E205: The Most and Least Important School Subjects: Our Bold Rankings
Tue Sep 23 2025
On Teaching Keating, Molly and Weston tackle a controversial topic by ranking the most and least important school subjects, debating priorities for functional adulthood amid potential backlash. They reveal top picks like ELA for communication, social studies for civic discourse, and math/personal finance for economic literacy, while critiquing lesser focuses like foreign languages or advanced sciences. Weston argues for reclaiming social studies testing to fix political dysfunction, as Molly champions science for natural world understanding and MAP (music, arts, PE) for creativity and health. Covering pedagogical gaps, age-appropriate teaching, and societal impacts, they encourage reasonable discourse on education's core needs. Listeners are inspired to rethink curricula, value critical thinking, and engage in productive debates.
In this episode:
Molly and Weston debate subject myths, like ELA's articulation focus vs. social studies' compromise skills. Insights on top rankings, including math's debt lessons, science's critical reasoning, and MAP's holistic benefits. Personal takes on controversies, from lost political discourse to prioritizing finance over rote memorization. Their reveal game explores disagreements, like ELA vs. science priorities and bottom-three subjects like foreign languages. Connect with Us:
Follow us for updates and more episodes.
Share your thoughts in the comments below about your strategies for building habits rather than setting resolutions.
Learn more at: westonkieschnick.com
About Weston and Molly:
Weston is a former high school teacher and administrator who now works as a Senior Fellow with the International Center for Leadership in Education. His work as a keynote speaker and instructional coach has allowed him to learn alongside teachers and administrators from all 50 states and more than 30 countries around the world.
Molly is a former elementary and middle school teacher who now works with teens and young adults in parochial education programs around Colorado. She and Weston are the parents of children who provide additional fodder for Teaching Keating.
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On Teaching Keating, Molly and Weston tackle a controversial topic by ranking the most and least important school subjects, debating priorities for functional adulthood amid potential backlash. They reveal top picks like ELA for communication, social studies for civic discourse, and math/personal finance for economic literacy, while critiquing lesser focuses like foreign languages or advanced sciences. Weston argues for reclaiming social studies testing to fix political dysfunction, as Molly champions science for natural world understanding and MAP (music, arts, PE) for creativity and health. Covering pedagogical gaps, age-appropriate teaching, and societal impacts, they encourage reasonable discourse on education's core needs. Listeners are inspired to rethink curricula, value critical thinking, and engage in productive debates. In this episode: Molly and Weston debate subject myths, like ELA's articulation focus vs. social studies' compromise skills. Insights on top rankings, including math's debt lessons, science's critical reasoning, and MAP's holistic benefits. Personal takes on controversies, from lost political discourse to prioritizing finance over rote memorization. Their reveal game explores disagreements, like ELA vs. science priorities and bottom-three subjects like foreign languages. Connect with Us: Follow us for updates and more episodes. Share your thoughts in the comments below about your strategies for building habits rather than setting resolutions. Learn more at: westonkieschnick.com About Weston and Molly: Weston is a former high school teacher and administrator who now works as a Senior Fellow with the International Center for Leadership in Education. His work as a keynote speaker and instructional coach has allowed him to learn alongside teachers and administrators from all 50 states and more than 30 countries around the world. Molly is a former elementary and middle school teacher who now works with teens and young adults in parochial education programs around Colorado. She and Weston are the parents of children who provide additional fodder for Teaching Keating.