From vision to reality: imagining schools that we want

Leadership, Jan-Feb, 2002 by Don Iglesias

Dear Colleague:

Educators have been told they must learn to "manage change" so many times the phrase has become meaningless. But there is a reason for the cliche. The world is changing more rapidly than ever before. Because schools are expected to prepare students for the future, school leaders must become expert at adapting and solving problems that haven't yet been discovered.

"Navigating through the uncharted issues and problems of this century demands the same courage and adaptability shown by the early pioneers who found and settled this country," author Patricia Clark White writes on page 8.

Are educators and policy-makers ready for this challenge? Education reformer John Goodlad once remarked, "The reason we are not creating new schools is because we are spending so much time and energy trying to improve the schools we have."

Although we may not have the time or resources to reinvent our schools from the ground up, we must be willing to take risks and reject the status quo. More specifically, the authors in this issue of Leadership magazine believe that school leaders must:

* Learn how to engage in new ways of planning for the future that are more inclusive and allow for greater flexibility;

* Provide continuous growth opportunities for site administrators so leadership capacity can reach its potential;

* Create nurturing school communities that help students grow and develop the academic, social and emotional skills that will lead to success;

* Look beyond merely adopting standards-aligned curriculum materials in order to help students meet the expectations of California's standards; and

* Do a better job of listening to our school communities so we can provide them with the schools they need.

The challenge is ours. We cannot predict the future, but we can imagine the future we want, and commit to making that vision a reality.

Sincerely,

Don Iglesias ACSA President

Editor's note: The article "Data analysis demystified" by Dave Ackley in the November/December 2001 Leadership was coauthored by Joe Deem, director of educational accountability for the Fontana Unified School District.