You spend years in school, but somehow, when it’s all over, there are still a bunch of important things you never learned. Here’s a list of 10 things school doesn’t teach you—but totally should.
Some of these include speed reading, money management, time management, road safety, study techniques, estimation, first aid, practical computer skills for studying, ecology, and entrepreneurship.
1. Speed Reading
In your early school years, you learn how to read and write. Even though more and more kids are being allowed to move up a grade without fully mastering these basic skills, it’s still safe to say that pretty much everyone leaves elementary school knowing how to read and write.
But after that, in high school, reading isn’t really encouraged the way it should be. And no one teaches you how to process more information in less time. A speed reading course would be super easy to teach and would set students up for success in college.
Speed reading is a technique that not only helps you read faster, but also improves your ability to retain information.
2. Money Management
In his famous book Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki keeps pointing out how formal education never really teaches you how to handle money.
Maybe it’s because they want to shape us into good little consumers, but schools don’t give us even the basics of managing personal finances.
Super simple concepts like saving, assets, and liabilities get totally ignored. If we were taught how to manage money from a young age, a lot of people would avoid making dumb financial mistakes as adults.
3. Time Management
This is basically about getting a lot done in a limited amount of time. There are tons of professionals with college degrees who still have no clue how to manage their time. Learning how to organize tasks, set priorities, and plan your schedule is something the education system still owes us.
Nowadays, there are proven methods like GTD (Getting Things Done) by David Allen that could totally be the foundation for a time management and productivity course.
On top of that, there are tons of apps like Todoist, Google Tasks and Microsoft To Do that help you stay on top of your tasks. This would be a perfect way to combine technology with education.
4. Road Safety Education
This is a super important topic that’s often taken way too lightly. There are campaigns, but proper education is lacking.
Traffic accident statistics are alarming in every country. Making road safety a subject in school could help improve those numbers and save lives.
5. Study Techniques
They tell you what to study, but not how. Repeating things out loud to memorize is the classic—and pretty much the only—advice teachers give you in elementary school.
But there are proven methods to improve how you absorb knowledge. Study techniques, although taught in some schools, were never developed as much as they should’ve been in the classroom.
6. Estimation
Estimation is all about making approximate calculations for certain problems. It’s about narrowing down what the exact answer might be. It’s a powerful tool in math that later proves super useful in people’s professional lives.
7. First Aid
What’s more important than saving a life in an emergency? First aid should be mandatory education.
In many accidents, lives are lost that could have been saved if people knew the right steps to take. It’s worth mentioning that there have been improvements in this area, but there’s still a long way to go before it’s taught in every institution.
8. Computer Science Applied to Studying
For years, schools have been teaching computer science. But times change fast, and there are more and more tools, many of which are super important for students.
Learning how to search for information is key, as well as being able to tell the difference between reliable sources and fake ones to avoid fake news or biased articles.
These days, you can share assignments online and coordinate them through social media, chat, or even video calls. All of these tools should be integrated into studying.
It’s also important to teach kids that doing an assignment doesn’t mean copying and pasting from the internet. They need to understand that research requires critical thinking, summarizing, and learning how to paraphrase texts and connect ideas.
In the age of AI, it’s crucial to teach students how to figure out whether what ChatGPT says is true or not.
9. Ecology
It’s taught in some schools, but usually in a pretty lighthearted way, often as part of natural sciences.
Ecology is (or should be) by now a topic that can’t be ignored. Caring for the environment is becoming crucial for future generations. Disasters like global warming seemed far off a few years ago, but today, they’re a reality.
So, schools should be preparing people who understand, practice, and raise awareness about taking care of the planet. One example of this is recycling.
10. Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Self-Motivation, and Confidence
I’m saving this last point for an entire area where management and psychology mix, and which has gained a lot of traction in recent years.
As a university student, I’ve noticed that sometimes you fall into a slump due to a lack of confidence, not having the skills to stay motivated, and struggling to stay focused on your goals.
Entrepreneurship isn’t just about starting and running a business; it’s also about setting goals, launching a project, discovering your personal potential, and achieving what you want.
What Would You Like to Learn in School?
At Mentes Liberadas, we believe these are the 10 things school doesn’t teach you, but definitely should. Do you think there’s more? Is there something that shouldn’t be on the list? Do you know of any school that already includes these?
Drop a comment and let me know what you think!
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