Making Economics…

Things Education
May 23
5 min read

…relatable and relevant.

Hello all. Welcome to the 115th edition of TEPS Weekly!

We were recently in a Grade 10 Economics classroom where the teacher was starting the chapter Globalisation and the Indian Economy. It began with terms like MNCs, foreign investment, trade barriers and WTO. The teacher gave a detailed explanation of each term, wrote notes on the board and then summarised the key points in neat bullet points. The students copied them all down word-for-word. But when asked to talk about what globalisation meant for their own lives or families, one student said, “It’s something to do with the internet.” Another asked, “Is this about English being spoken in India?” A third one, confused, tried to connect it to international cricket.

The explanations were neat and clear, yet the core idea hadn’t really reached the students.

This isn’t about one teacher. We’ve seen this in classrooms across schools, especially with Economics. The subject often comes across as abstract, dry and meant for people in suits sitting in glass offices, not for school children with little real-life experience of terms like “collateral” or “investment climate.”

So how can we change that? How do we teach Economics in a way that is real, relevant and most importantly, understood by students?

Here are four common challenges in Economics classrooms – and strategies we’ve seen work well.

Challenge 1: Economics feels too far from students' lives

Students often don’t see how Economics connects to their everyday life. They see it as a textbook subject, not something that explains why onion prices go up with heavy rains or why their cousin couldn’t get a bank loan.

Strategy: Start from what they already know

Chapter: Poverty as a Challenge (Grade 9)

Begin with a simple question: “How many of you know someone who doesn’t eat three meals a day?” Most students will have come across daily wage workers and beggars. Ask them to describe what they imagine in that person’s life – type of work, schooling, house. Then, ask: “If someone can’t afford even basic food, clothes and medicines, should the government help them?” This naturally leads into introducing the poverty line—a way the government identifies who needs help the most. This way, you first introduce the reason why we study poverty. Then, when you show the national data or talk about BPL cards, it makes sense to them. This approach gives them the context before the content.

Challenge 2: Teaching focuses more on memorising terms than on exploring real-life choices

Textbooks are full of terms: scarcity, opportunity cost, human capital. Teachers define them, explain them, ask students to memorise them. But economics is a subject about choices. It’s about deciding between two things when you can only have one.

Strategy: Turn terms into choices

Chapter: People as Resource (Grade 9)

Start with a small role-play. Tell students: “Your family has ₹500. You can either buy school books or a new phone charger. What do you choose?” Let them debate. Then introduce the term opportunity cost. Ask: “What are you giving up when you choose books over the charger?” Students will respond with, “I won’t be able to watch videos or talk to my friends,” or “I won’t be able to take pictures or make videos for fun.” Now, the term has meaning – the value of what you give up when you choose one option over another. It came from their thinking, not the textbook.

You can do the same with “investment in human capital.” Ask: “If a child can earn ₹100 a day by working in a field, why do parents still choose to send them to school?” Students will respond with, “So they can get a good job later,” or “Because working now might bring money, but education helps forever.” Then, you can easily link it to the idea that education increases productivity – it helps students see how economic choices play out in real life.

Challenge 3: The language is too technical

Terms like collateral, credit, formal sector, inflation and foreign exchange can be overwhelming for many students. Even if the teacher explains them, it can be a lot to take in all at once.

Strategy: Use stories, mind maps and re-telling

Chapter: Money and Credit (Grade 10)

Begin with a story: “Ravi wants to buy a buffalo. He goes to the bank to ask for a loan. The bank manager says, ‘We need your land papers. If you can’t return the money, we will take the land to recover it.’ (Land papers are official documents that show a person owns a piece of land.)” You then introduce the word collateral and write it on the board.

“But Ravi doesn’t have any land in his name. So the bank refuses to give the loan. He then goes to a moneylender instead. The moneylender gives the money but says, ‘Give me 10% interest per month.’” Ask: “Is that fair?” Let students discuss. Some might say it’s unfair. Others might say Ravi had no other option. Now connect the story to economic terms. Explain that both the bank and the moneylender gave credit, but in different ways. Then, create a mind map on the board:

Stick the mind map on the classroom wall. In the next class, start by pointing to it and asking students to explain it back. Revisiting the same ideas in their own words helps strengthen understanding and build confidence in using new terms.

Challenge 4: Economics feels isolated from other subjects

In most classrooms, Economics is taught in a bubble. But economics doesn’t feel so abstract when we link it to what students are already learning in other subjects – like history, civics or geography.

Strategy: Link ideas across subjects

Chapter: Globalisation and the Indian Economy (Grade 10)

Start with a biscuit packet or a water bottle. Ask: “Where is this made? Where is it sold?” Students might respond: “Made in Gujarat, sold in many states,” or “This is exported to other countries.” Then ask: “Do you think the farmer or factory decides where it's sold? Or does the company decide?” Let students think, and then explain: “Earlier, under British rule, India had no say in what it traded – Britain controlled it. Today, big companies (MNCs) decide what’s made, where it's sold and how much farmers or workers earn. This is what we study in Economics – how decisions about production, trade and profit are made, and who benefits. In colonial times, foreign powers benefitted. Today, it’s big global companies.”

Now connect it to their Civics and Geography learning: “In Civics, you learnt how governments try to protect workers and farmers. In Geography, you saw how goods move from farms to ports. In Economics, we ask: who controls this trade, and who gains or loses money?”

For students, economics feels disconnected from everyday life and full of unfamiliar words. But we can make the subject relatable and relevant by starting with what students already know, exploring everyday real-life choices, simplifying technical terms through stories and visuals and connecting topics across subjects. Which strategy would you like to try in class next week?

If you found this newsletter useful, please share it.

If you received this newsletter from someone and you would like to subscribe to us, please click here.

Edition: 4.22