Clarifying Your Vision for a 21st Century School

Directions: The following activities are designed to help you and the members of your community of practice
to clarify and activate a personal 21st century vision of your school. You must have a clear picture of what you
want your organization to look like before you enjoin others in fully developing that vision. The steps that
follow can help you form your “future view”. Visionary leaders understand the importance of a vision, have
strong beliefs about how the organization should function, listen to others as they shape their vision and base
their vision on quality principles of practice. Furthermore, they live their vision daily by what they value and
what they do. The steps in the following activities should culminate in two things: (1) a description of your
school as you would like it to function five years from now and (2) a broad plan of what you may do to achieve
it.

STEP 1: Read the following: (Allow 2 Minutes)

Why vision? – In the literature concerning leadership, vision has a variety of definitions, all of which include a
mental image of picture, a future orientation, and aspects of direction or goal. Vision provides guidance to an
organization by articulating what it wishes to attain. It serves as “a signpost pointing the way for all who need
to understand what the organization is and where it intends to go” (Nanus, 1992). By providing a picture, vision
not only describes an organization’s direction or goal, but also the means of accomplishing it. It guides the work
of the organization. Seeley (1992) describes vision as a “goal-oriented mental construct that guides people’s
behavior.” Thus, vision is a picture of the future for which people are willing to work.

STEP 2: Reflect and Share: (Allow 10 Minutes)

Based upon your Institute experience so far, what are some things that you feel are important for the future
vision of your school that were not as important to you before you attended the Institute? These are elements
you want to be sure to incorporate into your vision of your school.

1.__________________________________________________________________________
2.__________________________________________________________________________
3.__________________________________________________________________________

STEP 3: Share your interviews: (Allow 15 minutes)

Visionary leaders who have been effective in transforming their schools are certainly more than “dreamers.”
Effective leaders have visions for the future than are well-informed. They base their vision on sound research
and effective practice. They seek out information that helps them clarify there own thinking about the kind of
school they want to lead. They are excited about “pushing the envelope” of second order change.

Based on the interviews you conducted, share the key qualities or strategies that others feel are important in a
21st century school. Were there any surprises? Did any of the ideas expand your own thinking? Briefly record
the key qualities below:
Values/Beliefs Strategies

1
STEP 4 – Reflect on what you’ve learned (Allow 20 minutes)
During the Institute, you’ve have the opportunity to explore many ideas based on the Frameworks for High
Performing 21st Century Schools. As you leave the Institute, you will now be faced with how to apply what
you’ve learned to improve your school. Of course, a critical part of your success will be having a clear vision
of what you’d like to see changed over the next 3-5 years.
Working with your learning community group, discuss each of the following categories of a 21st century school.
Describe what you want to “see, hear or feel” in your school in the next 3-5 years.
AREA: In the future, what I want to “see, hear or feel” that will
make my school a high performing 21st century school.
SCHOOL CULTURE: The personality of
the school; what is valued, celebrated,
rewarded; how people interact, communicate
and grow professionally.

CURRICULUM: What is taught in the

school; how curriculum is defined, organized,
managed, supported and assessed.

INSTRUCTION: How students are being

taught; the environment, processes,
resources, tools, assessments, setting and
supports.

SCHOOL EFFECTIVENESS: The overall

physical and social/emotional conditions that
permeate the building and impact the quality
of teaching and learning: clear and focused
mission; safe and orderly environment; high
expectations for learning; strong instructional
leadership; effective home/community
relationships; opportunity to learn and time
on task; and frequent monitoring of student
progress.
STUDENT SUPPORT: The degree to which
the school is student-centered; where all
students are valued and supported and
receive the time and or resources to grow
academically, physically and social-
emotionally.
2
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT: The
intentional processes and practices put in
place so that the school improves; the
planning, collaboration, collection and
analysis of data, professional development,
support systems and monitoring processes
that keep the school moving in the direction
of its mission/vision.

Step 5: Putting it all together (Allow 20 minutes)

At this point, you have had time to reflect on (1) your own view of your school’s future, (2) those of others, as
well as (3) what research says about 21st century high performing schools (i.e. practices based upon the
(Frameworks for High Performing 21st Century Schools). Now using those reflections from Steps 2-4, please
combine them and describe the school you would like to have five years hence. It is not necessary to write an
actual vision statement; that should occur in collaboration with your faculty, simply describe the mental picture
of the school you’d like to create. Once you’ve written the description, highlight key words or phrases and
insert into your ePortfolio.

In five years, this is the mental picture of my school:

Step 6: Sharing your vision (Allow 15 minutes):

For this activity choose a partner from your table group. Great leaders need to be able to effectively
communicate their vision to others. Thus, using key words or phrases from your description above, please share
with your partner your vision of the school you’d like to lead. Your partner will use a rubric to evaluate your
communication of your vision.

3
Step 7: Determining Actions: (Allow 20 minutes) (Pair with someone in your Community of Practice)

Visionary leaders are more than dreamers; they turn their dreams into tangible actions. They think long term
and have a general mental map for how they will accomplish the future they desire. From Step 5, note the key
elements of your vision. Next working with your partner, discuss the kinds of processes/actions you will want
to complete along the way to accomplish your vision. Record these in the boxes at the right.

Elements of Your Vision Processes/Actions to Achieve the Vision

5.

6.

7.

8.

4
Step 8: Develop the Plan (For this activity work with the partner you worked with before that has a similar
vision for their school). (Allow 20 minutes.)

Needless to say, to create a Learning Centered School it will take more than a single year. Realistically it is a
multiple year journey. Good leaders have a mind map of how and in what order they wish to approach the
journey. Having this map in mind and seeking collaboration on the plan from staff allows a clear picture of the
sequence and action steps necessary to arrive at that collaborative vision. This cycle of continuous
improvement; looking at what we have tried to accomplish through the plan and evaluating progress as well as
modifying the process is important to organizational growth.

My Learning Centered School Objectives and Action Steps.

Year 1—Objectives and Action Steps Year 2—Objectives and Action Steps Year 3—Objectives and Action Steps

Objective: Objective: Objective:

Action Steps: Action Steps: Action Steps:

Objective: Objective: Objective:

Action Steps: Action Steps: Action Steps:

Objective: Objective: Objective:

Action Steps: Action Steps: Action Steps: