The Skillful Teacher

When Appropriate, Involve Students in Educational Planning
If students feel they have a say in determining the curricular focus, spe-
cific content, pedagogy, and evaluative approaches of a course, they
may well feel a greater connection to learning. How far this is feasible
will depend on the state of students’ previous knowledge, accredita-
tion requirements, and the complexity of the knowledge, skills, or con-
tent to be taught. Sometimes these factors mean everything has been
prescribed beforehand. But if students can be involved, several bene-
fits are likely. At the very least they will be unable to say the teacher
is unresponsive or has arbitrarily imposed meaningless requirements
on them. Of course, some will still maintain this is the case! But it will
be that much harder for them to convince their peers that resistance is
justified if there has been a concerted effort to consult them. It may
also reduce students’ fear of the unknown and increase the chances
that your teaching will have some meaning for them.