It is no secret that I have
struggled with the public comment remarks Tuesday night. I accept without
objection the passion and desire of a parent to have their student’s
accomplishments recognized. I also
accept that a parent’s perspective and view are biased. Mine are!
Often perspective is skewed and
limited to one’s own experience. Arguably,
the parent perspective of student success, effort, achievement, and
accomplishment vary. In the end,
however, our perspective is just that our perspective.
You can’t argue or debate right
versus wrong when it comes to perspective.
Agreeing to disagree is the best outcome possible with differing
perspectives. Though compromise is often
touted as best practice for resolving differences in decision making, it is not
the best practice when it comes to ideals, values, core beliefs, and
convictions.
If we embrace “learning for all –
no matter what it takes” that is manifested in our mission of “all means all”
we must allow our ideals, values, core beliefs and convictions to drive
decision making – not compromise.
In “Leading in a Culture of Change”,
author Michael Fullan pens in a chapter titled Moral Purpose, “Moral purpose and sustained performance of
organizations are mutually dependent”.
One of several points is “Moral purpose is a key element in the
sustainability of organizations.
Long-lived organizations have a strong sense of purpose and are adaptive
to their environments without compromising core ideals.”
There it is “adaptive without
compromising”.
The questions therefore before us
is how do we adapt without compromising our ideals, values, core beliefs, and
convictions?
Another daunting question
underpinning “adaptive without compromising” is “what do we stand for?” It has been demonstrated throughout history the
adage of when an organization or individual stands for nothing they fall for
anything”.
My standing is quite clear – we
must recognize achievement, growth, and accomplishment but not at the expense
of others. Expense of others is not
blind to the reality of choice – choosing to be unsuccessful. Expense of others is also not blind to a
reality that individuals or families are in situations or circumstances that
are beyond their control.
Rather expense to others takes
into consideration a responsibility not to intentionally or purposefully make
judgments or draw conclusions about others.
To do so requires making and keeping deliberate decisions to respect,
dignify, and consider the actions as well as reactions of those impacted.
What does this mean in practice?
It means that those in positions
of authority to make decisions consider authentically the perspectives,
opinions, and feelings and make decisions based on what is best, right, and
true for all – not a few. Past practice and tradition are important. They must however be reviewed and assessed
through the ideals, values, core beliefs, and convictions of the organization
for alignment. When these customs,
traditions, and practices are found to be alignment they must continue with the
full knowledge that they are in fact in alignment. Where they are not, leadership cannot ignore,
disregard, or suspend ideals, values, core beliefs, and convictions for the
sake of the convenience of compromise or appeasement especially if the
compromise is to satisfy a few at the expense of the many.
In “all means all” our moral
imperative is illuminated. We have for
too long allowed not out of malice practices that are divisive and
hurtful. Parents and loved ones have
endured painful moments that others are oblivious to not because of ill
intent. Rather, the unsuspecting
onlookers have little or no awareness let alone understanding of why a student,
all students are not like their own – motivated, driven to argumentatively an
antiquated metric.
Our moral imperative is not to
cast blame or affix guilt to anyone other than possibly us. For, we must accept the responsibility and
accountability that comes with the authority of leadership. We must be diligent in raising or increasing
awareness and understanding of how our programs and practices must be in
alignment of our ideals, values, core beliefs, and convictions.
Anything less betrays our moral purpose.
