Personal Work Manifestos
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Explain the concept of a manifesto to the students: a manifesto is a statement declaring one’s principles and intentions, which can be political or religious in nature. Tell students that they will write their own, personal manifestos declaring their principles and intentions for their work lives. The manifestos should include the following:
- a “mission statement” that explains the student’s overarching belief about what work in general means to them;
- a set of principles or values to guide the student’s decisions about what work s/he is willing and not willing to do;
- a set of intentions about how the student will achieve their employment goals. What will it take for them to achieve these work goals? What obstacles might stand in their way?
Though the manifestos are meant to be personal, encourage the students to think about how their individual work goals relate to the larger community—in what ways might they be part of a collective? How does their work relate to the work of others? Who might they turn to if they needed to make change in their work conditions?
View some example manifestos.
