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Promoting Purposeful, Holistic Learning & Development
The Transformative Education Lab at the Lynch School of Education and Human Development is a hub for research on holistic, formative human development, and the curation of educational approaches that both support young people鈥檚 development as whole persons and prepare them to pursue purposeful lives.聽
Three key words that capture the essence of formative education are:
- Wholeness 鈥� supporting the full development of the person across intellectual, emotional, ethical, and spiritual dimensions.
- Purpose 鈥� helping learners discern who they are and how they are called to participate in a broader moral order.
- Community 鈥撀爁ostering a sense of connection and responsibility within a community, both as a context for the discernment of life purpose and as a commitment to further the common good.
What Distinguishes Formative Education at Boston College?聽
At the聽Transformative Education Lab (TEL), we build on Boston College鈥檚 Jesuit tradition and national leadership in whole-person learning. Our work highlights what makes formative education at 黑料吃瓜网 distinctive鈥攁nd how it prepares students and educators to thrive.
- Cura Personalis (Care for the Whole Person):聽Rooted in Jesuit values, formative education embraces the intellectual, emotional, social, moral, and spiritual dimensions of growth. TEL helps educators translate this holistic care into classroom practices and school cultures.
- Integration of Academics and Character:聽At 黑料吃瓜网, education is never just about knowledge鈥攊t鈥檚 about shaping lives of meaning. TEL connects rigorous scholarship with ethical reflection, emotional awareness, and spiritual development, preparing students to think deeply and act purposefully.
- Purpose and Vocation:聽Formative education invites learners to ask not only聽鈥淲hat do I want to do?鈥澛燽ut also聽鈥淲ho am I called to become?鈥澛燭hrough retreats, mentorship, and reflective practices, TEL helps students and educators cultivate clarity about vocation and service.
- Community and Belonging:聽Human development flourishes in relationship. TEL fosters spaces of inclusion, collaboration, and dialogue鈥攅ncouraging students and educators to experience belonging both within the university and in wider communities.
- Ethical and Civic Engagement:聽Formative education prepares people to be active citizens and moral leaders. TEL promotes dialogue on pressing social issues and develops resources that equip students and teachers to advance justice and the common good.
- Holistic and Interdisciplinary Approach:聽Because human growth is interconnected, formative education draws on research and practice across disciplines. TEL serves as a hub for innovation, bringing together educators, scholars, and leaders to reimagine what whole-person learning can be.