After the second skinny cappuccino, I asked her what she thought about the importance of educational vision and whether or not the leaders in her school had a clearly articulated educational vision - setting a comprehensive, cohesive and clear direction for her school.
I was a bit taken aback when she scoffed at me and said "spoken like a true consultant Nikki". She went on to say "we know what we're there for...we want the best outcomes for our students, doesn't matter what pathway they take".
I'll admit the denigrating consultant comment that hurt just a little...after all we know what everyone thinks of consultants even though I avoid this label and rather think of myself as an educator....but then I thought some more.
I started reflecting on how I might've responded to me a few years ago when I was still working in school if I'd asked myself the same question........
Even when I was working as a teacher (in the same school she's now teaching) I yearned for a clearly articulated vision. I had a definite sense of my own moral purpose: I knew that I wanted the best for the students in my care; I was keen to explore innovations; I wanted to get involved in new initiatives aimed at further engaging them in their learning and making a difference. But I sometimes felt like I was doing this in a vacuum. I knew what drove my practice but I was unsure and unclear about what drove others or what the big picture was for where the school leadership wanted the whole school to go. I was seeking a sense of the vision for our school and whenever I looked for it, it wasn't easy to find.
And then I thought about a friend of mine who showed me his school MSWord templates with the succinct school vision statement on the header of every document and another colleague who is now a principal who has distilled her vision to 4 key words which form the acronym DARE; Diversity; Aspiration; Respect; Excellence. She has posted this on almost every wall of her school, in the stairwells, on their Facebook page and she uses this a lens through which to analyse any new initiatives she might want to introduce to her school or which her staff might be keen on getting involved in.
So, back to my coffee and my thinking about the importance of vision. A change plan without a vision leads to confusion. Vision encapsulates the thinking around the why and where you want your school or any organisation to head - it's your statement about a preferred future. It might be big picture thinking, but it captures the values and aspirations of the organisation. Without it, you're like a body without a head.....going nowhere. And of course, vision without understanding the capacity building required to achieve it, incentives to get people on board (extrinsic and intrinsic), effective resourcing and doable actions is an amorphous statement of hope without a framework of reality.
(Adapted from Knoster, 1991)
So, I might still be a bit sensitive about being labelled a "consultant" but certainly won't retreat from my addiction to and love affair with vision.
Time to set another coffee date and start again.
It has been a big week of thinking and talking about vision for me too Nikki, I see vision as crucial to success and when I now hear or schools without that visionary thinking I worry about them.
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