In a previous newsletter, I said that if schools are going to prepare students to flourish and thrive in the 21st Century, they must be completely reimagined and holistically transformed around four key circles to be:

Hubs of Innovation and Creativity

Centers of Purpose and Meaning

Communities of Care and Belonging

Hotbeds of Advocacy and Activism

I wrote that, instead of sitting in desks and rows doing worksheets and cramming for quizzes, our students should be putting creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, imagination, and ingenuity to work solving not merely algebraic equations…but the existential crises of our times

In this newsletter, I want to talk about the second circle:

Schools as Centers of Purpose and Meaning

The growing body of empirical data related to teenage stress, anxiety, depression, sadness, loneliness, and self-harm is staggering.

Consider the following statistics related to teenagers today:

• Cigna U.S. Loneliness Index shows that young adults are now the loneliest generation of Americans, more disconnected and isolated even than elderly.

• NHS study shows shocking rise in self harm: The number of children and young people under 18 self-harming has risen dramatically in the past 10 years.

• Self harm among girls aged 13 to 16 has risen by 68% in the past three years

• More teenagers and young adults die from suicide than from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, pneumonia, influenza, and chronic lung disease COMBINED.

• A study of pediatric hospitals found admissions of patients ages 5 to 17 for suicidal thoughts and actions more than doubled from 2008 to 2015. The group at highest risk for suicide are white males between 14 and 21

• Suicide is listed as the second leading cause of death among youth ages 10-24 in my home state of Oklahoma

• The number of teenagers experiencing significant depression, stress, and self-harm is greater now than during the Great Depression, World War II, and Vietnam.

The lack of identifiable purpose and meaning is literally destroying our kids…and it is long past time we as educators made this our number one priority

The good news is that identifying and pursuing a sense of purpose and meaning can reverse those statistics and lead to overall healthier mental and physiological well-being

The Stanford Center on Adolescence describes purpose as “a long-term, forward-looking intention to accomplish aims that are meaningful to the self and of consequence to the world beyond the self”.

Research shows that those with a higher sense of purpose and meaning in their lives are

• healthier

• more active

• more cognitively aware

• more engaged

• and have a higher chance of living longer

The research goes on to suggest that having a sense of purpose is also associated with

• lower rates of Alzheimer’s

• less chronic disease

• lower rates of depression, anxiety, and stress

When it comes to adolescents, the research on purpose is even more compelling

According to the Stanford Youth Purpose study, students with a sense of purpose and meaning are happier, healthier, and sleep better. They are deeper learners and are able to manage stress better. They report higher life satisfaction, healthier relationships, and are more hopeful.

This sense of purpose in students contributes to their psychological well-being and flourishing, particularly in the areas of happiness, joy, and the feeling of“fulfilling one’s purpose and living as one was inherently intended to live” .

In short, students who have a sense of purpose—who have the long term, forward looking aims that they deem meaningful to themselves and to the larger world—are far more likely to flourish and thrive, have higher academic outcomes, are more self-regulated and self-motivated, operate from a position of goals they want to achieve, and see themselves as meaningful contributors to society

Therefore, when you take into account the tragic statistics related to teenage depression, anxiety, and self harm, coupled with the compounding power a sense of purpose brings, it is clear schools must do far more than teach Shakespeare and trinomials.

For the sake of our students, our schools MUST be places of purpose and meaning

Traditional schools do an apt job of pushing students towards achievement

But what students are desperately searching for is meaning and purpose

The desperately want to know that their lives matter

They want to find a purpose worthy of their one precious life

It is possible that our students need to read Dickens and study the Krebs Cycle…but it is imperative that we help them find meaning and purpose in their lives

That we listen to them and help them listen to themselves

That we give them purpose-full courses that allow them to be meaning makers, taking the disciplines of the classes and using them to construct purpose for themselves, for others, and for the larger world

Schools transformed into places of purpose and meaning help students grapple with the biggest questions of life

Questions related to:

• Who am I?

• What is my place in the world?

• What is it that life is asking of me?

• Where does the world need me?

Schools shaped to be places of purpose and meaning would never have students asking “Why does this matter” or “When will I ever use this?”.

Instead, the purpose and meaning are clearly baked in from the start.

In fact, in such schools, students should be invited to infuse the learning with their own sense of purpose and meaning…moving “subject centered” classes to “learner led” classes wherein the students are leading the learning from their own innate sense of curiosity, wonder, enchantment, passion, and imaginations.

Students in purpose centered schools would take classes driven by meaning and purpose

Students in purpose centered math classes would use geometry to design and build tiny homes

Students in purpose centered botany classes would grow edible gardens, using their own vegetables to host a neighborhood feast

Students in purpose centered literature classes would publish their own graphic novels and bind their own books of original poetry

Students in purpose centered history classes would create life sized, walkable museum exhibits depicting the Battle of Bastogne or the Freedom Riders bus

Students in purpose centered fashion electives would create beautiful designs of up-cycled clothing, making them available to those in need in their local community

Students in purpose centered entrepreneurial classes would see their own ideas for products, businesses, or nonprofits come to life in real time

Students in purpose centered schools would

• create design briefs for local non profits

• 3D print models of working prosthetic limbs

• build hydroponic greenhouses in blighted neighborhoods

• give spoken words on the Black female experience

• perform original music related to the impact of elders in Indigenous cultures

• use their mathematical abilities to design more walkable cities

• host movie nights to show the original films they made before sending them off for consideration in local festivals

Students in purpose centered schools would engage in Mastery projects of their own choosing, combining rigorous scholarly research with hands on practical apprenticeships in such areas as: marine biology, mechanical engineering, filmmaking, social anthropology, cognitive science, criminal psychology…whatever their heart desires!

**Check out an example of one student’s Mastery Project on racial inequity

In sum, schools desiring to reverse the traumatic statistics related to adolescent stress, anxiety, depression, and self harm must transform themselves to become places where purpose and meaning drive every facet of the learning environment…offering students places where their own sense of purpose and meaning is evident to all

→ Key Takeaway: If we want to reverse the statistics of trauma in our students and offer them an education worthy of their one precious lives, we must transform schools to be places of purpose and meaning.

→ Key Resource: The work of the incredible people at World Leadership School are leading the way when it comes to purpose-based schooling . Check them out to see how they are helping schools become places of purpose and meaning in very intentional, authentic ways

Today’s Action Step:

→ TEACHERS: Consider how you might reimagine and reengineer your classrooms to be places of and meaning. How might you start with purpose in the lesson plans and units so that students get a strong sense of the “why” behind what is being taught? How might you invite students to bring their own sense of purpose into the learning environment?

→ SCHOOL LEADERS: What might it look like to transform your schools into places of intentional purpose and meaning? What steps would you need to consider to help your site become purpose centered? How could you support your teachers to put student purpose front and center?

My life’s work is to help see schools transformed into places of human and communal flourishing.

When you are ready to make the move towards purpose and meaning at your site, here are 4 ways I can help you:

→ Check out the work we are doing at Odyssey Leadership Academy: If you would like to see a model of schooling that has completely shaken the Etch-a-Sketch to transform what schools could be, we would love to have you check us out! Everything we do is centered around fostering purpose and meaning.

If you want to see what that looks like in action, our next ReimaginED Educator Site Visit is September 28-29, 2023. Come spend two days with us and let’s chat!

→Check out my website: If you're looking for direct, one-on-one advice on transforming your school or classroom, my website is where I take all the wisdom, experience, struggle, knowledge, and expertise I have learned over my 30 years as a thought leader in reimagining education and bring it all to YOU! 

From one-on-one dream sessions, to consulting with your team, to sharing at your site, I am passionate about helping you make a difference in your learning community.

→ The Flourishing Schools Podcast: For a more in-depth, deep dive into thinking imaginatively about schooling, check out my “Flourishing Schools” podcast, where I jam with thought leaders, experts, community leaders, educators, students, and parents on all things related to the intersection of schools and student well-being

→ The Odyssey Center for Transformative Schooling: If you are looking for more upstream, systemic resources, the OCTS is just the thing! From leader cohorts to educator collaboratives, onsite training to inspirational retreats, this is the hub for inspiring hope and resourcing transformation!

The OCTS partners with insightful, innovative educators just like you from around the world to help bring about upstream, systemic change.

**For a deep dive, come join us this November 2-4 in Scottsdale, AZ for the OCTS RecenterED Retreat where a group of intentional thought leaders in education will engage learning for human flourishing in the 21st Century

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