Does Financial Literacy Have to Be Part of Teachers’ Training?

Cool! At least I have a stable job!

At some point in my life, I paused to ponder the following question: why do I feel the vacuum of the information I need and how can I fill this in? Moving between the idea “Cool! At least I have a stable job!” and the realization “Do I feel truly fulfilled? ”, I was struggling to understand what was tugging on me, and why I felt I was deprived of something.

What I have noticed is I sincerely wanted to up my game in the classroom when working with students and start delivering value to their lives in a way traditional education is not designed to. On the other hand, after a long day at school, I would come home and do the stuff so different from what I was preaching in the classroom. I was doing the stuff that became my passion, that drove me to wake up early over the weekend to get to know more of what makes me inspired and personally involved.

The vacuum that I felt was the result of lacking two crucial things: happiness and money. As the result, I committed myself to solving this problem of mine and fill myself with the information on these two topics. Amazon boxes would come filled with books on happiness and money, money and happiness. To me, these two things were somehow related, and I felt no shame in digging the money topic because subconsciously I had already made a personal manifesto to build a road to my financial freedom and abundance. As they say, “When the student is ready, a teacher appears.”

When the student is ready, a teacher appears.

Our brain is a fantastic machine. It starts noticing things and reacting to things like a bull to a red piece of cloth when there is something drastically wrong with the supply. When I felt the lack of happiness and money in my life, my brain started fixating my attention to things around me related to becoming happier and making money.

I was so happy to start diving into books and podcasts that would fuel my energy and my desire to explore more and build knowledge about the two things I was most longing for: being happy and being rich. Can you relate?

There were two times I was profoundly moved by the voices of women talking about becoming wealthy. One of them was the host of Shameless Mom Academy podcast, Sara Dean, and the other one was Jessica Knoll with her article in The New York Times titled “I Want To Be Rich and I’m Not Sorry.” I jumped in my seat when I was listening to Sara Dean talking about her goal of becoming a self-made millionaire entrepreneur. The idea the resonated with me was about women usually keeping quiet about their desire to succeed or even given no choice of or no access to making crazy money.

I felt like the same idea exists when people think of a teacher’s role. Teachers assume this great role of a martyr, a person who has to give value to the world with no or little return (whether it be monetary or gratitude). Teachers are presumed to be crazy, spend their own money on classroom supplies, and struggle throughout their career. “You don’t make money? Are you a teacher? Well, you signed up for that! Take it or leave it!” I never understood that position, and I had been plagued by this mentality up until I discovered for myself the world of learning that can potentially bring me happiness and financial freedom.

By saying that, I want this to be heard by every teacher out there struggling and feeling burned-out. There is no shame in stopping loving what you do. There is no shame in switching your career into something else if teaching doesn’t fulfill you anymore. I know people who left teaching to pursue coaching or build a business, and I highly admire their decisiveness. As for me, I am quite lucky to start finding myself in teaching. I do enjoy it. At the same time, I know there is another aspect of my life that is growing and making me a better and happier person – the world of entrepreneurship.

I became a dedicated reader and a listener to fill my need for information about building happiness and financial success. My list of books was piling up and my downloads of podcasts filled up my phone. Hey, check out my favorites. These are the resources I swear by! They are just phenomenal in transforming the way you feel:

My favorite list:

Disclosure: There are some affiliate links below (I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post), but these are all products I highly recommend. I won’t put anything on this page that I haven’t verified and/or personally used.

1. Think and Grow Rich, Hill, Napoleon
2. Secrets of the Millionaire Mind: Mastering the Inner Game of Wealth, Harv Eker.
3. Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert T Kiyosaki.
4. The Happiness Project, Gretchen Rubin.
5. Better Than Before, Gretchen Rubin.
6. The Mind-Gut Connection, Emeran Mayer.
7. The Book of Joy, Dalai Lama.
8. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, Mark Manson.
9. Money Master the Game, Tony Robbins.
10. Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert.
11. Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert.
12. Finish, Jon Acuff.

For those who are not new-comers into the fields of happiness research and money-making these books are well known and are the ABC’s of one’s education. For me, they were genuinely eye-opening and inspirational.

I would spend a massive chunk of time commuting to my work, which sometimes makes me cranky and drained. However, I discovered for myself the world of podcasts. Do you want to make a commute time a bit more educational and entertaining? Then subscribe to podcasts on your smartphone and listen to your favorites while driving.

These are some of my favorites:

1. Shameless Mom Academy by Sara Dean
2. Angela Watson’s Truth for Teachers by Angela Watson.
3. Entrepreneurs on Fire by John Lee Dumas.
4. The Do You Even Blog Podcast by Pete McPherson.
5. The Tony Robbins Podcast by Tony Robbins.
6. Cult of Pedagogy by Jennifer Gonzales.

Quite a selection, isn’t it? Among all of them, I’m most excited by Entrepreneurs on Fire.

Teach what you preach.

I have no idea where all this might bring me, but I finally feel alive and having a goal of developing my knowledge about the happiness aspect, getting a financial education from the best in the field by delving into books and podcast. I am loving to be something else in addition to being an educator. As for the perks, it might as well be possible that my crush on entrepreneurship will yield something financially rewarding in my life.

So, let me go back to my classroom for a minute and explain the title of this post: “Teach what you preach.” Well, after starting the exploration of the happiness and financial freedom topics, it became apparent to me that we all, humans strive for the same gains. My students would open up to me and say or write in their essays and diary entries that everything they are dreaming about is to be happy and rich! I am also trying to comprehend my real purpose in the classroom. By design, I am to teach English. But what I observe and see is the lack of happiness and money and a desperate desire to acquire these two by my students.

Many have said and written about our educational system missing the element of financial literacy. And by the way, it’s coming from the experts in the financial field, millionaires, and billionaires. It’s not mentioned or recognized by any educators and those who create guidelines for education. We are, I am teaching kids to comprehend texts, write grammatically correct passages, analyze literary devices, become better speakers, etc. – all this can reserve you a seat in an Ivy League school.

However, what’s next?

Do our college degrees always equal to financial success and happiness? There are so many miserable people with fantastic degrees, and there are so many poor graduates up to their ears in debt and applying for jobs they have no interest in or passion about. Why is financial literacy not a part of the curriculum? Why is to become an aspiring entrepreneur not at the same level of attractiveness or familiarity as an engineer? Well, maybe because the present generation of teachers doesn’t know anything about that yet. How many are financially successful public school teachers out there? Not many… What financial literacy can you teach when you are the one who is struggling?

Many teachers have been taught to accept the teaching as a struggle by default. Many teachers are pre-programmed to earn little and not to complain about that. I was among those who felt or still feel miserable about giving my all to the children of strangers and accept burn-out in return.

After reading and learning for quite a while, I am convinced those people who left teaching as a profession felt it was not worth the money or the trouble. Those who stayed and are still in are either adapted to live on insufficiency or have no choice of opportunities yet. And I say “yet” because financial literacy is also something that all the teachers need to have. They need to know that the money they receive should not be based on the hours we work, but it should be based on the ultimate value we are capable of providing – educating intelligent human beings. If the society recognizes this value, then teachers will thrive, and so will students.

For now, I ask every teacher to start a journey of a financial education. Explore the topics of investment, financial freedom, happiness through giving value for an appropriate compensation.

If every teacher starts with a little shift in their perspective related to financial intelligence, our school system has a chance to make financial intelligence available to students.

Talk to you later!