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CRITICAL THINKING
By Matthew Howell
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I recently met with an eighth-grade student who had been accepted to a specialized high school
focused on science. I wanted to compliment her on her achievement and learn more about the
academic experiences that led to her choice of high school. I already knew her to be a young lady who
was determined, hardworking, and intelligent—but I didn’t know what made her tick.
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During our discussion, I asked about her experiences in our school. She shared her arc of learning as a
student, and gushed about the joy she had as a member of both our after-school band program and our
I asked what had made her choose the high school she had, given that she had strengths in a variety of
other areas. She smiled and said, “I’m really fascinated by science and medicine—it makes me
curious.”
She planned to continue her pursuits in the arts, but she was clear that her love for science was going
I left the conversation inspired as an educational leader. Certainly we have to fulfill mandates and meet
educational standards, but so often our students leave our schools uncertain about who they are in the
world and without a fully formed sense of purpose. Academics without purpose can be an exercise void
of substance.
We can powerfully influence the level of learner actualization in our classrooms if we ask the right
FACILITATING SELF-REFLECTION
Asking the right questions develops a deeper understanding of self. How many professionals do you
know who would have chosen an alternate career path if they had asked different questions at the
Take a learner who is reluctantly engaged in a project. Maybe they enter into the work with a series of
starts and stops, or they ask the teacher for a topic change several times before getting into the meat of
the work, only to come up with nothing in the end. What if the student was given an opportunity to
reflect on what they’re worried about in an effort to understand what stops them from fully following
through?
I’ve seen many students decide early on in their learning life that they were good at one subject and
bad at another. These beliefs are often difficult to dismiss. Asking students to identify topics they’re
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interested in but haven’t tried offers amazing benefits. A deeper dive into this line of questioning may
Students need to develop a consistent, self-regulated feedback loop. Effective questions can facilitate
this. What is your proudest achievement? What is your biggest failure? What would you do if you knew
that failure was not an option? These are the types of questions students need to consider on a regular
basis.
questions are leveraged properly and educators more fully understand students’ interests. Learners can
begin to take ownership of their goals and develop authentic growth points.
A standards-driven education can be both highly productive and personally rewarding. There’s no
reason to think that these things cannot exist in the same space—but in order for this to happen
effectively, students must develop their own path to outcomes of their choosing.
Much the same as a hiker entering the woods, when students begin a project or unit of learning there
should be trail markers along the way. In education we’re very good at devising benchmark
assessments to collect formative data, but what of the innate and essential learners who are before us?
Teachers should mindfully craft authentic learning reflections along the way for their students. The form
need not matter. Pen and paper suffice, as does a rubric, or a Google form. I’ve seen teachers
seamlessly incorporate these reflections into student conferences. The point is for students to have a
In Hamlet, Polonius famously advises his son, Laertes, “To thine own self be true / And it must follow, as
the night the day, / Thou canst not then be false to any man.” But what if our students do not know
themselves?
Learners who are authentically true to themselves will explore with abandon. The insights gained from
reflective questions can be used by students and teachers to develop links between various subjects
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As students tend the garden of self-discovery, new curiosities will naturally arise. The transfer of key
understandings and the information that applies to multiple concepts can provide inspiration and clarity
to the confused and disaffected learner. For those who are already on a path to their most authentic
self, these questions will support a deeper and more rewarding journey.
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CRITICAL THINKING
November 5, 2018
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