When Am I Going to Use This

Rebecca Eggenschwiler on the crux of the matter. Students never really ask “when am I going to use this?” honestly:

And the question itself — “When am I going to use this?” — is nearly always a lie, a front. The asker is not genuinely contemplating the use-value of Material X; rather, he or she is merely announcing the intent to give up.

It’s important that as educators we recognize what’s really at stake when asked this question by anyone. If we value our product, i.e., that “thing,” which we are teaching then we must be ready to defend it’s value, for its own sake. Full article at the Chronicle