Educators' Perceptions and Realizations of Leading Lives of Meaning and Purpose

• In Event: Making Sense of Innovations and Interventions in Catholic Pre-K–12 Schools

Abstract

Meaning and purpose in life can lead to optimal human development. Realizing purpose can begin in elementary school and that educators should nurture this goal in their practice as long educators themselves are leading, refining, or working toward leading a life of meaning and purpose. Twenty-nine urban Catholic school educators participating in a teacher formation program completed an online, modified version of the Revised Youth Purpose Interview (Andrews, Damon, Bundick, Jones, Bronk, & Mariano, 2006) to explore to what degree meaning and purpose were realized. Preliminary findings suggest that all perceived that serving/advocating for others provided purpose in life, effective advocacy via teaching lent meaning to their lives and worked toward eliminating educational inequity and racial injustice.

Authors

• Audrey Anne Friedman, Boston College

• Kierstin M Giunco, Boston College

• Myra Reynoso, Boston College

• Cristina Joan Hunter, Boston College

• Charles Tower Cownie, Boston College