What’s the difference between unhelpful resources and helpful resources?

/ mkessenburg

Resources—I want my 6 grandchildren to have helpful resources like nutritious food, a supportive church to participate in, high quality books to read, and good places to play. What I don’t want is for my grandchildren to have unhelpful resources. I also don’t want students, staff, and leaders at international Christian schools to have unhelpful resources, to have resources that don’t help them flourish. Let me explain:

Unhelpful resources look like…Helpful resources look like…
1. A non-existent or insufficient reserve fund.1. A reserve fund of at least 25% of the annual operating budget.
2. An insufficient number of staff (so staff are on overload).2. A sufficient number of staff (so staff have a reasonable workload).
3. Teachers who aren’t flourishing (due in part to not completing a teacher training program and/or teaching subjects for which they don’t have a major or minor from college).3. Teachers who are flourishing (due in part to completing a teacher training program and/or teaching subjects for which they have a major or minor from college). 
4. Not having enough time to work on school improvement.4. Having enough time to work on school improvement.
5. Textbooks that are out of date and/or insufficient in number.  5. Textbooks that are current and sufficient in number. 
6. Library holdings that don’t reflect the cultural diversity of students and staff. 6. Library holdings that reflect the cultural diversity of students and staff.
7. Building temperatures that are either too hot or too cold. 7. Building temperatures that are conducive to study/work.
8. Internet that is not fast, not reliable, or both.8. Internet that is fast and reliable.
9. Not enough computers for all students in a given class to work on essays. 9. Enough computers for all students in a given class to work on essays. 
10. Unclear and/or undocumented procedures. 10. Clear, documented procedures.
11. No resource backups: no extra textbooks (for when new students enroll), no extra light bulbs (for when light bulbs burn out), and no extra computers (for when 1 or more computers aren’t working). 11. Resource backups: extra textbooks (for when new students enroll), extra light bulbs (for when light bulbs burn out), and extra computers (for when 1 or more computers aren’t working). 

Bottom line? Unhelpful resources are exactly that—unhelpful. And helpful resources are exactly that—helpful!

Photo by Sora Shimazaki:

Question: What do you think the key resources are for an international Christian school? Here’s what I’m thinking:

  • Resource #1: God. Enough said.
  • Resource #2: The Body of Christ, meaning Christians working together seamlessly and interdependently—like your body does. Please remember that the Body of Christ is not a collection of individual Christians (some or all of whom may be disconnected from each other—think silos). And leaders, get the Body of Christian flourishing—create a flourishing culture!
  • Resource #3: Individual Christians (staff, leaders) that serve at your international Christian school.
  • Resource #4: Other resources that help students, staff, and leaders consistently experience passionate purpose, resilient well-being, healthy relationships, and transformative learning. This includes everything from user-friendly mission statements, to sufficient time to get the job done, to quality textbooks.

Right now, what resource would help you flourish? For me, I think it’s a team or a professional learning community I can be part of—a group that regularly meets, talks, and works together to help students, staff, and leaders at international Christian schools to flourish in Jesus.

What about you?  What do unhelpful resources and helpful resources look like to you? When have you experienced unhelpful resources? What do you think the key resources are for an international Christian school?

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Get flourishing!

Michael