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.