What’s important to you?
Back to the power of vision . . . I know that leadership vision and the articulation of this vision is important in all organizations, including schools and school divisions. I also know that often the leader’s vision differs from others in an organization. A two part question for teachers: 1. What is your vision? And 2. Do you share your vision with your students?
P.S. My vision: School – a place where we help kids learn. (simple, maybe – but really think about it . . .)
August 31st, 2007 at 10:30 pm
I agree that building a shared vision is one of the essential tasks in school leadership. In an effort to be transparent and united we spent time revising our school mission statement. It was a collaborative work of the whole staff and now we are in the process of sharing it and seeking input both in our local community and the wider community. I have shared it on my blog and invite you to add your feedback. ( see the post “Perspectives”)
September 1st, 2007 at 4:10 pm
A very succinct vision but one that is at the heart of what we do. I would suggest that we might shorten it even more to be “School: A place where we help children.” Schools today are much more than just places where children learn, although one could argue that all that takes place in schools is somehow related to learning. I would suggest that schools need to be more than just for learning but places of safety, where we challenge them to try to see the things from many different perspectives. Part of the will require some type of learning but part is the process of examining life from different perspectives. I might be just slicing this a different way but I think that one of the challenges of schools is to go beyond just learning since that can be reduced to simple facts and recall, to be places of opportunity and option. As an administrator, I hope to challenge my staff to help students with learning being only part of what we do.
September 3rd, 2007 at 9:10 pm
Hi Kelly – good ideas. I have always thought that schools could be places where children received the services that they require. The thing that I like about including learning in my vision is that it keeps our primary purpose at the forefront. I also think it is important to emphasize the helping kids part, too; teaching alone does not necessarily mean learning is taking place.
September 3rd, 2007 at 10:13 pm
In the spirit of simplicity how about asking kids, “what did you learn in school today?” in ways that really challenge them to consider what they are learning. This is why I continue to ask teachers to allow kids to demonstrate and share their learning to a larger audience. It requires them to think about learning and also allows teachers to have some insights they may not have in other forms.
I ask my own kids what they learned but it’s so unnatural for them. It’s not simply that they haven’t learned or aren’t learning, they just see it as a job. I’d love for them to have to justify the hours they spend in school everyday. This is so much a part of the assessment work we have been doing; having kids take ownership of their learning. Too often, we let them off the hook.
Let’s get their way and allow them to articulate and demonstrate their learning.
September 5th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
The part I like about your idea is that it gets away from the notion that school is different from “the real world.” When kids demonstrate their own learning, it tells them what they have learned is important – to themselves and to others.
September 5th, 2007 at 5:13 pm
Exactly. The question might be “How do we elevate learning so students see their work as important?”