How To Teach Economics – Yousuf Hamid

I faced a group of enthusiastic year 12 pupils, ready for their first experience of A-level economics and I was going to guide them in their discovery of scarcity and the economic problem. If they didn’t know what these concepts meant or how they linked together, then they were in trouble from the start because I certainly had no intention of explaining it to them. First, I asked my new pupils to look at a case study about a coffee shop in Angel tube station (note the use of a local area to them to make this lesson super-cool and relevant).

I wasn’t going to waste time and stifle their creativity by telling them why we were talking about coffee shops. Instead, I chose to pose some questions. ‘Why is the coffee more expensive than in nearby outlets?’ I asked, expecting nothing short of an epiphany about supply and demand. Many people want the coffee but there is only one supplier in the station, which makes the coffee valuable, would come the answer. I would congratulate them on the fact that, even though they did not know it, they had fallen onto the meaning of scarcity and the economic principle that a mismatch of resources and needs creates value.

From there, I would ask them who makes the most profit from the venture, and through the power of think-pair-share alone they would soon realise that the scarce resource is not really the coffee but the location of the business, so it is the landlord who receives the greatest return given the high rents charged on this prime piece of real estate.

Their jaws would drop to the floor in amazement at how they had learned these pearls of economic wisdom without even realising it. They might not, but they would certainly be justified if they now chose to stand on the desk proclaiming ‘O Captain! My Captain!’ while the headteacher waited outside with a ‘teacher of the year’ award. For some inexplicable reason, none of this came to pass.

Instead, unsurprisingly, pupils had no idea why the coffee was more expensive. After some discussion, a few of them guessed what I was thinking and stumbled on the right answer. Most did not. Unperturbed, I proceeded to the next part of my meticulously planned discovery lesson to show how scarcity leads to choices that lead to the economic problem. Not that I wasted valuable discovery time explaining any of that. Instead, I gave them a new worksheet where they could find it all out for themselves. They would now work in groups and decide how much money each stakeholder receives.

During this discussion, it would suddenly dawn on them that it was not possible to satisfy everyone’s demands and – Eureka! – that scarcity means choices must be made.

by John Catt Educational Ltd, 15 Riduna Park, Station Road, Melton, Woodbridge IP12 1QT Tel: +44 (0) 1394 389850 Fax: +44 (0) 1394 386893 Email: [email protected] Website: www.johncatt.com © Yousuf Hamid 2022 No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Opinions expressed in this publication are those of the contributors and are not necessarily those of the publishers or the editors. We cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions. ISBN: 978 1 915261 05 2 Set and designed by John Catt Educational Limited OceanofPDF.com For Lilja and Lottie – colleagues and life-savers OceanofPDF.com CONTENTS Introduction Cognitive load theory Retrieval practice Assessment and feedback Challenge Explicit instruction Improving pupils’ writing Real-world application Evaluation Curriculum Homework Common misconceptions Conclusion OceanofPDF.com Introduction Teaching economics is perhaps the greatest thing I have done for anyone in my life.

The opportunity to explain how economics can unlock the mysteries of the world and lift the blindfold to show the world as it really is, is a privilege. It is only in teaching the subject that I’ve fully been able to appreciate the meaning of Keynes’ famous quote that ‘practical men who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist.’ Yet, as the no-less profound uncle Ben in Spiderman says, ‘with great power comes great responsibility.’

Teaching is, indeed, a great responsibility and most teachers have the support of large departments, blogs from practising teachers, shared resources online, books from subject experts and academic research. These help bridge the gap between research from cognitive science and its application in the classroom for particular subjects. Unfortunately, in economics this is rarely the case. Many of us work by ourselves or with one colleague. While this keeps department meetings rather brief, it also limits our opportunities for collaboration.

Similarly, there is not much written about how to apply research to teaching economics, and only a relatively small community of teachers sharing resources and tips online. While there has been an explosion in recent years of teachers discussing how to interpret research in the classroom and much of it is excellent, the challenge has always been the subject specificity of economics. With everything I read, I have to ask myself: how does this apply to economics?

The purpose of this book is to answer that question. It looks at the major research on how our brains work and applies that specifically to the economics classroom. While we will look at exactly what research says about different aspects of teaching, this book is unashamedly practical, and focused on exactly what this entails for economics teachers. Many of the lessons this book is based on have come from trial and error: I read some research and attempted to integrate it into my teaching.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 85a1e67199c894e8
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 1,372,315 bytes (1.309 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• ISBN: 9781915261052, 1394386893
• Pages: 137
• Language: English (en)

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