Students are always being told to do their best and that there is intrinsic value to putting in a hard day of work, regardless of whether they achieve what they set out to do. Students are also expected to achieve results from their work. After all, there seems to be little value in working so hard if goals aren’t met in the end. All students must balance these conflicting expectations throughout their lives and figure out their own way to define the value of their efforts.
Lao Tzu’s conversation, which cautions against a fixation on goal-setting, fits perfectly with the concepts of minimalism and anti-consumerism. To teach this concept, I would reach back to whom many consider to be the original minimalist, Henry David Thoreau. An …
When having students read the nonfiction novel by journalist Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers: The Story of Success, I would use the Lao Tzu conversation to spark a discussion and debate about goal-setting in general. We would start off with the essential …
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