Time to re-envision vision statements in education

In this chapter, the authors highlight several principles to develop and enact powerful vision statements that are truly visionary - bold, powerful, inspiring, imaginative, and collectively constructed. The chapter makes the case that vision statements should direct education toward transformative outcomes for both individuals and society by pointing the way toward new educational purposes, values, policies, programs, and practices that are necessary to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Vision statements can help individuals and schools pivot toward new beliefs and behaviors at all levels of education; they can guide the everyday decisions and actions of people in schools; and they can be used to modify structures, policies, and processes that move organizations in transformative directions.