Why Do We Have to Learn This?

Why Do We Have to Learn This?

Before I began teaching in elementary school, I did a stint as a substitute in the local vocational-technical school. This was really a stretch for me, not only because my knowledge of the technical and practical arts is very limited (Bricklaying? Carpentry? Engines?) but also because I was teaching high school courses and not what I had been trained to do. 

One week, I was sent to sub in the geometry class. I had a real belly-laugh about this before I even started. Geometry had been my worst class in high school. I remembered little more than what I had learned in my own elementary school years. I thought I could get by, because the teacher had left good plans and answers for all of the problems. 

During the first class, after I had answered all the questions about who I was and what I was doing teaching their class, one student asked a real stumper, "Why do we have to learn this anyway? What is geometry good for?” 

I was surprised. This class was made up of students who would one day build houses and design machines. Didn’t they realize how useful geometry would be in their future careers? I attempted to explain, giving an example about designing a roof so that the slope would shed rain and snow, but they weren’t buying it. Somehow they could not make the connection between what they were learning in school and real life. 

Tom and Ray Magliottzi, AKA the Car Talk guys, pondered this question many times on their radio show. Both brothers earned degrees from MIT and were well-grounded in math. They often asked callers if they continued to use the math they had learned in school in daily life. Trigonometry? Calculus? Most answered that beyond the four basic operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division) the math classes they took were just dim memories.

In high school, I took lots of math classes too -- two algebras, geometry, trigonometry and calculus. I took more in college. I did pretty well in all (except the aforementioned geometry). Most of the everyday math I use today involves the four basics, decimals and calculating percents. These cover toting up the bill and adding a tip. 

But I don’t regret taking the classes. Even though I don’t remember a lot, I am proud that I was able to hold my own in these difficult courses. And I don’t think they should be subtracted from the curriculum for children today. Who knows which future engineers and scientists may awaken to new possibilities when introduced to higher math? 

For that matter, every course we are exposed to holds the possibility of opening our eyes to something beyond the small worlds we inhabit. Math can lead to music, medicine, or rocket science. Languages lead to travel and a better understanding of the greater world. English and history expose us to the thoughts of the great thinkers of the past and present. Philosophy, psychology, biology, chemistry, physics etc. introduce us to new ideas. Opening children’s minds opens their lives to new worlds. 

In the more than twenty years I taught elementary school, I heard the question often – “Why do we have to learn this anyway?”

“Why,” I would answer, “to be a better you.”