"We have shifted from an identification with process to an identification with results. We are no longer content with merely providing quality instruction. We will judge ourselves henceforth on the quality of student learning we produce. And further, we will judge ourselves by our ability to produce even greater and more sophisticated student learning and meaningful educational success with each passing year, each exiting student, and each graduating class. To do this, we must ourselves continually experiment, discover, grow, and learn. Consequently, we see ourselves as a learning institution in both our object and our method" (p. 193).
When the Vision Task Force presented the statement to all the college constituencies, it was surprised to find absolutely no opposition. Puzzled, the task force speculated that "people thought that the Vision Statement would find a comfortable resting place on a shelf ... Or perhaps, people felt that this emphasis on learning outcomes was just another passing fad to be endured" (p. 194).
Well, the vision statement wasn't merely a feel-good exercise. College leaders implemented it immediately and with fervor. One daring move came when the college hosted a series of learning forums, the first of which was facilitated by students, who "focused on positive and negative classroom and campus experiences and successful techniques that helped them learn" (p. 195).
Another gutsy activity: "The 1995 fall Orientation Day ... Returning faculty members were not told that they would become students-for-a-day until they arrived on campus" (p. 197). Faculty and staff attended three classes, patterned after learning communities, and all demonstrating active-learning strategies. Even the college president got back into the classroom as a chemistry teacher!
Have you ever been involved in a similar scenario, where leaders didn't just talk the talk but also walked the walk?
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