There is a discount grocery store near my home that is known for its products having "minor bumps and dents" in the packaging, but supposed good-quality items inside. If by "good-quality" you mean sometimes stale, mostly crushed items, then you would be pleased to find a constant supply of quirky products that often become "must-haves". However, in the center of the store one will find a cluster of bins so full of items that the contents are no longer contained, but have started spilling to the floor where they proceed to be trampled by all those that walk by. The challenge, better yet the intrigue of these bins is that very few items still have labels intact to identify what will be found once the item is purchased. The employees have made a game of identifying and grouping together what they feel are like-items. Sadly, many times one will find health and beauty products stuck to the instant rice. However, there are still those adventurous people who will spend hours sifting through each bin hoping to find that one great treasure everyone else has missed.
Not all labels are bad. In fact, in the above scenario a label or two could have been quite helpful and saved the weary shopper oodles of time. I feel that the same goes for an institution or organization. It is necessary for everyone involved in a school system to know the labels, or descriptions and visions that are necessary to run a successful and thriving organization. A leader cannot expect the support and following of his people if those under him do not understand the end goals. Parents will never support the difficult and arduous learning process if they are not aware of the desired goals a teacher has set forth for her classroom. These goals must be defined. And for those observers who are not directly part of the planning and execution of the mission statement of a school, these goals may need to become labels that can help clearly and easily display the intended trajectory for an institution.
A successful school needs and values the input of teachers, parents and students. In fact, the involvement of everyone is necessary for the mission of a school to truly be realized. It becomes the job of those who know the mission to identify it for others. If a school has used a label that clearly defines what the institution stands for and what is expected from all those associated with it, constituents will be spared from sifting through several organizations to find the "treasure" that will shape their child's future.
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So, if you were going to design the label for those school-cans in the bin, what would your design look like?
ReplyDeleteThis is a really good question, and one that I have thought a lot about. For my specific situation, I would have a few designs for those labels. The family-sized can would definitely be labeled "Christ-centered". No matter what I do in the classroom, I need to make it a priority that my classroom represents my purpose, or more accurately, the label that I am most proud to wear. I would also have a few other cans labeled "Critical Thinker", "Servant" and "Owner". I want students who can develop a biblical worldview through careful study, thought, and action that has become their OWN and is therefore meaningful. I desire students that will take all that they have learned in my classroom and turn around and use that knowledge to serve others. Because one can only truly be a leader if he is first willing to be a servant.
DeleteThe challenge, naturally, is to create a label that is clearly understood but which does not at the same time produce the proverbial "box" that we strain to think outside of. Your goals for your students are outstanding; how do you encourage them to internalize these? What can a teacher/parent/human do to help a young person flip the switch from serving because that's what I'm supposed to do to serving because that's who I am?
ReplyDeleteOver the years, I have seen students internalize these qualities at all different points in their lives. But the same common factor with each one was that no one, not parents, peers or teachers, could push the student to internalize these goals before they were ready. My job then became to consistently present the truth and vision that I have so that when a student decided to "own" it, he would realize that I have pushed them towards that goal all along.
DeleteGreat observation!
DeleteI agree that labels can be helpful! Like road signs...you know where you want to take your students, but reminders and guideposts are helpful to keep things on track.
ReplyDelete