Sunday, February 1, 2009

Schools Were Built For The Students

Organizational transformation requires the committed, coordinated effort of every stakeholder.  In education, it necessitates the clear-headed vision of educational leaders that strive for the empowerment of employees at all levels.  Recognizing that empowerment enables all layers of the instructional team to do their jobs well, and improves the processes and technologies that need changing with the goal of encouraging improved student outcomes, it must take center stage.  Provision of a clear, unified vision is another of the most critical responsibilities of the leader.  This is especially true in education.

Living, learner-centered environments recognize that service to students is their fundamental purpose.  In tandem with serving students, these settings support teachers, educational leaders, and even parents and members of the community.  

Open, self-managed models are lauded as the most desirable of systems... and with good reason.  Within them, participants are proactive, cooperative, results-focused, and committed to seeing the job through.  Leadership is shared and productive; the results are considered by all to be worth the effort.  

Learning-centered educational systems support learning for all students, and focus on individual needs in instructional decision making.  Teachers and educational leaders recognize that learners and learning are the necessary emphasis of all considerations; their energies are spent on the use of research-based strategies that are constantly being honed for improvement and individualization.  Because they are keenly aware that schools were built to serve students, not for the purpose of creating a place for them to work, their classrooms and schools are productive, student-centered environments.

If only all schools could be like that...          

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