What do you wish you had learned in school?
This is a question I've been thinking about. In fact, I thought about it so much for a few days, I considered interviewing people (lately, I've been enjoying interviewing people, in person).
What if I interviewed 100 people and asked them what they wished they had learned in school? What if those people were of all different ages? What if some of them were still in school?
I wouldn't do all this because I wish to critique our systems of education. I'm just curious. Sometimes I hear some overlap on this matter:
I wish I had learned how to do my taxes.
I wish I had learned budgeting.
I wish I had learned about emotional intelligence, and things like non-violent communication.
I don't know anything about civic action, my "rights", etc
You might scoff at some of these examples, but these are words I've heard from real people (it's not pleasant to scoff at people, by the way).
Similar to this, but not the same, is hearing people's regrets about what they wish they had picked to study, from the available options they had. For example, I wish I had taken some kind of automotive tech class. I don't particularly like cars, but I think the confidence it would have given me in believing myself to be "handy" would have really helped.
However, let's focus more on what wasn't even a part of your schooling: the things you had to learn in the school of life, or feel you haven't learned yet, but wish you had been given that head start.
I have created a form to collect anonymous answers. I want to hear from you. Submit your answers here.
I will publish my findings (including common ground, or perhaps even a delightful bar chart), if I reach 100 responses.
❦