{"id":34,"date":"2019-07-08T08:06:44","date_gmt":"2019-07-08T08:06:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/drkevinsmith\/?p=34"},"modified":"2025-10-30T04:56:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T04:56:14","slug":"teachers-purpose-and-priorities-in-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/drkevinsmith\/teachers-purpose-and-priorities-in-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Aphorisms & Axioms: Finding Purpose in Teaching."},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

One of Nietzsche<\/a>\u2019s aphorisms states \u201cIf you have your why for life, you can get by with almost any how<\/a>.\u201d An aphorism<\/a> is a \u201cpithy observation which contains a general truth.\u201d For Nietzsche, aphorisms (unlike axioms), provide the potential for meaning-making in a short and succinct form. Nietzsche held the key motivation in life was the search for meaning, even if it led to unhappiness. Viktor Frankl, another celebrated and controversial<\/a> existentialist and psychiatrist held a similar view. His logotherapy, a form of existential therapy, was largely informed by his belief that to be fully human is to search for meaning, and the search for meaning can provide us with purpose.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In 2013, I was a researcher on the WISERDEducation Multicohort Study<\/a> \u2013 a longitudinal study involving over 2000 pupil participants in over 29 schools across Wales. One of my favourite topics we addressed was “teachers’ priorities.” I believe by understanding teachers\u2019 priorities, we can come to understand their sense of \u201cpurpose.\u201d We surveyed 216 teachers and asked “what is your highest priority as a teacher?” We received 175 open-ended responses which were coded (Scott\u2019s Pi .87<\/a>) through iterative analyses into the following themes: Academics, Achieve potential, Adulthood, Enjoy learning, Personal development, Pupil well-being, Pupils, Qualifications and Teaching.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Frequency of Themes<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"\"<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The themes directly reflect teachers\u2019 responses. Some responses were literally \u201cthe pupils<\/em>\u201d or \u201chelp pupils achieve their potential<\/em>\u201d while others were more descriptive: \u201cThat my class are happy, confident and eager to learn<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Limitations<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Priorities \u2013 or \u201cpurpose\u201d in teaching cannot be easily understood through a questionnaire. This analysis is just a starting point. Interviews and other qualitative methods are more useful in teasing out teachers\u2019 prioritise in their work, but these responses are still useful. Some responses were short and to the point \u201cGCSE results<\/em>\u201d or \u201cPupil well-being.<\/em>\u201d Others were more detailed, \u201cTeach the children 9 am-3.30pm and give them the best possible education. Continue in the job! Reduce purposeless paperwork<\/em>.\u201d Most replies were somewhere in between: \u201cto make every child’s school experience worthwhile<\/em>\u201d or \u201cTo keep my performance data in line with what is expected<\/em>.\u201d Still, whether they are perfunctory, or a refinement of a more sophisticated priority, the responses provide an intriguing insight into teachers\u2019 motivations and sense of purpose.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

What I find most striking is over 20% of teachers\u2019 responses referred to pupils achieving their potential. Unlike an aphorism, this seems like a type of axiom \u2013 a self-evident truth that doesn\u2019t require further investigation or scrutiny. It is a desirable aim, but is it a reasonable goal? In my opinion, \u201chelp pupils achieve their potential\u201d is a superficial response \u2013 a slogan with no actionable meaning. It\u2019s what we say when we don\u2019t know what else to say. Think about this phrase and ask yourself the following questions:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

What is potential?<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

    \r\n
  1. Do pupils possess the same amount, or type(s) of potential?<\/li>\r\n
  2. Is potential a singular quality or does it have varied embodiments, performances, applications and trajectories?<\/li>\r\n
  3. Is it possible to achieve our potential, or do we only ever fulfil a portion of it \u2013 how do we know the difference?<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

    What must we do to help pupils achieve their potential?<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

      \r\n
    1. To achieve something, we must know its limits. How can achieve something without there being an end? Where does a pupil\u2019s potential end?<\/li>\r\n
    2. What happens when a pupil raises their hand in a lesson and says \u201cMiss, I\u2026 I think I just achieved my potential?\u201d What are the consequences of achieving our potential? Is it desirable to achieve our potential?<\/li>\r\n
    3. What is needed to measure potential? What is the method for measuring potential and what is the theoretical rationale for it? Where are these tools? How are they derived and by whom?<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

      Aims in education are dominated by aphorisms and axioms, some are useful, many are not. The new curriculum framework for Wales<\/a> is organised around \u201cfour purposes, (4Ps)\u201d and whether they are \u201caphoristic\u201d or \u201caxiomatic\u201d is up to individual analysis, but what we can\u2019t afford is to have the 4Ps act as proxies for teachers\u2019 priorities. Teachers\u2019 priorities can align with them, but if they are simply adopted by educators they can be reduced to less-useful slogans like \u201chelp pupils achieve their potential.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

      Where do we go we from here?<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

      Over the next few posts, I\u2019ll present further, initial analyses of these data and discuss why purpose and “aims-talk” in education are crucial for a \u201cgood education.\u201d I\u2019ll discuss Frankl in more detail and how his concept of meaningfulness, significance and purpose have potential links to Bandura\u2019s<\/a> concepts of efficacy, and how this relates to teaching.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

      Reflective Questions<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

      1.) What is your top priority as a _____________? Why?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

      2.) How do you find meaning as a ____________?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

      3.) How might you know if you are achieving your purpose?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

       <\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Are teachers guided by aphorisms or axioms? This post looks at what teachers say their top priorities are and questions whether phrases like \u201chelp pupils achieve their potential\u201d offer genuine meaning or empty slogans. Drawing on Nietzsche, Frankl and Welsh education research, it invites reflection on how we find\u2014and define\u2014purpose in teaching.","protected":false},"author":1081,"featured_media":35,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[27,23,24,29,12,7,26,22,28,21,20,30,25,10,19],"class_list":["post-34","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-educational-research","tag-aims-in-education","tag-aphorism","tag-axiom","tag-bandura","tag-curriculum","tag-education","tag-educational-research","tag-existentialism","tag-frankl","tag-nietzsche","tag-purpose","tag-teacher-efficacy","tag-teaching","tag-wales","tag-wiserd"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"meta_box":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/drkevinsmith\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/570\/2019\/07\/Priorities.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/drkevinsmith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/drkevinsmith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/drkevinsmith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/drkevinsmith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1081"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/drkevinsmith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/drkevinsmith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":343,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/drkevinsmith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34\/revisions\/343"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/drkevinsmith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/drkevinsmith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/drkevinsmith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/drkevinsmith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}