The point of school is not to get good at school; it’s to prepare our students to lead happy, meaningful lives of rich significance. When helping students to think about the world of work, we can talk about seeking four things:
- That which we are good at
- That which we love
- That which the world needs
- That which we can be paid for
Most of the various combinations are shown in this rather striking diagram; I think it is telling that we seem to have words for only a few of the combinations; perhaps we have for too long settled for only one or two of these. No longer, I hope, and to name the sweet spot we can turn to Japanese for the word ikigai (生き甲斐) meaning, roughly a reason for being or more poetically the process of allowing the self’s possibilities to blossom. That we can find deep moral satisfaction in our work as well as our personal lives is something we try to communicate to our students every day.
It seems to me that in the big picture of our students’ (and indeed our own) lives, ikigai has to be where we should be aiming. Every now and then it’s good to be reminded of this, and we need to help our students to step out of their intense daily realities to take this broader balcony view of their lives. Of course that’s never easy to do – especially when the world and our children are developing quickly. But even knowing the sweet spot exists is a step in the right direction; we should discuss these ideas with our families – a great Christmas present perhaps, even if an untraditional (and perhaps unappreciated) one!
