Teachers have heard the question countless times: “Why do we have to learn this?” Although it can sound like resistance, this may be one of the most important questions students ask. Before students invest their attention, effort, and persistence in learning, they often make an implicit calculation: Is this worth my effort?
Studies have found that when students connect what they are learning to their lives, they can become more interested and perform better academically (Sansone et al., 2026). A large-scale analysis found that when students personally value what they are doing, they are more likely to persist (Howard et al., 2021). Relevance, then, isn’t simply about making learning entertaining. It’s about helping students find a reason to invest in it.
Defining Relevance
Relevance is often treated as a dichotomy: either a lesson is relevant or it isn’t. But if we understand a relevant lesson as one with a “personally meaningful connection to the individual” (Priniski et al., 2018), we see that the actual connections can differ in both type and depth.
Learning might be relevant because it connects to a student’s experiences, can help them accomplish something they care about, or relates to the student’s identity or goals. This gives teachers three useful ways to think about the connections we can help students make:
- Personal association: How does this connect to something students already know, enjoy, or have experienced?
- Personal usefulness: How could students use this learning to accomplish something that matters to them?
- Personal identification: How might this learning connect to who students are or want to become?
Communicating Value
A lesson does not have to connect directly to a student’s interests or experiences for them to find it worthwhile. The goal, then, is not simply to make learning relevant, but to help students find value in it. Students may value learning because it is useful, gives them independence, helps them understand others, is enjoyable, or has a sense of beauty.
Rather than relying on the “you’ll need this someday” explanation, we can help students discover multiple reasons why today’s learning is worth it. Dave Stuart Jr. (2023) identifies nine ways teachers can communicate value:
- Utility: Show what learning enables students to do. Help students see how they can use new knowledge or skills to solve problems, make decisions, or accomplish new things. Ask: “Where might you use this? What can you do with this knowledge?”
- Relevance: Connect learning to students’ lives. Look for authentic connections to students’ experiences, interests, communities, and aspirations. Ask: “Where does this show up in your world?”
- Social status: Show how knowledge can help students connect with others. Knowledge can allow students to participate in conversations, understand others, and share their expertise. Ask: “How might knowing this change the conversations you can have or the people you can connect with?”
- Autonomy: Show how learning creates independence. Reading critically, understanding finances, communicating effectively, analyzing information, or solving problems increases students’ ability to act for themselves. Ask: “How does knowing this give you greater control or independence?”
- Justice: Connect learning with improving the world. New knowledge and skills can help students understand inequities, solve problems, advocate for others, or contribute to their communities. Ask: “How could you use what you’re learning to help someone else or make something better?”
- Novelty: Reveal something surprising. Surface the counterintuitive fact, surprising pattern, unanswered question, mystery, or misconception that makes your discipline fascinating. Ask: “What about this would surprise someone who hasn’t studied it?”
- Enjoyment: Let students experience what is pleasurable about the discipline. Mathematics can have the satisfaction of solving a difficult puzzle. Writing can provide the pleasure of finding exactly the right words. Science can inspire wonder. History can contain extraordinary stories. Ask: “What do people who love this subject enjoy about it?”
- Purpose: Connect learning to something larger than the assignment. Some learning helps students wrestle with enduring human questions—who we are, how we should live, what we owe one another, and how we might contribute. Ask: “How might this learning help you understand yourself or build the kind of life you want to lead?”
- Beauty: Help students notice what is worth appreciating. Every discipline contains something beautiful: an elegant mathematical solution, a powerful sentence, a scientific pattern, a moving piece of music, or an ingenious design. Ask: “What is beautiful about this—and how can I help you see it?”
Putting Theory into Practice
In the video that accompanies this column, 2nd grade teacher Katie Holt from Dallas, Texas, is introducing a lesson on the life cycle of plants. She opens the lesson with a discussion of why it might be important to know about this phenomenon.
The goal is not to squeeze all nine forms of value into the lesson. But understanding the possibilities provides options for how to answer the question, “Why is this worth learning?” Sometimes the answer is because you can use it. Sometimes it is because it gives you power. Sometimes it can help you make a difference. And sometimes its value can simply be that it is fascinating, enjoyable, or beautiful. The more ways students have to value learning, the less we must rely on “because it’s on the test” as the reason to learn.
Student Engagement
Instructional Insights / November 2026 / Moving Past “You’ll Need This Someday” video
2 days ago
Video Reflection: Why Plant Life Matters
Watch this video to see a 2nd grade teacher introduce a lesson on the life cycle of plants. Then consider the following questions for reflection or discussion with your colleagues.
- Where do you see or hear an attempt to help students understand the value of what they are learning?
- Which of Stuart’s nine sources of value are most evident in the video: utility, relevance, social status, autonomy, justice, novelty, enjoyment, purpose, or beauty? What evidence supports your choices?
- Imagine you were teaching the lesson in the video. What could you say in 20–30 seconds to help students understand why the learning is worth their effort?
