Superintendents and administrators need to ask it. Teachers need to ask it. And just as critically, students need to ask it. Why are we doing this? Why does this matter? Why is this important?
In their incredible session on student engagement, Robyn Jackson and Allison Zmuda reminded us that WHY is a much harder question than HOW. Teachers are rarely asked why they make instructional choices in the classroom, and they rarely have time to ask it of themselves. A typical response to Why are you teaching this? is Because it’s on the test. And why is it on the test? Because it’s in the curriculum. Why is in the curriculum? Because it’s a standard.
The real truth that none of us want to admit is this: we don’t often see a good reason for kids to learn the things we’re tasked with teaching them. Why, for example, do we teach elementary math students to figure out the area of a space? There is no obvious, practical, and compelling reason why we should teach it or why they should bother to learn it. Because they might want to lay carpet in an irregular space one day? Who would be excited to learn or teach that?
The alleged real-life purpose for a skill or concept is often not that meaningful. So we attempt to dress up the curriculum a bit to make it more authentic and relatable: What is the square footage of Beyonce’s mansion? This strategy only works part of the time, because not all kids care about Beyonce, and even fewer of them care enough about her to put in the hard work needed to determine the size of her house. When we choose the context for problem solving for our students, that doesn’t automatically make it relevant or engaging or important. Sometimes that approach leads to even more student disengagement.
Most of the time, we launch into instruction on concept after concept without really knowing how or why it’s going to benefit students. We’re grasping for real-world connections and seeking to entertain our students instead of engage them. We make the mistake of believing that learning must be fun when in fact real learning is often hard work. Real learning is centered around engagement and meaning, and struggle for mastery is often the very thing that makes it enjoyable.
Robyn reminds us that without our own compelling reason for teaching a lesson, it’s really difficult to get kids invested in their learning. But when you start your lesson planning by answering the WHY, you immediately get more excited about your own lesson. And that is the secret to finding your passion: start with your WHY for teaching that lesson. Your passion and clarity of focus become contagious and the kids become engaged, too.
Here’s the best part, Robyn says: you don’t always have to be the one who finds the answer to why something is important. You can create a space in your classroom for students to find the answer for themselves. Sometimes a skill or concept is important because it helps kids think in a different way or problem-solve. Sometimes an activity is important because it gives them a chance to practice skills they’ve already learned and apply them in new ways.
The importance of a task does not necesarily stem from the possibility of a student one day becoming an architect or fiction writer or physicist. The task must, in some way, benefit them right now. When we truly believe in the purpose, we enjoy teaching more and do it more effectively. And when students truly believe in it–when they discover the personal benefit and consider their unique, individual reasons for learning–real engagement happens.
Do you have any routines or practices that help students connect with the purpose for a task? How do you connect to the WHY of a lesson while planning? Can you think of a time when the WHY got you really excited to teach? I would love to hear how you make time for WHY in your classroom.
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