Purpose Challenge Toolkit

Encourage students to use the Purpose Challenge Toolkit to kick-start their thinking about purpose.

How can teachers help students cultivate purpose?

  • Encourage discussion and reflection related to purpose.
  • Ask students about their lives: What is important to you? What do you want to accomplish and be remembered for?
  • Integrate questions about purpose into the curriculum. For example, discuss the ethical dimensions of what is being learned. Encourage students to explore how the curriculum relates to their own values and goals.
  • Nurture the positive attitude, self-confidence, sense of responsibility, and “entrepreneurial spirit” (goal-setting, persistence, resilience, resourcefulness, etc.) that will enable students to turn their dreams into reality.
  • Talk with students about your own sense of purpose and what makes your life meaningful.
  • Try out the activities to get familiar with how to foster purpose.
  • Kristin Neff
    “Greater Good is unparalleled in bringing together fresh ideas, the latest science, and daily practices that can help people thrive. If you want to learn about empirically proven ways to enhance personal well-being while building more compassionate connections with others, the Greater Good Science Center is the place to start.”

    ― Kristin Neff, Ph.D., associate professor, University of Texas at Austin & author of Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself

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