Topic: Purpose and Learning

10-second review: One of the chief aids to learning is the sense of purpose.

Source: Highet, The Art of Teaching, 69. Although he focuses on lecturing, Gilbert Highet's book provides excellent ideas on teaching in general and on lecturing in particular.

Comment: Probably the most unasked (out loud) question in education is “Why am I learning this?” Students are afraid to ask it because everyone will think they are dumb. But those other students do not know the answer to the question either. The effect is boredom.

Teachers can improve their instruction significantly if they will make clear why they are teaching what they are teaching.

Is it possible that teachers don’t know why they are teaching what they are teaching? I certainly did not know why I was teaching grammar until my mentor, Mrs. May, asked me why I was teaching students the differences between the direct object and predicate nominative—whether to use I or me, he or him, she or her, they or them. After that, I never taught any grammar without knowing exactly how students were going to use that information in their writing. I always began my lessons in grammar by putting a problem on the board that the grammar I was going to teach them would solve. RayS.