The Chicago Wisdom Project has identified a number of goals for participants and for the overall impact of this work on education and on the society as a whole. While this work is an organic process, one that cannot be reduced to specific outcomes, one that is different each time and for each student, and one that is full of surprises, it is expected that CWP can say the following about the students who complete the program:

• Students should complete a creative project, giving them a sense of their ability to accomplish something meaningful.
• Students should expand their sense of who they are by seeing themselves as part of a broader community and as having deeper connections to their ancestors.
• Students should begin to see the future in terms of possibilities rather than limitations.
• Students should have the confidence, after completing their rite of passage and their project, to teach others.
• Students should have a sense of their passion, that
• Students should be aware of the issues that face their community and other communities around the world and how those issues are interconnected.
• Students should have a greater appreciation for nature.

In addition, there are broader cultural goals that the Chicago Wisdom Project expects from the work. These goals fall under two categories:

• We believe that our students can become creators of culture, not merely consumers, and to challenge the assumptions of modern, industrial culture through the arts.
• Through our work and the trainings we hold for teachers and youth workers, we hope to spark a debate about the true meaning of education beyond the test-centered and utilitarian focus of the current political discourse. The publication of Creatively Maladjusted: The Wisdom Education Movement Manifesto and ReImagining: Education, Culture, World also help to spread the word about this work.