that subject. There's a lot of planning involved, you've got tight time limits, there's paperwork and administrative tasks. That's not even covering the stuff for special needs students, or being able to match expectations of language and discipline.
So, while it turns out I'm a damn good tutor, I'd make a lousy teacher in a structured environment. Most of us would, even (and sometimes especially) the full on experts in a subject.
I will say though, teaching can be incredibly fun. I'm not talking the rewarding part, where you see someone getting better, or the pride in taking part in that. It's the process itself, of taking an idea, breaking it down, and then translating it to someone else in a way that works for them. That's not just a school subject thing, I've taught martial arts stuff here and there over the years, along with other things that were more piecemeal (like shading when drawing, but not necessarily other techniques). The process itself is just fun.
Groups are harder, obviously, and I've never liked time limits on things. If it takes an entire week to transfer the knowledge, or a month, or whatever, the important part is the learning to me. The bigger the group, the less realistic time you have per lesson, so it can end up being much harder to convey something to the point of retention the way you can do it with 1 on 1 instruction. It's one of those things where the longer your have between lessons, the less likely you are to transfer the skill because the student forgets.
I'm still butthurt that I wasn't able to teach in my field of work. If I had been able to, it would have added years, maybe a decade to my working life. But they don't allow it anywhere that I'm aware of, so meh.
Medical Biology because I'm educated in the field. Runner up would be chemistry. Or brewing, but the only university I know of that has brewing as a degree programme is Heriot watt university and I'm not interested in moving back to Edinburgh.
Oh no. I would hate this need, I'm not good at teaching, but let me take cooking. Not home ec in general, no. But culinary I could handle getting a curriculum together and teaching it, and it would be helpful.
Creative writing.
So fun to both reach and practice, and grading homework would be far more fun and interesting.
