I was never interested in teaching the ‘fluffy stuff’. Given full rein I’d have dictated that the schools in which I taught focused on what mattered.
What mattered could be taught in a tent with rows and columns of desks, a blackboard and a few sticks of chalk.
The fortunate students would require a pencil or two, a rubber (sorry eraser), and an exercise book. 164 page ruled feint? I forget.
Throw in a ruler and a geometry set of a pair of compasses, a protractor and maybe three pence worth of other stuff for arithmetic (mathematics came later).
A class novel that everyone had handed out to them like the eighth grade reader was all I’d need to improve their reading, comprehension and understanding.
I’d have considered deliberation about the evils of mankind such as the holocaust, the European invasion and subsequent massacre of native peoples best left for a time when they, the students, were mature enough to handle the fact that history has shown us all to be little more than animals, and nasty ones at that.
Emphasize the positives in life even if they take a bit of finding.
Tell them of the millions of opportunities life offers. Mega yachts and grand mansions if that is the path they wish for. Kindness and finding happiness in the simple life if at the other end of the spectrum on offer.
Bloody cheap education.