It is often debated whether English or Math is the most important subject in high-school, however I believe that History is. Those who argue that English is the most important subject point out that it is the new internationally-used language for many disciplines and that knowing English will help one reach one’s goals. On the other hand, Math is said to instill logical thinking, discipline and problem solving. However, History, when taught effectively, teaches students about what and why past events occurred, encourages self-thought, and widens one’s understanding of today’s world, no matter the language it is taught in.
Some may argue that History’s potential as the most important subject is distilled because it can easily be taught subjectively, or along an agenda, but I believe that this highlights its importance. The approach and the way in which History is taught is so important because the subject will undeniably influence how a student may learn to interact with people, make decisions and form a general understanding of society. Of course, if History is taught with a focus on solely the memorization of names, dates and places, it is not effective. However, as formerly mentioned, when taught effectively –referring to the encouragement of evaluation, questions, variety of perspective, and debate of the past– History is the most important subject. In other words, when History is taught correctly, it does not tell students what to think or how to think, it rather stimulates them to create their own educated conclusion on what to think and how to ask questions. Like Hajo Holborn, a German-American historian said, “History gives answers only to those who know how to ask questions.” Thus, History does not only build a student’s knowledge of society, but it will make them thinkers and inquirers. History simultaneously achieves the qualities that both English and Math individually achieve and therefore is the most important high-school subject.
(If Basic Life Skills were a normalized high-school course that taught cooking, banking, first-aid, self-protection etc., this article would have been very different.)
