As schools reopen this fall, the words from an article by Scott McLeod and Shelley Dulsky come to mind:
Resilience, Reorientation, and Reinvention
Taking your own moment to reflect may lead you to memories of decision points you faced in the spring of 2020 through the 2020-2021 school year. The 2020-2021 school year is behind us, and we’re ready to take the lessons learned and move towards impactful change entering the future. How do we reinvent education?
Recently, governors, former secretaries of education, and state commissions of education and other representatives gathered at the Ronald Reagan Institute in Washington, D.C. to discuss how the pandemic’s lessons can lead to an opportunity for innovation within our country’s schools. The question has been asked, “what do we do with all of the technology we bought” to support at home learning. How do we allocate resources to improve school infrastructure and provide universal broadband access? Setting our sails for the future isn’t always an easy course. Do we really have “big ideas?”
“Vision statements outline a school’s objectives, and mission statements indicate how the school aims to achieve that vision. Schools might have one or both. Vision and mission statements in schools make a public declaration of the values of the school. But are such statements useful, or just nice to look at but of little substance? They can be useful – but it depends on what they include and how they’re used.” (Allen and Kern. “School vision and mission statements should not be dismissed as empty words. The Conversation (blog). June 14, 2018. /school-vision-and-mission-statements-should-not-be-dismissed-as-empty-words-97375).
The benefits of vision and mission statements
As defined by Kelly-Ann Allen, Educational and Developmental Psychologist, Lecturer, The University of Melbourne and Peggy Kern, Senior Lecturer in Positive Psychology, The University of Melbourne defined: Vision and mission statements are often reliable representations of what schools stand for, helping keep the values of the school central to how it operates.
Schools need to balance parent interests, the local community, political pressures, information and misinformation available online, and constant pressures on time and resources. Vision and mission statements can help keep the school on track with its greater purpose by helping school leaders navigate competing interests. (Allen and Kern. “School vision and mission statements should not be dismissed as empty words. The Conversation (blog). June 14, 2018. /school-vision-and-mission-statements-should-not-be-dismissed-as-empty-words-97375)
It begins with VISION. Many of the schools we talk with struggle with conflicting goals of its stakeholders. Since 1989, Vartek has exclusively served K12 schools. We help schools in developing their vision and strategy for the use of technology to empower both their teachers and their learners. Ultimately, when technology leads to more engaging, active learning experiences in schools, schools innovate and lean into active learning.
Vartek Services is a professional services company partnering with K12 schools to develop their vision, their strategy, align their support services, and their professional learning, and ensure that a budget is managed to support their infrastructure.
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-References–
Allen, Kelly Ann, and Peggy Kern. “School Vision and Mission Statements Should Not Be Dismissed as Empty Words.” Theconversation.com, 14 June 2018, theconversation.com/school-vision-and-mission-statements-should-not-be-dismissed-as-empty-words-97375.