How A Collaborative Vision Can Improve Our Public Schools

What is a vision? A vision is a roadmap for what our public schools should look like. It is what precedes the implementation or revision of school policies. This is usually (but not always) designed by administrators and communicated to teachers. I’ve found that this model can cause a fragmented faculty, with many teachers abiding to some parts of the policies while ignoring others. There are several factors that would cause teachers to ignore parts of the vision, but I believe that starting with a shared vision would be a great start.

Backwards Planning To a Vision

Imagine if Administrators planned how the school would best operate. They will examine current policies that can be adjusted, common problems from the previous year, and how to improve more than just test scores. While this sounds like a school improvement plan, school improvement plans tend to be focused on something that can be measured (like test scores or graduation rates). The proposed vision differs as it would incorporate the unquantifiable (like school culture and operational efficiency). Once this vision is established, stakeholders can begin shaping school-level policies and procedures around the shared vision.

The Power of Buy In

This is where the ball is often dropped. Either administrators struggle to effectively communicate their vision, their vision is too vague or disjointed in its application, or worse there is no vision at all. If all is in order, teacher buy-in is the first goal followed by parent and student buy-in. This buy-in is needed to create a cohesive school. Without this buy-in from teachers, the vision falls apart. Student experience will differ from class to class and the vision is lost. When communicating expectations to teachers, students, and parents it is important to tie those expectations back to the school vision. To reinforce buy-in, all accountability should also be tied to the common vision.

A Shared Vision For All

Instead of administrators shaping and implementing the school vision alone, it may prove easier to establish buy-in by forming a committee of stakeholders to shape the vision. Imagine if the vision along with it’s associated school policies is revisited year after year for improvement by admin, teachers, parents, and maybe the oft-absent board members. This powerful collaboration would effect change and help teachers transition easier to a more balanced teacher autonomy model.