Educators should take students' interests into account when planning the content of the courses they teach.Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the recommendation and explain your reasoning for the posi

The decision of what content educators should incorporate into their courses is a tough one. Many factors come into play including money, resources, demands from parents, and pressure from school districts or political leaders. Another key factors in the students’ interests. In my opinion, I mostly agree that educators should take students’ interests into account when planning the content of the courses they teach on the basis of two reasons.

To begin, some may argue that students’ interests are irrelevant when planning course curriculum and should not be considered. More specifically, they argue that many students lack the experience or the knowledge to make an informed decision about their education and need guidance when planning their studies. For instance, it would be unreasonable to expect a fourth grader to know what knowledge and skills they need so they can eventually become high functioning and independent adults that contribute back into society. Secondly, students interests, although important, may be so wide spread that it could be impossible for an educator to incorporate all these interests into one course. That said, these examples show that students interests, although important, should not be considered by educators when writing course curriculum. However, I believe these examples fall short.

One reason educators should consider students interests is because it will lead to higher class engagement and performance among students. For example, suppose a math teacher wants to get students, who normally don’t like math, more engaged. Instead of teaching students basic math from a textbook, they teacher might try finding ways of connecting math to students’ interests (such as aeronautics or cars). As a result, it could help students get more involved with the math curriculum because they see its impact in their interests (ex: aeronautics or cars) and is a necessity when pursuing their interests. This then leads to higher engagement and thus performance within the classroom because students feel more motivated to learn and excel.

Connecting education content to students interests also helps save time and money for all parties. When students interests are not considered, they may question the relevance of the course and how it will benefit their education and future. After all, why pursue something that doesn’t have a meaningful impact on your life? If students don’t feel the course is important, they may expel less effort; which could consequently cause them to fail their courses and thus not graduate and/or have to repeat courses; which wastes everyone’s time and effort. Worse yet, these “boring” classes might just deter prospective students all together; who might otherwise have been an excellent and impactful student had their interests simply been considered.

Overall, this is a very complex issue that has no easy answers. One could argue that student interests don’t need to be considered when designing curriculum, but this idea falls short. The first reason is because curriculum based on students interests results in higher engagement and performance among students. Secondly, it prevents wasteful courses; which saves all parties time and money. As such, I believe that students interests should be considered by educators when designing course curriculum.