Week of July 30th, 2018: My Vision - Reflections

(Deborah's professional reflections)

My vision: I want to help create a better world, a world in which our students' heads, hearts, and souls flourish in unison, both academically and socio-emotionally; a world in which there is success for every single student;  in which our students know that they are the reason  for our very existence and that we are here to make sure that every one of them is successful because failure is not an option.


  • Start by communicating my vision in a very positive environment, in order to announce that we are going to create an inviting acronym together which represents our mission. Example: SPLASH (Students' Positive Learning And Scholarly Habits)



  • Once we come to a consensus,  display our vision everywhere: weekly agenda, monthly newsletter (e-mailed to parents) and posters.  Constantly talk about it and, most importantly, lead by example with a very clear goal in mind:  Excellence in Academics.



  • Use technology as a leverage, inviting a few students a day to broadcast live in the morning. That will be an average of five broadcasts a week. On Friday afternoons, non-participating students will vote for the best broadcast following a universal rubric that students will have previously created. 



  • I like simplicity, but not vulgarity, and elegance, but not arrogance. It is who I am, as a person and as a professional. It is important that we focus on our strengths, in order to commit to academic excellence. Building trust is definitely of the utmost importance in the process of ensuring that our mission and vision become commitments, and not a mere "task" or "obligation." 



  • There have to be some non-negotiables too, or we might fall in the "well of mediocrity" and lack of ambition, for the "good of the group" (i.e., for our convenience), but not for the benefit of our students. This is an aspect of my vision which I have considered very carefully. 

(February 2017, Department of Advanced Educational Studies, Ethics & Integrity, CSU Bakersfield)

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