Photo by Miguel Á. Padriñán
| Please note: Consistently pursuing a granular vision (aka vision script) of flourishing students, staff, and leaders helps international Christian schools to flourish. This post reflects my vision. |
Helpful resources. Do they matter? Yes or no? To me and to those I know, they matter. They matter at home—nutritious food, consistent electricity, a comfortable place to sleep. They matter at church—clean water, effective lighting, a room in which to gather for worship. And they matter at school—quality teachers, good textbooks, and classrooms in which students can focus on learning.
Helpful resources make life go, help me and those I know to flourish. (Unhelpful resources don’t—think junk food, dirty water, and no place to sleep.) So, my response to your question is, “No, you can’t flourish without experiencing helpful resources.”
Let me explain my response by processing some related questions:
Question 1: What comes to mind when you think of helpful resources?
In addition to things I listed above (like nutritious food, clean water, and classrooms), what comes to mind for me includes:
- Welcoming facilities (not decrepit buildings).
- Library holdings that reflect the cultural diversity of students and staff (not: Library holdings that don’t reflect the cultural diversity of students and staff).
- Temperatures in the building that are conducive to study and work (not: temperatures in the building that are too hot or too cold.)
- Clear, documented procedures (not unclear and/or undocumented procedures).
- Resource backups: extra textbooks (for when new students enroll) and extra computers (for when 1 or more computers aren’t working)—not: no resource back ups.
Photo by Kimberly Farmer on Unsplash
Question 2: What do helpful resources at an international Christian school look like to you? It looks like…
- Students consistently experiencing engaging instructional materials (see Construct: Resources, p. 17) and experiencing joyful, Christ-centered staff who have a best-practice mindset (see Construct: Qualified Staff and Best Practice Orientation, p. 17).
- Staff consistently experiencing well-maintained facilities and effective technology (see Construct: Resources, p. 17), and skillful, encouraging, Christ-centered leaders who have a trust-and-inspire mindset.
- Leaders consistently experiencing a welcoming work space and experiencing plans, policies, and procedures that result in effective, efficient decision-making.
Now back to our original question: We can flourish without experiencing transformative learning, right? Sounds like you possibly think that resources don’t matter (try running a school without instruction materials), or that resources that range from blah to unhelpful don’t impede flourishing (try preparing for class and finding out the copy machine is broken).
I want to flourish, helpful resources are an integral part of flourishing, so my answer is still “No, you can’t flourish without experiencing helpful resources.” ACSI’s Flourishing Model includes the resource domain (complete with 8 research-based constructs), and ACSI’s Inspire includes a resource domain.
Bottom line: Avoid the faulty assumption that you can flourish without experiencing helpful resources.
Question 3: What other faulty assumptions might you need to address about helpful resources? Here are 3 examples:
(1) Student: “It’s not that I’m not grateful for being able to attend an international Christian school. It’s just that I really like science. I’m thinking about majoring in science in college. But last year, stuff happened and I had 3 different biology teachers. This year I had a really good chemistry teacher, but she left in March. An English teacher with some background in science filled in, but it’s not the same and, to be honest, it’s not as good. I guess I’m getting a little concerned for my future, but maybe that’s just what happens at Christian schools.”
I’m glad the student wants to pursue science, wants to learn about God’s creation. I can see why she’s concerned about his future—pretty difficult to have 5 science teachers in 2 years and to basically have an English teacher for the last quarter of chemistry. And I recognize that stuff happens. However, I also recognize that students need helpful learning resources, the key one being qualified teachers who are flourishing. Providing unhelpful resources shouldn’t be “just what happens at Christian schools.”
(2) Staff: “I want to learn and grow. I found a couple of online classes that look good and a conference that looks good. But then I checked the cost. Too much. Bummer.”
I’m glad you want to learn and grow. It seems like you may think that helpful learning resources are limited to classes and conferences. And it also seems like you may think that helpful learning resources necessarily cost money. I’m a big proponent of schools providing aggressive professional development funding, and I want to share that there are a variety of helpful learning resources that are free:
- E-newsletters/blog posts from Dave Stuart Jr., ACSI, and Teach 4 the Heart.
- Podcasts like ACSI: Moving Forward, Best Christian Workplace Institute, and Cult of Pedagogy,
- Facebook groups for subject area teachers.
- Online classes like the Outward Mindset and tutorials on flourishing (accredited schools, unaccredited schools).
(3) Leader: We have an effective budget development process, and we carefully monitor our budget. That’s good enough for me!
Nope. It’s not good enough for you or for those you serve. To head toward flourishing financial health, you need a “strategic financial plan” (Flourishing Schools, p. 17) that spans several years, and you need to track key performance indicators to measure your school’s long-term financial health, for example:
- Compensation as a percentage of expenses.
- Program as a percentage of expenses.
- Debt payment as a percentage of the budget.
- Net tuition increase per student.
- Financial aid as a percentage of income.
- Operating reserve.
Question 4: What change(s) do you need to make to consistently experience helpful resources and help others do the same? Please remember that ongoing change is part of flourishing, that you don’t need to do everything, and that you should start with yourself.
Options for changes related to helpful resources include:
- Scheduling time to explore resources so you can identify the ones that you find helpful.
- Creating a resource bank–a listing of helpful resources that you want to use.
- Subscribing to 1 or more newsletters and/or podcasts.
- Including helpful resources when developing plans.
- Implementing resource-related plans (like a strategic financial plan and a master facilities plan).
Note: To help yourself successfully make a change, be sure to identify what helps you. Weekly podcasts help me.
What about you?
- What comes to mind when you think of helpful resources?
- What do helpful resources at an international Christian school look like to you?
- What faulty assumptions might you need to address regarding helpful resources?
- What change(s) do you need to make to consistently experience helpful resources and help others do the same?
- What helps you make the changes necessary for experiencing helpful resources?
Get flourishing!
Michael
Get Flourishing 