By now, you’ve probably figured out that I do a ton of reading and writing about professional learning communities.

It’s an idea that I’ve embraced as a powerful tool for change simply because I’ve seen the impact that my own learning team has had on my personal development as an educator.  And recently, I’ve been doing a ton of writing about the importance of having solid mission and vision statements to guide the direction of professional learning communities.

I just heard your collective groan—but I completely understand your pain:  After all, mission and vision statements are usually about as effective as the crank pencil sharpener hanging off the wall in the back of your classroom, aren’t they. If you’re lucky, you get you a serious point on your Ticonderoga #2 with a few quick turns of the nifty little nickel plated handle, but most of the time you grind away without getting anywhere quick.

What’s crazy is that when well designed and implemented, mission and vision statements can bring a clarity to decision-making that makes everyone’s work easier.  In fact, DuFour and Eaker go as far as to argue that every decision in a building ought to be held up against a school’s mission and vision before being implemented.  They write:

Think about how powerful a school working from this position would be.  There’d be no disagreements  because every decision would be aligned with a shared vision of what the purpose of a school should be.  No one would struggle to “see eye to eye” because everyone would be looking out of the same set of lenses!

To DuFour and Eaker, a school’s mission and vision statement should serve as “an agenda for action:”

That sounds so easy, doesn’t it.

Stuck when choosing a new teacher to add to your faculty?  Who has convinced you that your mission is his/her mission?  Trying to decide what technology to buy?  The one that helps you to meet your shared goals is the choice.  Need to figure out how students should spend the 20 minutes that they have free after lunch?  How can you use that time to get you closer towards the reality that you’re trying to reach?

The list of questions could go on forever, couldn’t it:  What professional development is appropriate for your faculty?  How should teachers interact with one another during planning meetings?  What roles should the education professionals working beyond the classroom in your building fill?  Where should resources be allocated?  What kinds of field trips should you take?  What materials should be available in the supply closet?  How often should the school communicate with parents?  What kinds of after school activities need to be offered?

In a traditional school, these kinds of questions generate tons and tons of conflict, don’t they?  Teachers push their own programs and agendas.  Employees beyond the classroom look at what works from their own perspective and experiences.  Competition—for time, attention and limited resources—becomes the norm, replacing collaboration and destroying any attempt at consensus.

In a highly-functioning PLC, these decisions are simple:  Which of the available choices would we pick if our mission and our vision were the most important factor in our decisions?

Sadly, mission and vision statements get set aside in most learning communities as people settle into comfortable patterns and work to avoid contention.  In fact, I’d bet that well over half of the educators working in most learning communities couldn’t even state their building’s mission and vision statements—and who can blame them.  If schools fail to systematically work to set their mission and vision at the core of every key decision, should it be any surprise that we slip back to the practices that have defined our profession for a century?!

What’s interesting is that DuFour and Eaker believe that keeping a mission and vision at the center of a learning community’s attention may just take a bit of confrontation:

If the vision and values of the school are to be communicated in a clear and unequivocal manner, those who violate the vision and values must be confronted.  In an ideal world, every member of the staff would be willing to challenge a colleague who was acting in a way that was contrary to collective commitments.  In the real world of schools, this task will most likely fall to principals.  It is critical that principals fulfill this leadership responsibility if vision and values are to be reinforced.

(DuFour & Eaker, p. 112)

Hardcore, ain’t it?  When decisions are being made that fail to align with the mission and vision of a building, someone has some ‘splainin to do!

But it makes perfect sense:  Schools need laser-like focus to do their work well.  Mission and vision statements provide this focus.  Aligned decisions are impossible unless they’re based on agreed upon set of priorities.  People forget the priorities, friendly reminders—-or swift kicks in the backside!—-gotta come from someone!

What I like the best about DuFour and Eaker’s thoughts on mission and vision statements is their insistence that learning communities use their collective commitments to take action:

Throughout the school, there is an ongoing concern for improving instructional effectiveness.  No one is complacent about student achievement; there is an expectation that educational programs will be changed so that they work better.

(DuFour & Eaker, p. 317)

So whaddya’ think?  Are mission and vision statements being used to drive the decisions in your building?  If so, how did your staff get to this point?  What did your leaders do to reinforce the message that your vision matters—and that key decisions are simple to make as long as they align with your agreed upon mission?

If not, what kind of conflict has lack of a shared mission and vision caused?

Works Cited:

DuFour, R., & Eaker, R. (1998). Professional learning communities at work: Best practices for enhancing student achievement.Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree (Formerly National Education Service).