Pathways to Purpose Program

Bringing Purpose to Learning

Schools have given us the following challenge: If you were to design an integrated program for helping schools bring more purpose to learning, what would it look like? Our answer is Pathways to Purpose.

Pathways to Purpose is a one- to three-year program designed to shift schools towards more purposeful learning. We touch all stakeholders of a school community in a shared conversation about Purpose Learning — or the idea of learning as thinking, feeling, and doing.

Before working with a new school, we meet with the administrative team to understand existing initiatives and strategic goals. We explore school culture through a faculty survey. We understand where purpose-driven learning is already happening and how it might be expanded. From there we build a plan.

Most programs begin with Purpose Clarification, a five-hour workshop that creates the space for educators to explore and articulate their own unique purpose. We believe that teachers need to do the hard work of clarifying their own purpose, and stepping into their own story, before they can coach students to do the same. During this workshop, we also explore the future of learning by asking: “What if the purpose of school were purpose?”

Purpose Clarification sparks a yearlong journey, punctuated by two more workshops and other scheduled work, where faculty move into purpose-driven curriculum design. We also observe classrooms, meet with teachers and administrative leaders, and adapt the program to evolving needs and opportunities.

The elements of a typical Pathways to Purpose program include:

Purpose Clarification, Purpose Exploration, and Purpose Design workshops, held in the fall, winter, and spring.
Identification of three to four teacher teams for year-round coaching in our Virtual Coaching Institute.
Webinars on specific topics, such as assessment strategies or place-based learning partnerships.
Two days of classroom observation, coaching, and reflection.
Parent night and a working session with trustees.

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The goal of the Pathways to Purpose program is to engage the entire school community and stakeholders in a dialogue around purpose in learning, in order to:

Help educators understand their purpose and communicate their “why” statement in compelling ways as a teacher.
Support educators as they implement purpose learning into core learning, electives, advisory, and experiential learning.
Support the shift towards learner-centered teaching and associated pedagogies, such as project-based and inquiry-based learning.
Build a foundation for future innovation by promoting a faculty culture that is more vulnerable and open to feedback, and a community-wide understanding of what great learning looks and feels like.

“From global travel, to Board and teacher development and training, to the full scale implementation of the Pathways to Purpose framework, our School and community are a better place thanks to our work with World Leadership School.” William Webb, Head of School, Fountain Valley School

Host a Global Gathering, a one-and-a-half day professional learning experience for not only your teachers, but also parents and trustees. It’s a community event that creates consensus and builds a brand around Purpose Learning.
Host a Youth Action Accelerator, a half-day workshop that brings together diverse students in a dynamic conversation around exploring purpose and taking action in the world. Global Gatherings and Youth Action Accelerators can be done simultaneously.
Inspire a team at the K-12 Purpose Summit, a four-day deep dive into Purpose Learning which is held each fall in Boulder, Colorado.
Illuminate educators with one of our life- and career-changing Educator Travel programs in El Paso, Texas, and other locations.
Immerse students through one of our partnership-based Student Travel programs in locations that range from the Eastern Shore of Virginia to Santa Fe, New Mexico to Tanzania to Peru.
Consider Leadership Consulting in the areas of vision and coaching.

“Our Pathways to Purpose work with the World Leadership School continually engages our faculty on multiple levels. The World Leadership School team is effective because they honor the experience and intelligence of the teachers. They are giving us the platform to rethink and reimagine our impact on students.”Jay Parker, Director, The Institute for Leadership & Purpose, Calvert School