Aspiration (or, Connect to Purpose)
An individual’s learning is always based in personal experience and personal meaning. We must identify what matters to us for our voice to be of true value.
To aspire is to have a great ambition or ultimate goal; to desire strongly; to strive toward an end; and/or to soar. The word derives from the Latin aspirare, or, “to desire.”
To use one’s voice, therefore, means more than to simply draw attention to oneself. It also means developing the capacity to identify the ideas, values and issues that matter most to us. In the process of helping young people find their voice, educators must provide opportunities for students to connect to the ideas and issues they find most meaningful.
