A coach says to an athlete, “Envision crossing the finish line. . .alone. . . far ahead of any other contender. . . victory is yours. . . feel it. . . taste it. . . claim it.” Through visualization, this athlete grows more focused, motivated, and confident, thereby increasing the likelihood of his or her success.
If you’re thinking, “That is one powerful technique,” you’re right. So, if I’m feeling altruistic, can I just envision an end to poverty or hunger? What about education? Can envisioning work there? The state of Georgia thinks it can . . . sort of.
A Vision for Public Education in Georgia is an initiative developed by the Georgia School Boards Association (GSBA) and Georgia School Superintendents Association (GSSA) “to provide all children in Georgia with an equitable and excellent education that prepares them for college, career, and life.”
Officially sanctioned in the spring of 2009, the effort aims to make a difference for Georgia school children. Those involved in it—local school boards, superintendents, educators, parents, families, and students—envision success, and just as an athlete knows that high performance or mental preparation alone will not win the victory, so do the people engaged in this project.
GSBA and GSSA got down to work by establishing a planning team that further divided its expertise into five key components. One of their first tasks was to squarely call out the challenges facing Georgia’s students, families, and educators, and then identify the processes and procedures that needed to occur, existing best practices as well as promising ones, and any policy and program implications there might be. Throughout 2009 and 2010, with some assistance from McREL, they drafted documents, held focus group sessions across the state, publicly reported on a website whatever they learned and any decisions they made, and by the fall of 2010, they were developing a strategy to consider, adopt, and begin acting on their 45 recommendations Participants in the Georgia Vision Project never looked back.
Other elements contributing to their success are openness, having a shared purpose, and utilizing the best thinking of education experts throughout the state. They currently are holding 16 regional meetings over the state for local superintendents and their boards to share the work that’s been done.
The question as to whether education in Georgia is about to change for the better is not yet answered, but so far, the response to their work has been positive, and the state is poised to see some good things happen in public education. Surely, they needed their vision, but to their credit, they are doing the work.
See the steps Texas took to create a new vision for public education: http://www.tasanet.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13775&Itemid=925
This blog very interesting, and I enjoyed reading it. I am a third grade teacher in Georgia, and I found this blog very uplifting. Thank you for all of the useful information.
We could and should make better use of visualization techniques from the classroom to the boardroom. We have a lot to learn from sports psychologists that can easily be applied to education. Visualization works and can help anyone achieve any goal. Athletic trainers tell us that 80-90% of success is mental conditioning. I use visioning techniques with my coaching clients frequently. What you can imagine, you can create!
Thanks for the post…
I will have a chapter on this concept in my next book… stay tuned!
Karla Reiss
author, Leadership Coaching for Educators
I really enjoyed reading this blog! I feel that Georgia is taking important steps in the right direction to improve education. I love how they are looking at the big picture and the whole student. I feel that this plan will work because it seems to be based on a lot of reflection and collaboration. I think the basis of the plan would be great to incorporate in the classroom to show students the importance of working as a team.
What a great idea! Envisioning the final outcome helps to prepare the participants for the effots they need to put forth in order to reach their goal. I’m curious as to whether Anna had ever heard about this vision for public education in Georgia before she read the blog.
I enjoyed reading this blog. I am a first grade teacher in Tennessee. I have always been told to plan/envision a lesson with the end in mind. Think about what you want the students to learn before you even plan the lesson.
Jamie Watson
This is very inspirational for the rest of the educational communities. We must all start to envision the things we want to happen in our schools. If we continue to have a positive outlook on the future and work towards the things we envision only good things can come from it.
True. “The question as to whether education in Georgia is about to change for the better is not yet answered, but so far, the response to their work has been positive, and the state is poised to see some good things happen in public education. Surely, they needed their vision, but to their credit, they are doing the work.