Why Do We Have To Learn This?

“Why do we have to learn this? How's this going to help me in my real life?”

Ever hear those questions? If you've taught school for more than one month, I know you have. And sometimes, doggone it, they're tough questions to answer. For one thing, sorry to say many times we teachers don't really know why we're teaching what we're teaching. For instance, if a kid wants to know how learning parts of speech is going to help him in his real life (“I can talk good already”), the answer we might give is, “You see, you made a grammatical error right there. It's 'I can talk well enough already.'” This may get us out of the hole, but there is very little evidence that teaching parts of speech improves usage.

I've heard teachers use the following answer: “You're going to need to know this next year in Mr. Harvey's class.” This may be true, but it begs the real question: then why does Mr. Harvey teach it?

Some teachers are more direct: “You need to know this for the test.” Again, so what? Why is it worthy of the test?

A thoughtful teacher may have an answer which is legitimate. She may say, “Learning the parts of speech gives you a handle on language and with that handle you can improve all facets of your grammar.” Unfortunately, true as this may be, it often doesn't really connect with the student. He may take us another level deep with, “But why do I need good grammar? My dad has bad grammar and he makes more than you do.”

Of course, good teachers have a lot of good answers to that question, but there are times when none seem to work. That's when I pull out the following: I say, “Why does a professional football player lift weights? He never lifts weights during a game. The same applies to this concept I'm making you learn. In itself it may not have any obvious practical value, but it strengthens your mind and let me assure you: you will need to use your mind in any job you do and in every other area of your 'real' life as well.”

This works, I believe, because it is absolutely true. The latest brain research indicates that any mental activity a person does increases the brain's acuity. While I would never want anyone to think that I only teach things for the sake of 'neurobics' (as one author has coined it), it is certainly a valid rationale for the teaching of anything.