Purpose!

I presented a Keynote with Mike Anderson (Waimairi School) at the APPA AP/DP conference last weekend (hosted by Learning Network) Mike and I were talking about 'Leadership in Crisis'. What was interesting is that for both of us the key to the success of our school is the notion of 'purpose and beliefs'.
In a crisis if a school does not have a foundational set of beliefs and clear purposes it is like a sailing boat without a rudder- it will be pushed this way and that by the wind and waves. So it is for a school. We need to be absolutely clear about what it is we are about, what the job of the teacher is, what the aim of our school is, what our key beliefs are. If we have this sorted we can cope with earthquakes, Government tangents, endless bombardment from commercial enterprises trying to convince us we need their products, MLE's, ICT's and all the other letters of the alphabets that are used in the mad rush toward better outcomes.
Do you have any idea of the vision, values and beliefs of your school?
Is your practice as a teacher aligned to these?
If you are the principals are communications with home (notices, newletters, blogs, web site, twitter, Facebook, homework, community meetings, assemblies) congruent with your vision, values and beliefs?
If you are a BOT member is your school reflecting the vision, values and beliefs in policies and practices?
It is time to revisit these concepts as we head into term 4 and prepare for 2014.