Should Students be able to Choose Which Classes They Take?

Would you rather take a class that you enjoy and will use to your advantage in the future or take a class to fulfill set requirements in order to complete highschool? In my opinion, students should be able to choose which academic courses they take based on their interests. Most students already have the opinion that taking subjects like history, math, science, and English are unnecessary because they won't use what they learn later in life. For example, a student who is looking to pursue becoming a children’s therapist shouldn’t have to take math classes through highschool; They should be able to take a class that is related to that career.

If students are given the opportunity to choose classes that they enjoy or better understand, they will be more eager to learn and are more likely to engage in the material. In addition, engaging in class more often will result in better grades and an overall better GPA because they’re more comfortable and better understand the topic. This would also decrease the dropout rate and students would be less likely to have to repeat a class or a grade. Many students fail classes just becaust they don't understand the subject or aren't interested in it so it's hard for them to focus in class. Some may think that there aren’t enough teachers to teach such a variety of courses, but many classes can be taught online or through colleges.

Another argument may be that if students choose not to take certain subjects, they’ll never get a basic understanding of that topic. However, students who are not good at a subject or just don’t like it in general are never going to get a full understanding of it if they don’t like the class. In addition, certain requirements can be set to limit this. Examples of this could be not being able to choose your classes until you reach highschool, being required to take classes that involve certain life skills sometime throughout high school, having a limit to how many extracurricular classes you can take (like art, music, or PE), and more. I believe students should have a choice as to what classes they take throughout high school with certain requirements because they will have a higher engagement level, will have better grades, and will have a better understanding of the subjects they’re taking. 



Questions:

  1. Do you think that students should be able to choose their academic classes?
  2. What do you want as your future career?
  3. If you were given a larger variety of classes to choose from, what classes would you be interested in taking for your future career?

You need to be a member of History 360 to add comments!

Join History 360

Replies are closed for this discussion.

Replies

  • Great topic choice and super job over all Alexa! Did you use any sources? If so, be sure to list them. Are there any states/schools that don't require classes and allow students toi choose all of theire classes? I would assuyme not but maybe.

  • I think that students should be able to choose which classes they take based on what they want to do as a job. I want to be a mechanic when I am older and there are many classes that are useless and won't help me in my job. We should get more opportunities to do what will be advantageous to us in the future.

    • I agree, most classes that we're required to take won't benefit your future career because it isn't something you'll use. You should be offered more classes based on what you want to do in your future. 

  • I personally think that students should have core classes be required for everyone. But students should have more freedom when it comes to choosing what other classes they take. I don't know what I want to have as a career in the future, but I do know I want to be in the medical field. I don't know what other classes I would be interested on taking if I had the option.

    • I understand what you're saying, but many careers won't use science or history for example. It's still nice to have a basic knowledge of certain subjects as an adult, but more subjects should be offered related to what students want to be as an adult. 

  • I personally think that all students should be able to choose what classes they take starting there highschool years because many classes required do not help with students futures. they should be able to pick based on what they do when they are older.

    • I agree, if students don't take classes that involve what they want as a future career now, then they won't know what they're getting into during college. This may be one of the causes of college students switching career paths so much. 

  • I think students should be able to choose their academic classes. I believe students would enjoy school more if we got to choose the classes we were placed in. I want to go into the medical field in the future. Any classes that I would need to take to get a basic understanding of what I need to know before entering into my future career. 

    • Many students don't enjoy school just because they don't like the classes they're in. If students are interested in their classes their more likely to engage in the material and it will help them through college. 

  • I personally do believe that students should be able to choose which classes they are enrolled in. I do not think that it makes sense to force students to take classes that they are not interested in or will not help them in the future. As of right now, I do not know what I want to do as a career. 

This reply was deleted.
eXTReMe Tracker