In my view, "Functor" and "Monad" are the wrong emphasis, while "map" and "flatMap" are the parts that really matter, and are much easier to teach in comparison

In my view, "Functor" and "Monad" are the wrong emphasis, while "map" and "flatMap" are the parts that really matter, and are much easier to teach in comparison. Most programmers are familiar with "map" today, and "flatMap" is not much of a stretch. But once you understand these two things, you're 90% of the way to understanding monads and why they're useful.