Distinctive Pedagogies that Address the Meaning Crisis in Higher Education

Research towards Deliberately Developmental Spaces

Springboards recently published white paper

In Springboard’s first White Paper on Distinctive Pedagogies that address the meaning crisis in higher education, they posit that it is possible, even imperative, to instill in young people a durable sense of meaning and purpose by creating opportunities to experience and practice living meaningful and purposeful lives.

Doing so goes against the grain of most higher educational programs, even though higher education is the ‘place to look for solutions’. With this in mind, programs like Living and Learning Institutes and Micro Colleges are experimenting with and implementing educational programs which emphasize ‘new ways of meaningful living’. 

The paper highlights four examples of innovative programs and their pedagogical practices which help to address the meaning crisis: Seguinland Institute, Thoreau College, Outer Coast, and Tidelines Institute. The conditions and practices used at these four institutes encourage students to create shared goals and codes of conduct, see themselves as a significant player with rational purpose, and develop an intelligible connection with their environment.

Read the paper

You can read the full paper here, and learn more about the project on Springboards website here.