welcome
This past August, I attended the Southwestern Union Conference Educators’ Convention in Frisco, Texas, and was delighted about the theme, School Culture by Design.
As I prayed about what I would share with my colleagues, I was overcome with thoughts of why I had not more closely viewed learning from the CAD of an architect.
Let me relate part of what I shared with our SWAU colleagues.
Under the banner of offering Something Better lies the beckoning need for providing learning spaces that nurture behaviors, actions, and decisions centered around designing—designing learning spaces for belonging. Designing for every learner and stakeholder; for every brain; designing for flourishing. Collectively, actions that allow all to acquire Something Truly Better.
We won’t argue with the truth that culture isn’t created in one spectacular event, or by one inspiring leader or teacher. Culture is designed in thousands of ordinary moments. Yet, here is the inviting news: If culture is designed… then culture can be redesigned. So, what becomes possible when we intentionally design school cultures where every person flourishes? Not only students. Teachers. Teaching principals. Parents. Staff Volunteers. Board members. School Communities. Because culture is not constructed by one extraordinary teacher. It is cultivated by a community of ordinary people who consistently use multiple, often divergent, paths in the practice of serving a diverse community of learners, towards accomplishing a shared goal.
Researchers, like Gregory Walton, establish that a student’s sense of belonging profoundly influences academic persistence, resilience, and achievement. Students who believe they are accepted and valued are more likely to engage deeply, recover from setbacks, and persevere through challenges. Additionally, studies on collective teacher efficacy unequivocally advance that what adults believe about students, influences what students come to believe about themselves. Thus, belonging is not an educational luxury; it is a neurological necessity. This is compassionate education, and compassionate education has always been the heart of Adventist education.
I firmly believe this. Not because our centers of learning are perfect. Not because educators always employ the best teaching approaches, or have unfettered access to advanced innovative resources, and certainly not because we have all the answers and solutions, but because the God who calls us to this work is still creating, still restoring, still transforming, and He invites us all to join Him. Because at the nucleus of ministry is people, and every child deserves to encounter Christ through the culture we intentionally design together.
Go! Design! Build vibrant learning spaces! Nurture learners who reflect Something Truly Better! And may the presence of our Lord always go before you.