Education for Purpose

• In Event: Whole Person Education: Mapping the Landscape

Abstract

Damon defines purpose as “a stable and generalized intention to accomplish something that is at the same time meaningful to the self and consequential for the world beyond the self” (2009, p. 33). This can involve a sense of being called to participate in a larger moral order. Some versions of whole person education ask young people to develop a sense of purpose. This means, first, asking young people to recognize a more ideal state of the world and the appropriate role of the self in that world. Students might be drawn toward an ecological vision of harmony with nature, or a political vision of structures and practices that foster justice and dialogue, or a relational vision of responsibility for the other, or a religious vision of a divinely ordained order, or some other account of how the world is meant to be a certain way. Educating young people to have a sense of purpose means, second, asking them to figure out how they can bring themselves and others closer to that ideal. This does not involve indoctrination. It is not our place as educators in a heterogeneous society to tell young people what vision of the moral order they should adopt. But whole person approaches that emphasize purpose demand that young people ask questions about what will give their lives meaning and purpose and what the world needs them to do—while leaving it up to them to determine what vision of a larger moral order they embrace.
All forms of whole person education at least tacitly presuppose some vision of a worthwhile human life, and such visions can provide a sense of purpose for individuals. Some approaches nonetheless engage questions of purpose more robustly than others. Many versions of civic and moral education that pursue intrinsic ends, for example, provide visions that underlie a sense of meaning and purpose. It is useful to explore whether and how different approaches prepare young people to lead purposeful lives, for two reasons. First, it is important to understand that many influential whole person movements focus on meaning and purpose. Second, from Damon (2009) and others, we know that young people struggle with questions of purpose as a developmental challenge, and it makes sense for educators to consider whether this might be a productive topic.

Author

• William Damon, Stanford University