Did you expect to hear a teacher say this?

I hate school subjects.

Strange thing to hear a teacher say? Well, it's true. The part of my job that I find the hardest is separating my assigned subject from any other.

Look at it this way – in my English classes I find myself constantly referring to historical figures, events and contexts. No big surprise there, most people seem to acknowledge that history and English are closely linked. But I also spend time talking about the elements, about humours, and about alchemy, which usually turns into a discussion of early science and medicine and how it has changed over the years. I discuss how mathematics and second languages require similar thought processes, thought processes equally valuable in the sciences or school sports.

The most popular crossover, however, was between the study of French and contemporary English when my grade nine students discovered the fact the 'douche' means shower, a fact that gives them no end of enjoyment.

But you see how it is– there's really no basis for the segregation of the disciplines or even the determination of what does as does not count as valuable learning.

It goes beyond simple school subjects too – I spend just as much time talking to students about the experiences I've had bagpiping, farming, traveling, studying, campaigning, protesting, etc. as I do covering the subject matter.

It's the unrelated stuff that sticks.

My grade eleven French students have a background in planetary motion and African politics.

My grade ten English students can talk at length about Hugo Chavez.

My junior high French class can tell you that I am afraid of roller coasters.

Why do they remember this instead of the curriculum?

Because nobody talks to kids. They're are treated as though their grade eleven pure math grade is the only thing that really matters. In the meantime they are ignored by everyone nineteen and older.

I did well when I was in high school – I had good grades, my teachers seemed to like me, and when I graduated I won all sorts of scholarships – but I learned more on the few occasions when people just sat and chatted with me than in all my classes. The same was true of university. The same is true today.

So to all the self-righteous curriculum planners out there – get over yourselves. In two years everyone will have forgotten your contributions to deforestation, but my students will still remember that douche means shower.