As I spent this week reflecting on mission statements and mantras, I realized that mission statements are only effective if the people being guided by them know what they are. Of course, this statement shouldn’t be an epiphany; rather, it should be common sense. But, I do think, it needs to be stated when conversing about mission statements and mantras.
I started thinking about my own educational path, through being a student myself and then into my professional pathway that now sees me leading a classroom. I was shocked to realize I can still remember my elementary school’s mission statement. I looked up the current mission statement and it no longer matches the one from my childhood, but despite this change, it made me wonder how/why I can still remember it. I remember it being posted on snazzy posters throughout the school, but as a kindergartener who struggled to read, I could still tell you what the mission statement was because my principal read it and our school mantra every single day over the morning announcements.
I had to chuckle when I realized that I tell my own students my former elementary school’s mantra on a regular basis. Even after all these years, I think it is still a good mantra. It has guided me well and I’m embarrassed/proud to admit that it has actually crossed my mind when I’ve been faced with the question of doing the right thing. My elementary school’s mantra was “Make good choices. The choice is yours.”
My current school’s mantra would be “Character.” Our principal frequently tells us that “character is the sum of all your choices.” Most of my students roll their eyes when our principal starts speaking about character, but I can’t help but think I probably rolled my eyes when my former principal started talking about “making good choices.”
When I began thinking about how all of this applies to technology education and having students who are able to be responsible digital citizens, I was surprised to find that both mantras address both of the “two lives” students lead. Without editing either mantra, both can be applied to technology. I would hope having good character applies to making responsible choices online and in the virtual world, and I know for sure that making good choices applies to being responsible online. I’m not sure either mantra needs to be edited to directly address technology, because in doing so, I think the power of both of these mantras is then limited to solely address technology instead of the entire person. And, I suppose in a nutshell this brings us back to the discussion from week one on whether students live “one life” or “two lives”.
I started thinking about my own educational path, through being a student myself and then into my professional pathway that now sees me leading a classroom. I was shocked to realize I can still remember my elementary school’s mission statement. I looked up the current mission statement and it no longer matches the one from my childhood, but despite this change, it made me wonder how/why I can still remember it. I remember it being posted on snazzy posters throughout the school, but as a kindergartener who struggled to read, I could still tell you what the mission statement was because my principal read it and our school mantra every single day over the morning announcements.
I had to chuckle when I realized that I tell my own students my former elementary school’s mantra on a regular basis. Even after all these years, I think it is still a good mantra. It has guided me well and I’m embarrassed/proud to admit that it has actually crossed my mind when I’ve been faced with the question of doing the right thing. My elementary school’s mantra was “Make good choices. The choice is yours.”
My current school’s mantra would be “Character.” Our principal frequently tells us that “character is the sum of all your choices.” Most of my students roll their eyes when our principal starts speaking about character, but I can’t help but think I probably rolled my eyes when my former principal started talking about “making good choices.”
When I began thinking about how all of this applies to technology education and having students who are able to be responsible digital citizens, I was surprised to find that both mantras address both of the “two lives” students lead. Without editing either mantra, both can be applied to technology. I would hope having good character applies to making responsible choices online and in the virtual world, and I know for sure that making good choices applies to being responsible online. I’m not sure either mantra needs to be edited to directly address technology, because in doing so, I think the power of both of these mantras is then limited to solely address technology instead of the entire person. And, I suppose in a nutshell this brings us back to the discussion from week one on whether students live “one life” or “two lives”.