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36: Restoring Humanity to...Purpose (Changing the Focus of School)
20 Plays6 years ago
Restoring Humanity are short(ish) segments on understanding a key idea of progressive education. In this podcast, we’re looking at the history, research, and practical application of “purpose finding” in schools. Why would we not explicitly focus on students finding their purpose in life?
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Transcript
Introduction and Purpose of Discussion
00:00:09
Speaker
Hey there, and welcome to Things Fall Apart from the Human Restoration Project.
00:00:14
Speaker
My name is Chris, and thanks for joining me today.
00:00:17
Speaker
We're going to be talking about students finding purpose and what our role as educators and more grandly schools should have in finding it.
00:00:25
Speaker
First, we're going to dive into some history, then review some research, and finally talk about goals in our practice.
Acknowledgments and HRP Overview
00:00:32
Speaker
This work, as well as other podcasts and free resources, are a result of our incredible patrons.
00:00:38
Speaker
A special thank you to Nick Covington and Annette Laughlin for making this all possible.
00:00:42
Speaker
You can learn about the Human Restoration Project and find everything we do, as well as considering contributing on our website at humanrestorationproject.org.
00:00:51
Speaker
You can also find us on Twitter at HumeResPro.
Student Perspectives on Education
00:01:01
Speaker
I was reading an article in The Atlantic titled, The Purpose of Education According to Students, and the dialogue within was absolutely horrifying.
00:01:10
Speaker
The question is, what do you think is the purpose of education?
00:01:13
Speaker
And one student responds, I'm seeing the role of school, of education, basically a pastime, like a public babysitter for whoever feels their children should be there.
00:01:23
Speaker
Another student says, they don't really teach you about how to go and get a job, how to live on your own, pay this, pay that, when you actually have to do it, or actually really prepare you for college and dealing with that.
00:01:33
Speaker
Another says, you're just learning to take a test.
00:01:36
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You're not learning to actually be happy.
00:01:39
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Quite frankly, I find it perplexing that this isn't a bigger deal.
00:01:43
Speaker
Children are faced with a ton of pressure on what they will do when they graduate.
00:01:47
Speaker
And that pressure is exacerbated in their teenage years when, while soul-searching, they face depression, anxiety, and fear.
Historical Context of Education and Purpose
00:01:54
Speaker
The fear of judgment by others, but there's also this sustained apathy, which is brought upon by years of irrelevant schooling.
00:02:02
Speaker
Personally, I find that my students seem more purposeless than ever.
00:02:06
Speaker
Sadly, there isn't a whole lot of history surrounding the explicit focus of purpose for students, perhaps due to it being relatively a new historical thing.
00:02:15
Speaker
To define what I mean by purpose, I'm referring to the meaningful life's work that you focus on.
00:02:21
Speaker
You understand, importantly, why it's your life's work.
00:02:24
Speaker
It's not just an immediate goal on the horizon, it's why you continue to push forward in whatever it is that you're doing.
00:02:30
Speaker
And prior to the modern era, most children just went into a familiar field.
00:02:35
Speaker
They just did what their family did, they took on an apprenticeship, or they just married and had children.
00:02:40
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Really, only the very affluent would have much choice in furthering their education, and much of that collegiate experience was soul searching and finding your purpose.
00:02:48
Speaker
It was just kind of doing whatever and talking about smart things.
00:02:52
Speaker
The earliest substantial writings I could find of searching for passion in schools were the studies of Dr. William Damon of Stanford University in the late 2000s.
Research on Purpose in Education
00:03:01
Speaker
He wrote Path to Purpose, How Young People Find Their Calling in Life, which centered on this idea of directionless drift that most students move through within schools.
00:03:12
Speaker
He found that only one in five people from ages 12 to 22 could express what they wanted to do, where they wanted to go, and most importantly,
00:03:21
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why they wanted to do these things.
00:03:23
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Then of that group, 60% had some purposeful actions but didn't have time nor commitment to really care about them.
00:03:29
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And finally, 25% had literally no aspirations.
00:03:33
Speaker
These studies were conducted at the same time as many that were exploring meaning and psychological benefits, which are almost entirely in the late 90s through today.
00:03:42
Speaker
Prior to this, it would be assumed that through schooling, students would just find their purpose as they grew up, and there was no real explicit intent to find students and have them reflect on this matter, outside of maybe the free school movement and some counterculture unschooling programs to the traditional education system.
00:03:59
Speaker
Really, in fact, since the 1960s and the United States worryment of our place academically versus other countries, traditional education has doubled down on standardized education through back-to-basics or calls for national standards reform, accountability measures, which are really all just code words for doubling down on the core for subject areas.
00:04:19
Speaker
Ironically, the beginning schools of the United States, the ones that were more focused on communities and raising kids to be productive members of society, they were really better possibly at serving the needs of their students because there was more of an intent towards finding purpose than just have a ubiquitous model that makes everyone the same.
00:04:38
Speaker
In fact, we could arguably state that common schooling from the 1850s onward, although having drastic benefits in reading and writing and providing a basic education, over time has really distanced itself from having those purposeful actions for students.
Purpose and Mental Health
00:04:54
Speaker
And now, we live in an era where 1 in 5 kids have a diagnosable mental, emotional, or behavioral disorder.
00:05:01
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Students feel empty, depressed, and anxious, and suicide rates are rising with a 40-year high among girls in 2015.
00:05:09
Speaker
Obviously, there's a lot more to this than just school.
00:05:11
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We also have to talk about normalizing mental health treatment and talking more about these problems.
00:05:15
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But it's undeniable that for many of our students, school is purposeless.
00:05:20
Speaker
Not only does the content seem outdated and contrived, but they're forced to sit through it for about 8 hours a day, sometimes even forced to do it into late afternoons.
00:05:28
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It's incredibly odd that we wouldn't be focused on kids finding their place in the world.
00:05:33
Speaker
Maybe that's a grandiose question for a 14-year-old, but that's the exact question that they're asking, the thing they want their answer to.
00:05:46
Speaker
So diving into some research now, much of the research I'm about to refer to is compiled from our previous podcast guest organization, Patrick Cope-Deegan's Project Wayfinder, as well as Dr. William Damon's formative work, Path to Purpose.
00:05:59
Speaker
Again, this is quite a new field, but the results are really staggering, and when you think about it, I mean, it's common sense.
00:06:05
Speaker
So first, in 2013, we have Patrick L. Hill, Rachel Sumner, and Anthony Burrow, who found that individuals with proactive engagement toward finding their purpose had greater agency and openness to experience, which coincidentally resulted in greater social and emotional well-being.
00:06:22
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Whereas individuals who found their purpose through reactionary means, as in someone forced it upon them or they just happened to start doing it, were less likely to feel that what they did mattered.
00:06:32
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Obviously, people who figure out what their purpose is and act upon it have happier life outcomes.
00:06:38
Speaker
And then in the same vein, we have more research by William Damon, Jenny Menon, and Kendall Cottonbronck in 2010.
00:06:47
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where they compiled how adolescents view their sense of purpose in their formative years.
00:06:51
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And in summary, they found that students spent little to no time on soul searching.
00:06:55
Speaker
And in our hyper-communicative world of social media and advertising, where there's a frenzy of people telling you what you should be, students are often stressed out.
00:07:05
Speaker
And they're told to find their passions or things that interest them, but that's in spite of what they're doing in school and they just don't have enough time for it, they're depressed, anxious, etc.
00:07:14
Speaker
It should come as no surprise that when Jane Gilham did a study of 9th and 10th grade students, they had greater life satisfaction and less suppressive symptoms when they found meeting and love in their lives.
00:07:25
Speaker
Another interesting note is Martha Sayles' research, where she studied a diverse school system.
00:07:31
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She accounted for gender, ethnicity, their egocentrism, and their purpose in life through a variety of tests.
00:07:37
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Students who score low in having a purpose or meaning to life
00:07:41
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were significantly more likely to engage in risky behaviors, such as dangerous drugs or drinking and driving.
00:07:47
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Also, we have a landmark study by Kendall Cottonbronck as well.
00:07:50
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She found that adolescents had incredibly close ties between their purpose and their identity.
00:07:55
Speaker
The more teenagers understood their place in the world, the more purposeful their actions that they took, and the more they understood who they were.
00:08:02
Speaker
They would then take a lot of really incredible steps to be the person they wanted to be because they wanted to meet their life's purpose.
00:08:08
Speaker
And a couple more highlights, also by Dr. Cottonbronck, who worked with Patrick Hill and Anthony Burrow in 2014, they found that grit, as in the idea of working hard to achieve your goals, not just doing something just to do it, that type of grit,
00:08:22
Speaker
had a substantial correlation with those who had a life direction and commitment to a purpose.
00:08:28
Speaker
Those who were confused about their futures tended to have very little commitment or it seemed to go in chunks.
00:08:35
Speaker
And then finally, there is some important research by Kyla Machel, David Disabato, and Todd Kashtan.
00:08:41
Speaker
They found that teenagers who live in poverty, who usually have higher antisocial or decreased post-social behaviors, can alleviate and escape these mindsets by finding a purpose in life.
00:08:53
Speaker
They found that to be the ultimate resiliency factor.
00:08:56
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It helped them develop skills and develop a mindset to achieve in spite of adversity.
00:09:05
Speaker
So, why focus on purpose?
00:09:08
Speaker
I don't really know how someone could not answer this question.
Debate: Well-roundedness vs. Individual Purpose
00:09:12
Speaker
I mean, of course you would focus on purpose.
00:09:14
Speaker
In addition to all the research previously presented, there are hundreds of studies that correlate increased and better life outcomes, even mortality rates, to having a purpose in life.
00:09:24
Speaker
The argument that usually arises is, do we need well-rounded people?
00:09:29
Speaker
As in, are there certain things that everyone has to know in order to be successful?
00:09:33
Speaker
Then, after we figure out what those things are, we should then devote all that time to achieving and finding students' life goals.
00:09:39
Speaker
Then, after we figure out what all those things are, we take the remainder of that time in achieving and finding students' life goals, figuring out their purpose.
00:09:46
Speaker
Of course, in the modern school system, nearly 100% of our time is on what the state has determined as a successful, well-rounded person.
00:09:54
Speaker
And no one wants to give up their valuable class time to soul searching when they're meeting their standards.
00:09:59
Speaker
And most teachers value their standards more than other teachers standards, meaning they're less likely to solely just give up their time.
00:10:04
Speaker
In order to have a purposeful, meaningful classroom, students have to hyper specialize.
00:10:10
Speaker
They can't find meeting from surface level ideas, especially when those ideas are being thrown at them day to day.
00:10:15
Speaker
in the same vein as their online lives are constantly communicating to them new
Teaching Purpose in Traditional Systems
00:10:19
Speaker
messages.
00:10:19
Speaker
To deep dive into a particular topic, especially when that topic isn't related to our core subject areas, is practically impossible in the traditional system.
00:10:28
Speaker
And that's not to say that we won't likely place some value on some topics we believe everyone should know.
00:10:33
Speaker
For example, personally, I think that the only takeaway I want 100% of my students to understand as a result of American history are tolerance and empathy.
00:10:42
Speaker
They have anti-racist, anti-sexist, pro-diverse viewpoints.
00:10:45
Speaker
And I'm sure that most subjects have a key underlying reason why they want students to know something very specific.
00:10:51
Speaker
I'm not sure if my views of being a history major influences what I deem important to all.
00:10:57
Speaker
After all, there's going to be many non-school subject majors who would bring something else to the table.
00:11:01
Speaker
But I think if we truly factor down our subjects, we could be providing students 80% or more of time on focusing on what they want to do rather than what we deem is important.
00:11:11
Speaker
This viewpoint is counter to maybe what a purely self-directed school would say, but in my progressive mindset, I think there is some value in sparking curiosity of young students through an effective teacher.
00:11:23
Speaker
However, do note, I do believe that relationships should be consensual.
00:11:27
Speaker
I don't think you can force students into learning things.
00:11:30
Speaker
My fear is taken on its most extreme, purely individualized classrooms like MOOCs or EdTech individualistic endeavors.
00:11:39
Speaker
Fear is that loss of community that you have in a classroom.
00:11:42
Speaker
If one solely hyper-specializes to find their purpose, but never sees a connection to others or interacts with their peers or is exposed to new ideas or diverse viewpoints, they're essentially a robot.
00:11:53
Speaker
They no longer are a human with purpose, they're just doing an action.
00:11:57
Speaker
All that being said, helping students find a purpose in school isn't really rocket science in terms of its actual implementation.
00:12:04
Speaker
but it's a bureaucratic nightmare when it comes to giving up what's already there.
00:12:08
Speaker
To teach purpose, we just need to let students explore the world according to their desires, present them with things that spark their curiosity, and provide resources for them to reflect and interact with each other.
00:12:18
Speaker
We need to value their thoughts and give them opportunities to specialize in projects that interest them, which they can then pursue with a mentor, which is usually the teacher, assisting them when they need it.
00:12:28
Speaker
None of this works if students have to complete X amounts of work each week in each subject or are tested on a slew of mandated knowledge that ultimately is forgotten or irrelevant.
Progressive Educational Models
00:12:38
Speaker
Again, operating a class where you give students time, or even better, a school gives students time, to seek out answers is really worthwhile.
00:12:46
Speaker
Developing close relationships with every student when you know what their interests are and helping guide them on their journey is life-changing and so incredibly important.
00:12:56
Speaker
It shouldn't be a small slew of time, like a genius hour where you're giving them an hour to explore.
00:13:02
Speaker
As Pam Moran, Chad Radcliffe, and Ira Sokol explain in Timeless Learning, why isn't it the other way around?
00:13:08
Speaker
As in, why is there not an hour of time for mandated knowledge with the rest being up to the individual or class?
00:13:14
Speaker
And all of this ties together with other topics on this podcast, so ungrading, critical pedagogy, reformative justice, and various conversations with those looking to reform schools.
00:13:24
Speaker
And the solution is often just to listen, learn, provide time, and give decision-making to the individual needs of students.
00:13:31
Speaker
Meaning that every school is going to look very different from each other and have their own solutions to problems.
00:13:36
Speaker
Notably, that means that schools are listening to their students to develop this framework, not assuming or making judgment calls on what their students can do.
00:13:44
Speaker
A lot of times schools will say something like, you know, I know what's best for our kids when really that's code for my kids are out of control.
00:13:53
Speaker
So I know I have to do this instead of actually listening to them.
00:13:57
Speaker
But to the overall point, our major issue is convincing legislators, school boards, administrators, and the public that all of the stuff that we're talking about matters.
Call for Educational Reform
00:14:05
Speaker
When you write or say it, it makes complete sense.
00:14:08
Speaker
I mean, how can you argue against the idea that students should have purpose in their lives?
00:14:12
Speaker
But to actually change the cultural discourse of public education takes a lot of work.
00:14:17
Speaker
So perhaps the next step is to bring up a discussion of purpose in school.
00:14:21
Speaker
Find the one thing that sparks educators to rise up and demand change.
00:14:25
Speaker
And maybe purpose is that calling.
00:14:28
Speaker
Each of these puzzle pieces that we have in creating a relevant schooling system works in tandem with each other.
00:14:33
Speaker
You can't have a school system primarily focused on finding purpose while still having a hyper-standardized testing facility.
00:14:41
Speaker
You can't have students have better social and emotional well-being and do better in school when you still have traditional grading practices.
00:14:47
Speaker
Everything goes along with each other.
00:14:49
Speaker
And once we find one of those things that starts igniting discussion at our school, the quicker we'll be reforming every notion toward progressive education.
00:15:05
Speaker
Hope you enjoyed this podcast.
00:15:06
Speaker
We want to connect with you and hear your thoughts.
00:15:08
Speaker
Follow us on Twitter, YouTube, Medium, and other social media, and be sure to check us out on our website at humanrestorationproject.org.
00:15:15
Speaker
If you want to support us in our endeavor of starting a movement towards progressive ed through high-quality resources, consider supporting us on Patreon.
00:15:22
Speaker
Thanks again.