Education For Choice

Abstract

"What am I going to teach?" The teacher may answer by saying that she will teach English, Mathematics, Biology, Home Economics, or some subject area. She will find, however, that in the public high school, the students are of a multitude of preferences and backgrounds and that a great many will not be motivated to learn about a subject for the sake of knowledge alone. She will find it difficult to convince the adolescent who asks, “But what am I going to use it for?" Perhaps a more valid way of phrasing the question is to ask, "What are those ideas I would like the students to remember after they have left the classroom?" In this way, the teacher goes beyond the acquisition of skills or knowledge to broader concept of understanding the world. Not all of a high school teacher's students go on for further study. Some of them will go on to commercial and business schools while others will start to work after high school commencement. The teacher must focus on the needs of students who are of differing abilities and interests.