Brookens 1

Andrew Brookens
Prof. Stefan Britt
Eng. 111
21 September 2015
Problematization of Taggs Why Learn?
A popular belief is that if someone is to achieve a good grade, it means
that they are smart or vice versa. In John Taggs article Why Learn? he
challenges this belief and overlooks some things in the process. I agree with
a majority of his points in the article but I feel as if he does overlook a few
ideas. He writes his piece in a way that makes you want to believe that
grades truly arent a measurement of being knowledgeable. However, I
believe grades can be used as a way to judge somebody. Tagg overlooks the
success of the two different types of students and the importance of
particular classes to students.
Tagg sets up his essay that Jill is more successful than Jack, but in my
opinion, Jack is the better student overall. He only says Jill is the better
student because she used the knowledge out of the classroom and Jack
didnt. The emphasis then becomes that Jill is obviously better a year later
than Jack; however, Tagg does not mention that Jack still showed up, did
what he needed to do to move on, and then went on to bigger and better
things. He got the grade that he needed because he was grade oriented.
Tagg says The only thing the college preserves about the students work in
the class is the grade. Thus, when students become grade oriented they are

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merely responding to the incentives. (9) This means they know that they
need to get good grades in order to receive credit, or their incentives. I
think this thought tries to say its bad to be grade-oriented, but I view gradeoriented as setting goals to get what I need. If I apply this to the real world, I
can then accomplish whatever I want by becoming money-oriented or happyoriented.
Tagg sees that Jill uses the knowledge outside of class even though she
failed and that Jack has forgotten everything, but Tagg doesnt see that his
particular class may not be important to Jack at all. Its very possible that that
class had nothing to do with Jacks future. From personal experiences, I have
taken many classes where I have thought Why am I learning this? or this
doesnt apply to me or what I want to do. Most people I have talked to tend
to agree with my opinion. How could he theories and proofs in a geometry
class help me if I am going to become a foreign language major? While a
majority classes do apply to the future, there are definitely some pointless
ones, depending on the student.
Overall, I generally agree with points made by Tagg but thought these
were a couple
things that our opinions were different on. Getting good grades is part of the
system that we have right now and is the key to success. It looks much
better to have a high GPA rather than a low GPA or no GPA, so people might
as well obtain great grades in classes. I would be interested to learn or see a
society that does not base learning on testing and grades, but by putting the

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ideas into the real world from the beginning and having people adapt to the
world.

Work Cited
Tagg, John. Why Learn? What We May Really Be Teaching Our Students. N.p.: n.p., 2004. Print.