A sense of mission, a vision, and culture

A sense of mission, a vision, and culture must be passed on to the members of an organization by the leaders of the organization. A sense of mission is especially important in the school setting as no other organization has such a high moral purpose as the preparation of the young for the rest of their lives. But the sense of mission can be worn down in the day-to-day grind of school. That is why it is very important that the school leader find ways of reminding the other members of the school organization why we are here: What we are really doing. What is our purpose, after all?

Developing a Mission Statement that is prominently displayed and often referenced is a first step at communicating a unified mission. Reminding group members of their mission also has a corollary of building within group members a vision of what can be in the future. This vision is another thing that must be communicated by the school leader. In a school setting, bringing in successful alums of the school, or just telling their stories would be one way of communicating a vision of the future using examples from the past.

Also, finding ways in which the students, themselves, could express their appreciation to the teachers for all they do and what they have learned, would be a powerful way to remind teachers of why we are here. Geert Hofstede was one of the pioneers of the importance of “culture” in the workplace He defined culture as, “the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one human group from another” (Hofstede, 1984) The word, culture, usually means ethnic and national groups but the word has since been appropriated to mean the “culture” of any “uni-purposeful” human group such as companies, and, yes, schools. Transmitting this type of “culture” is done in the same ways that all culture is transmitted, through stories especially of common heroes, pioneers and founders, Also communication through symbols, rites and rituals, is equally important. (House, R.J., Hanges, P.J., Javidan, M., Dorfman, P. W., and Gupta, V., 2004).

In the school setting these rites and rituals are things like graduation. Also things like sports events, cheerleaders, school colors, homecoming week, even “parent teacher night”, etc. all come under this symbols, rites and rituals heading. Schools are rife with symbols, rites and rituals. If these things can be used to continually communicate a quest for excellence in learning, this is a worthwhile way of communicating for a school leader. Perhaps some new rites or rituals could be instituted like teacher appreciation rituals, or rites of passage for students who receive recognition for their academic achievement in a way that would be fulfilling for them.