BIG Questions Institute Bi-Weekly Update

November 22, 02023, No. 160 (Read online)

What about Students' Missions?

Hey,

We spend a lot of time working with school communities to help them articulate their mission and vision and, importantly, to understand the extent to which those two things are being lived in practice. Without a clear sense of what larger purpose you want your school to serve in the world today, and an equally clear picture of and deep commitment to the practices required to achieve that mission, the experience of school that teachers and students live each day is, in a word, incoherent.

And let's just say, incoherence abounds in education.

But recently we had a conversation with a school leader that got us thinking more deeply about mission.

"Our mission," she said, "has to resonate with our students' own missions."

As in, if students don't really feel a sense of commitment to action in service of the school's articulated mission, it will never be truly lived regardless of the best intentions and desires of the adults.

And yet, how many school mission and vision statements are fully informed by an understanding of what purposes students sense for their own lives? Not in the context of what they want to be when they grow up, but what they want to achieve or contribute right now, at whatever stage of life they are in.

Have you asked them?

No one would be shocked if many (if not most) kids answered that mission question with something along the lines of "I want to get an A" or "I want to get into a good college." And those are telling answers to be sure.

But you'd hope that most kids would answer with "I want to learn more about (this)" or "I want to improve at (this)" or "I want to create (or change) (this)."

And actually, isn't that a part of our purpose in school, to help them find and pursue some quest that's uniquely important to them, just as the mission of the school is something fundamentally important to the school community?

Either way, their answers might just change the way you think of YOUR own mission and the work you have to do to live it.

So, have you asked them? And what are you learning from their responses?

Onward!

Homa and Will

What We're Reading

A few links to fuel your inquiry:

Students and Activists Are Organizing to Keep Libraries Safe and Funded by Rainesford Stauffer

"In places like Miami, where book bans are expanding, activists are going to bat for libraries. Amid escalating attacks on education, and on young people, queer folks, and Black folks, organizers are thinking about how to not only protect libraries, but how to expand their resources, Yanelis Valdes, the director of organizing and advocacy at Engage Miami, an organization that works to engage young people on policy and advocacy, told Teen Vogue.

“We're really looking at our libraries as community hubs that provide so many incredible services and can do so much more as well,” Valdes said. A driving factor of Engage Miami’s campaign, Valdes explained, is to “really imagine a world in which we want to live and what kind of resources should exist, and how libraries can be a microcosm of that.”

New college grads are more likely to be unemployed in today’s job market by Abha Bhattarai

"Despite a surprisingly robust job market, recent college graduates have been having a harder time finding work than the rest of the population since the pandemic. This marks a sharp reversal from long-held norms, when a newly minted college degree all but guaranteed a better shot at employment. Since 1990, the unemployment rate for recent grads almost always has been lower than for the general population.

But that changed after covid. New grads have consistently fared worse than other jobseekers since January 2021, and that gap has only widened in recent months. The latest unemployment rate for recent graduates, at 4.4 percent, is higher than the overall joblessness rate and nearly double the rate for all workers with a college degree, according to an analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York."

Capability building in the age of polycrisis by Andy Thornton

"As part of the transformative journey towards a heightened social and environmental consciousness that human civilisation now requires, both formal and informal learning, inside and outside our institutions of education, and throughout the course and context of an individual's life, will play a pivotal role.

But a foundational question must first be answered: what is the role of education in society?

Transformative educator Zachary Stein says: “Education is the meta-crisis… the root of all more specific crises such as climate change, governance breakdowns, impending war, and social unrest.” In our current “time between worlds” he argues, no less than a radical renewal, rather than a mere rebooting or re-tuning of the fragile systems of today’s world, will suffice. This includes our education systems."

Learn With BQI

Free Events in our BQI Community!

Join fellow educator-leaders from around the world as we tackle a wide variety of topics in our free webinar series. Here's what's upcoming.

FREE WEBINAR: "Inquiry Hub: The Dream, Create, Learn School" with Dave Truss and Dr. John Sarte. RSVP HERE!

And...in case you missed it...RECORDING ADDED for Tricia Ebarvia's free webinar on "Perspective-Taking Strategies for Deepening Understanding and Critical Thinking" WATCH IT HERE!

Will We Be in Your Neighborhood?

Homa and Will would love to connect at any of the upcoming events they're speaking at:

November 29 - NAIS POCC Conference, St, Louis, MO (Homa - Half-day Equity Seminar)

November 30 - Indiana State Superintendent's Association, Indianapolis, IN (Will - Keynote)

January 5 - CNM Conference on Teaching and Learning in Albuquerque, New Mexico. (Will - Keynote)

February 17 - American International School of Johannesburg. (Homa - Symposium)

April 12 - BCSSA Spring Forum in Vancouver, BC (Will - Symposium on Student Agency)

WORK WITH US!

Let BQI help you unlock the opportunities that are rapidly unfolding in education and the wider contexts. Everyone is talking about the challenges and the difficulties that are breaking systems and people. Leadership navigates change with fearless inquiry, futures thinking, imagination, and diverse relationships. That takes new skills, lenses, and dispositions and we are here for it.

We help school communities:

create new strategic plans
articulate or update their school community's definition of learning
revisit their mission, vision, and values
prepare for accreditation
build the capacity of their boards and communities to navigate more effective and inclusive pathways into the future
plan engaging professional development for their staff

Why not think about having us work with your staff, leadership team, or board on some BIG Questions worth pursuing?

We're working to design healthier, more just, more relevant, and more sustainable futures for school communities. Get all the details at bigquestions.institute

Onward with hope,

Homa and Will

Big Questions Institute Newsletter

What About Students' Missions?