Educational vision development

 

Many educational institutions seek require a formulated vision which forms the basis for their strategic development and which encompasses the key ideals of the organisation. Ultimately quality development and assurance depend upon institutions having identified and documented their guiding values, principles, aims and objectives.  Without all these crucial features openly in place – often generically, and significantly, termed ‘the vision’ – it is not possible to determine whether an institution is fulfilling its own aims and, equally important, fulfilling them in ways that are intended. 

 

There are many ways in which an institution can arrive at its values, principles, aims and objectives. Some will go a long way to ensuring everyone concerned with the institution actively contributes to, and clearly benefits from, the experience. Others do not, and resemble either popular catch-phrases or vaulting statements beyond human realisation. Often these documents exist –in a drawer or computer somewhere, where they cannot be of much use. Sometime such documents resemble grand statements of human rights and human dignity, which are worthy but not very useful to guide the day to day working of complex institutions.

 

Those who have gone through the process of identifying a vision and finding the words acceptable to all parties involved can sometimes end up with a feeling of having found the lowest common denominator and do not wish to repeat the arduous process again any time soon. Others may feel the management stitched them, or imposed a vision, which the workers have to implement. There can be a lot of politics and heat but not much light in the process of creating a working vision for an institution, especially if the co-workers feel strongly motivated by idealism. So the process can be fraught and unsatisfactory, too formal or aim too high.

 

ipf does not have foolproof methods to avoid all of these pitfalls for the simple reason that institutions have to make their own mistakes and celebrate their own distinct character. What ipf has developed however are methods to streamline the process by focusing on the possible applications of the vision. By working back from what is required and keeping the aims as far as possible within the range of the possible, we have found that a realistic vision can be formulated that also expresses the experienced values of the organisation.

 

 

It is a basic ipf principle to offer help towards self-help and avoid consultant-dependency. We can help organisations focus their own vision development processes in ways appropriate to their own organisational culture.

 

We can help show the direct links between vision, values, aims, criteria and indicators which can be evaluated within a research cycle. We assume that every organisation has capable people who can steer this process themselves. Often it is a question of identifying and empowering them. One other key factor is to build in “reality” checks and balances to the process.