Oportunity to teach: The joy of teaching what you know deeply, find fascinating, and want to share

We are probably all familiar with the concept of “opportunity to learn.” Without opportunities to learn what society deems important, individuals and entire populations are unable to achieve well in school. We will always need to ensure that our youth have the opportunities to learn the desired, approved and official curriculum, even if some of them are impoverished or physically disabled. We need to be sure our students are instructed by competent teachers, and that our schools are budgeted adequately to do the many jobs we ask of them. Test scores in this era of high-stakes accountability will never be high enough to satisfy our political leaders if our youth do not have the opportunity to learn what is to be tested. Thus, the opportunity to learn is of great importance in thinking about schooling. But there are reasons for thinking that opportunity to learn the desired, approved, and official school curriculum is not enough to ensure that our youth get a good education. Students may also gain important benefits from acquiring expertise in areas beyond the approved curriculum, a topic to be addressed below.