Relevance Is Rigor That Resonates
- Catherine Addor
- Jul 11
- 2 min read
Updated: Jul 11
“We are not here to make things harder. We are here to make things matter.”
It’s a truth that every great educator eventually learns:
The hardest lesson isn’t always the one that sticks.
Students rarely carry formulas or vocabulary words into adulthood, at least not in the way we sometimes imagine they will. They do have the feelings, confidence, and moments of connection that they experience in our classrooms.
They remember the teacher who took an interest in them.
The project that reflected their identity.
The time school made sense because it connected to real life.
That’s the heart of relevance.
Rethinking Rigor
Too often, we confuse rigor with difficulty.
More problems. More pages. More pressure.
Absolute rigor, the kind that changes minds and expands possibilities, is about relevance.
It’s about asking:
Why does this matter?
Where does this show up in a student’s real life?
Will this help them navigate the world beyond school walls?
Here’s the thing:
We’re working with just 2% of a student’s life.
That’s roughly the amount of time a child spends in school from Pre-K to 12th grade.
The other 98% happens outside our walls.
If we’re not reaching that 98%, if we’re not connecting what we teach to what students live, then we’re not doing the work that truly lasts.
From Content to Connection
When we ignore the 98%, we teach content.
When we connect to the 98%, we teach children.
That means designing instruction that reflects who students are, where they come from, who they live with, what they love, what they worry about, what languages they speak, and what responsibilities they carry at home.
It means honoring the learning that happens around the dinner table, at the corner store, at church services, in car rides, and with family members who may never step foot in our classrooms.
Relevance isn’t fluff.
It’s the bridge between the world we’re preparing them for and the world they already live in.
So What Can Educators Do?
Ask Better Questions
Don’t just ask What do I want them to know? Ask:
Why does this matter to them?
How can this show up outside of school?
Whose story is missing from this content, and how do I include it?
Honor the Other Teachers in Their Lives
Families, mentors, and community members are teaching students every day. Partner with them. Invite them into your curriculum. Ask students to bring their own wisdom into your classroom.
Make Reflection Part of the Routine
Encourage students to consider how they see their learning apply beyond the lesson. Simple prompts, such as “I used this skill when…” or “I talked about this topic with…” help build real-world relevance and deepen learning.
Reframe Rigor as Resonance
If students feel the learning (if it echoes in their lives), it will stick far longer than a test score ever will.
The best 2% educators aren’t focused on making things harder.
They’re focused on making things matter.
Let’s stop measuring success by how much content we deliver.
Let’s start measuring it by how far that learning travels into homes, into communities, into futures we may never see, but will always be a part of.
When relevance becomes the rigor, education becomes unstoppable.
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