As parents, as we think back to our elementary and high school days, conversations about who was our favourite teacher abound. Was it the teacher who was the nicest, in your opinion? The one who seemed to understand you the best? Or perhaps they were the one who you learned the most from? The one who taught your favourite subject? Or maybe, the one who sparked a previously undiscovered academic interest?

But rarely do we ask ourselves, “Looking back, what was the most important subject I took in school?” Likely courses that taught you to read, write, add and subtract (“The Three Rs”) from primary to elementary school would be at the top of everyone’s list. But, if we move beyond primary school, and consider our years in elementary, secondary and post-secondary education, how would you answer that same question?

In a recent opinion piece that appeared in the Globe and Mail (October 22, 2022), entitled, “The Wrong Side of History,” Trilby Kent indirectly answers the question of what is the most important subject. And his answer is: history.

Kent’s article opens with, “Imagining the functionality of a human being without historical sense is really scary.” Or, in other words, if “history is merely what is in yesterday’s newspaper,” (quoting Neil Postman), Kent laments that society is in trouble.

And, if this is the case, from the prospective of an educator, I can tell you that we are in even bigger trouble these days with few kids and adults even reading “yesterday’s newspaper”!

In any event, the case being made in the article has its essence founded in the well-known quote from George Santayana, in The Life of Reason (1905). Santayana says, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

But, back to you. Is there one subject that you feel had the greatest impact on your life? One that pushed you in an alternate direction as a person? Towards a particular career? Inspired a lifetime of interest? (Please “comment” to share your thoughts below!)

The question of the most important school subject is a great conversation starter for the next gathering of your family, friends or colleagues. Try it! Upon some reflection, you might even be surprised at your own answer.