Visioning

Background

Visioning is a collective process through which communities envision the future they want and plan how to achieve it. Visioning is best thought of as a collaborative endeavor to determine a common goal. Through public involvement, communities identify their purpose, core values, and vision of the future, which are then transformed into a manageable and feasible set of community goals and an action plan. A key to this process is to ensure that the goals and action plans are firmly rooted in the purpose and values of the local community. The process also places a great deal of emphasis on public participation not only at the beginning stages, but throughout the entire implementation process.

In order to be effective, visioning must be a shared process rather than an individual endeavor. A community visioning process can often provide guidance for citizens who are unclear about a future course. Organized visioning fosters increased ownership at all levels, thereby increasing the likelihood of achieving those goals.

Benefits

The benefits of visioning are numerous. As mentioned above, collaborative visioning encourages members of the school community at all levels to actively participate in the betterment of their school. Visioning eliminates the stereotype of the unresponsive bureaucrat by incorporating feedback from all concerned parties. In addition, visioning helps to avoid stagnation by promoting thinking "outside the box," identifies previously ignored structural weaknesses, establishes a framework for continual development toward identified goals, and builds confidence in the system.

Generally speaking, visioning requires assembling a group of people committed to affecting change. It is important to note that the process of visioning can be extremely time consuming. The community as a whole will benefit if participants are committed to seeing through the entire process. The resulting "vision" for a learning community is the synthesis of input gathered from a wide variety of sources including school administrators, teachers, support staff, parents and students. This input can be gathered either through surveys or town hall meetings.

The educational leader assumes a special role in the visioning process. Many principals feel responsible for acting as the "keeper" of the vision, an obviously daunting mission. While the administrator is ultimately responsible for helping to create an atmosphere conducive to implementing the goals of the vision, the collaborative nature of "visioning" necessarily indicates distribution of responsibility throughout the community as a whole.

Examples

One community which has effectively implemented the process of visioning is the Appleton School District in Wisconsin. This district works with each of its schools to create a shared vision. Meeting regularly throughout the year, representatives from each school discuss topics such as class size, staffing, testing, and the curriculum. Newsletters and board meetings are also held in an attempt to include the entire Appleton community. This use of visioning has had positive results and allow the Appleton School District and its community to work together for the betterment of the schools.

Related Links

Click a category to toggle display of related links.

What Is It?

Components of a Vision

The North Central Regional Education Laboratory website hosts this list of the components of a vision. For those interested in visioning, but unclear on the preferred scope, this page provides an excellent starting point. (From NCREL)

Critical Issue: Building a Collective Vision

Pathways to School Improvement provides links to multi-media presentations on the topic of developing a collective vision, setting goals, and implementing them. The website also offers valuable links to case studies, contact information for related organizations, and references for further reading. (From NCREL)

Visioning

Creating a vision will help school teams to determine the necessary changes needed to improve or enhance the teaching-learning process. Here, the Teachers’ Network has assembled some questions that can serve as springboards to help focus the visioning group. (From Teachers Network)

Visioning

The US Department of Transportation hosts this page which introduces the concept of visioning, examines its usefulness in formulating long-term goals, explains who participate in visioning, and explains how the visioning process can influence substantially beneficial changes. Although originally addressing public involvement techniques in transportation decision- making, it is equally as relevant to the field of education. (From US Department of Transportation)
Tools & Resources

A Visioning Process for Designing Responsive Schools

Written by a professor of architecture, this online handbook emphasizes the need for brainstorming, collaborating, and problem solving in designing a responsive school. While his primary focus is on the literal design process of the physical space, it serves as an apt metaphor for the collaborative visioning process required to create a cohesive learning environment.

Creating a Vision

This phenomenal toolkit for educators includes steps toward creating a vision. This website describes the key components and benefits of visioning, as well as the pitfalls. (From The National School Board Association)

Creating New Visions for Schools: Activities for Educators, Parents, and Community Members

This book includes seven activities that foster reflection and focused action. The activities help all involved form concrete images of a learning-centered school, align the vision and mission, and develop plans for action. (From The Designing Schools for Enhanced Learning Initiative at the Regional Laboratory for Educational Improvement of the Northeast and Islands )

Serve Leaders Institute

The Serve Leaders Institute provides information to help novices facilitate visioning meetings. Specifically, this website teaches novices the process of visioning through a series of mini-lessons. These lessons include activities in the following areas: developing leadership, focus questions, personal values, gap analysis, symbolic leadership, and implementing your vision.
Model Programs

Appelton Holding Visions Meeting in Every School Facility

This web site provides an example of how one district is working with each of its schools and the corresponding community to create a shared vision for the future of the district and its students.

Reflect on Past Traditions and Values…Create a Preferred Future

The Pine-Richland School District has posted this mission statement outlining the district’s vision for encouraging student achievement, learning climate, leadership and governance, the community and their staff. This document is an example of the sort of final product that can be created following a visioning process.
Selected Research & Articles

Leadership for School Culture

This article discusses school culture and its relationship to visioning. By deepening their understanding of school culture, leaders will be better equipped to shape the values, beliefs, and attitudes necessary to promote a stable and nurturing learning environment.

Stories of Visions and Values

School leaders share their real life experiences in developing and implementing visions within their schools. (From Role of Leadership in Sustaining School Reform—July 1996)

Vision and Values

Developing and maintaining a vision challenges a leader's ability to determine how well what is currently happening matches the expectations at a given stage of implementation. In addition, when faced with problems, effective leaders see multiple solutions that preserve the spirit of the vision. This article addresses the educational leader’s role in safeguarding and implementing the shared vision. (From Role of Leadership in Sustaining School Reform—July 1996)

Visionary Leadership

When some future historian tallies up buzzwords of the 1990s, "vision" will be high on the list. Schools everywhere want leaders who have it, and even modest incremental plans are routinely billed as " visions for the 21st century." Unfortunately, the exaltation of vision often leaves one question unanswered: Once you're done praising it, what do you do about it? This article discusses what is in a vision, why visions matter, how visions are developed, and how leaders facilitate visions.