What is Success?

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Area: Ethics, History and Social Studies
Grade Level: High School & Beyond, Middle School
Estimated Time Necessary: 30-60 minutes

Lesson Plan

Objectives:
Exploration of different perspectives
Students will explore different perspectives on success and morality, particularly by comparing Buddhism, Confucianism, and the broader “Western” ideology.
Construction of arguments
Students will construct philosophical arguments in response to varying views.
Construction of philosophical views
Students will construct one's own philosophical view of success.
  1. Intro (2 minutes)
  2. Interactive Activity: Defining Success “Pre-Sampler” (8 minutes)
    1. Students move to different sides of the room depending on how much they agree with the prompt. The teacher can say something like: “if you agree with the prompt, move left, but if you don’t, move right. You can move as much as you want to reflect how much you agree or disagree.”
    2. Questions/Prompts
      1. It is important to be successful. 
      2. Success is more about an inner state like being a good person/feeling happy than external measures like wealth, status, or change created.
      3. Society defines what success is, not the individual. 
    3. After each question, ask a few students why they chose their side (one on each side, one in the middle). 
  3. Slideshow (15 minutes) – go over slides with worksheet to write/take notes on (5 minutes for slides, 10-12 minutes for discussion)
    1. After the slides, have the students discuss what they think (first in small groups for 4 min—pick one question to discuss). Ask the class if there’s one they resonate with.
      1. Which ideas of success do you agree with? Why do you agree with it?
      2. Are certain ideas of what it means to be successful bad? Bad in certain contexts? 
      3. How has our society shaped our understanding of success?
      4. Is it beneficial to society for everyone to have the same idea of success? Why or why not?
  4. Reflection/Assignment (5 minutes)
    1. Go over making 1 report card for success according to the student’s own philosophies  (inspired by discussed philosophies)—complete after workshop
      1. Make these colorful/interesting and grade yourself on each of these standards with teacher comments

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Resources

This lesson plan was created for PLATO by: Litong Nie and Emma Zhang, Students at Leland High School and founders of Wanna Talk Philosophy?.

This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

If you would like to change or adapt any of PLATO's work for public use, please feel free to contact us for permission at info@plato-philosophy.org.