Students like Leal who proposed real-world irrigation and soil regeneration solutions as part of their AP science curriculum, or studied constitutional principles and took part in a simulation of an electoral caucus in an AP Government class, outperformed peers in traditional classrooms on AP exams by eight percentage points
when adolescents are given the opportunity to project themselves into the future, engage with complex civic issues, and think about how what they’re learning might alter the course of their lives, they find more meaning in classroom work, reflect more frequently on who they are and what they want—and perform better academically.
re wired to consider material through the lens of “cultural values and associated emotions to infer social and ethical implications.”
When teens have a “personally important and self-transcendent ‘why’ for learning,” they can "bear even a tedious and unpleasant ‘how’
war, poverty, and justice
students showed that purpose and motivation were deeply intertwined
you might invite guest speakers from the community to talk about their work
Future Goals Gala,” asking students to imagine they’re going to have a 30-year class reunion and sending them home with questions like "What places do you really hope to go to?” or "What kind of impact do you hope to have in your community in your field of study?” to help them imagine their lives 30 years in the future.