The role of conversation, contention, and commitment in a professional

It is 1997, I am a third-year teacher, and the faculty of my high school is engaged in a contentious debate. Theschool is going through a re-accreditation process, and as part of the process we are required to re-examine the school’s mission statement. A sub-committee has drafted a new mission for facultyreview, and they are now presenting the mission statement to the entire faculty at an after-school meeting.

One of the members of the sub-committee has put on the overhead a transparency that reads,“We will provide a high-quality education to all students,”and debate among the faculty begins. Opinions come from all sides of the room asteachers struggle with the level of individual and institutional responsibility for student learning that they are willing toassume. Finally, one English teacher, John, raises his hand and argues,“We can’t promise a high-quality education to all students. The best that we can do is to provide the opportunity for a goodeducation. Then it is the students’responsibility to take advantage of that opportunity. It is not our fault if the studentsdon’t work hard, if we don’t have parental support, or if the town doesn’t give us a big enough budget. At a certain point, our students’success is simply out of our hands.”

Many members of the faculty murmur their assent, while others shift uncomfortably. I am dissatisfied withthis argument and the lack of accountability that it suggests, but I remain quiet. After several minutes of further discussion, afinal version of the mission statement is approved:“We will provide the opportunity for a high-quality education for allstudents.”And, for the next seven years, I remember my frustration.

Fast forward to 2004. I am now beginning an administrative internship as an assistant principal at a new middleschool in North Carolina. The faculty is in summer“Boot Camp”, preparing for the school’s opening in several weeks, and we are several hours into the process of writing the school’s mission statement. A sheet of paper hangs at the front of the room, and onit is the line:“We are a collaborative community that __________ high student achievement.”The faculty has put forth multiple contenders to fill in the blank:“focuses on”,“prioritizes,”“provides for”, and, finally,“ensures.”After considerable discussion, the principal raises his hand, reminds the faculty thatour new school is being built on a professional learning community model, and reads a quote from a recent Rick DuFour article(2004):