Mary’s
Minute
“The purpose of our lives is to be happy.”
~ Dalai Lama
“The purpose of human
life is to serve, and to show compassion and the will to help others.”
~ Albert
Schweitzer
When we ponder the “meaning of life” it can translate to a
deep philosophical discussion or a fun conversation to lighten the mood. The truth is at some point we all ponder the
question, and from an educational standpoint we take it a step further to ponder
the purpose of education. Just as philosophers
spend countless hours contemplating the query, educators focus many strategic
planning sessions on the same basic inquiry.
I think being happy is pretty important, so the Dalai Lama’s
simple quote has great meaning to me, but I have long believed that we have an
obligation to make the world a better place.
The great thing is that the two viewpoints go hand and hand since the
key to being happy is serving others and being compassionate. Finding happiness is sometimes allusive, and
moments of happiness may occur in more selfish ways but true happiness comes
through living a life of service to others.
How does all of this translate to education? One of my favorite quotes about the purpose
of education comes from my mentor, Jerry Harste, “Education is a metaphor for
the kind of lives we want our students to lead.” Using Jerry’s definition, if we figure out
the purpose of life, we also have figured out the purpose of education. Our focus is obviously learning, but at a
deeper level it is about finding joy in learning and serving other through what
we learn.
I love to think about “deep” questions – I think it helps us
to realize that we are part of something bigger than ourselves, and also to not
take ourselves too seriously. Education
and life are complicated endeavors.
Reflection and conversation around our mission in life and our vision
for education are important, but sometimes the simplest answer is the
best. What kind of people do we want to
be?
Have
a great week!
Mary
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