Getting Unstuck #138: Helping Students See a Life Purpose
In this episode of Getting Unstuck
In this episode, we talk with Patrick Cook-Deegan. Patrick is a leader in reimagining adolescent education through the lens of purpose learning. In 2015-2016, Patrick was an education innovation fellow at Stanford's design school striving to answer a specific question: How do we help high school students craft meaningful lives? A year later, Project Wayfinder was born.
Project Wayfinder imagines a world where adolescent education is designed for all students to develop lives of meaning and purpose. It partners with educators to design innovative learning experiences that foster meaningful connection and guide students to navigate life with purpose.
Why this conversation matters
Every parent wants his or her child to have a sense of purpose. But how can we actually help them identify that?
Purpose has four defining features: dedicated commitment, personal meaningfulness, goal-directedness, and a vision bigger than self. The development of purpose is intricately woven with the development of identity. Thus embarking on a voyage of discovering one’s purpose is critical to during the adolescent years. Research shows that teens and young adults that seek purpose report higher life satisfaction and levels of happiness. New research even suggests that a feeling of purpose in young people is associated with better physical health.
The research on what specific experiences create a sense of purpose amongst youth is not that robust. However there are three critical components of an experience that make it a potentially “purpose-seeking” experience: an important life event, serving others in a meaningful way, and changes in life circumstance.
How to use this podcast episode
How often do your students get to experience learning, reflect on that experience, and then make meaning from it?
Where do you have older kids teaching / mentoring younger kids? What would be the benefits of that type of interaction?
How “kid centered” versus “content centered” is your curriculum?