Uncluttered Visions

I recently moved to a larger home. Yuck, I know, no one likes moving. I was, however, very excited about the move because my vision of living in an open, uncluttered home propelled me to embrace the move and all it required. I packed with gusto and was immensely proud of every box that I hauled off to donate to someone who had less clutter than I (and there are plenty of those folks out there, trust me).

However, I sit here now in my new home surrounded by my boxes, knowing that I have more boxes yet to move, and I wonder what happened to my vision of clear spaces and everything neatly stored out of sight.

It occurs to me that a bright, clear vision only stays bright and clear if it remains uncluttered. Bringing along all the old boxes that don’t really align with the new direction only impedes the progress that you seek. In the field of education, we change our vision to adapt to the demands of the changing world, the new skills our students will need and the new requirements instituted by our governments. It isn’t a drastic overhaul, generally, but it’s a fine-tuning of the vision that keeps people focused on how we can achieve our most important goal of providing exceptional educational programs.

But, I think, as I stare at my boxes, that, too often, we bring along all the old programs, the old supports, the old ways of thinking and try to stuff them into what we are creating with our new vision. The problem with that, is that you and I are not at our best when we are surrounded by clutter. When we talk about our vision for making our campuses and districts great, we need to plan on allowing dedicated time to declutter.

It’s painful to let go of what we have purchased, learned and even enjoyed, even if we now look at it and think how ugly it is and how it won’t fit into the new vision of the coming school year. As you begin the new school year, think about the vision of your district, your campus, or your classroom and start getting rid of anything you have that doesn’t align.

The reality that we all know (despite what we tell ourselves when we start saving things we no longer use) is that we will NEVER, NEVER use these things again. Times are changing and how we educate our students is changing as well. We need to be open to new ideas, new programs and new ways of producing that much-hailed 21 century student. Is there room in your district, your campus or your classroom for new ways of achieving the current vision?

Do you want to live, surrounded by clutter that impedes your ability to realize the

vision? Or do you want to take time to purge and allow the strength of the vision and your openness to improvement to guide you in only allowing necessary and results-producing “boxes” in your school?

As for me, I am setting up donation boxes for another round of purging as I unpack. The vision is too powerful for me to accept anything less.