If you are a parent like me, you’ve had a lot of questions about your children’s school, why things happen the way they do, and what drives those experiences. You are among hundreds, even thousands of families experiencing school in their own ways, and that same system is how you received your education as a child. Schools haven’t changed much since you were there, yet for some reason, things aren’t working out the way they should. Your children aren’t thriving as you imagine they could. Despite reassurance from the well-meaning folks at the school and within the Parent-Teacher Association (the PTA), you know something isn’t right.
In all you try to do, and everywhere you look for answers, you are seeking peace of mind that your children are in good hands. You want to make sure they are on the right path to success, past their school years into a future that’s full of possibilities. And yet, you find yourself or loved ones constantly in disagreements, lodging complaints, and even escalating into conflicts about what’s not working at school. Instead of peace, you and your children are experiencing emotional distress, fear, frustration, and hurt, which further affects their school environment.
Not only is change desperately needed, but the list of what needs to be changed has become overwhelmingly long: mediocre outcomes, a decreasing sense of safety (both emotionally and physically), and a polarized community, to name several. The past few decades have seen a steady enrollment decline, accelerated by COVID-19, which further complicated funding struggles for public schools and eventually led to school closures across the country.
So when I ask “What is School For?”, I want to be clear that it is a multifaceted topic encompassing several broad aspects including personal growth and development, academic needs, and economic and societal factors. The complexity of the school system and the challenges surrounding it often leave people feeling stressed and overwhelmed. Often, it leads to the belief that the system is too big, and little can be done to change it, no matter what’s not working. And a partner belief is this: we are too small or insignificant to influence change to that degree. These beliefs are understandable, but nothing could be further from the truth.
Change is possible. First, we need a framework to help us see and understand our schools and how they work.
It wasn’t until I started to write this book that I realized I was creating a process to understand the school system as if I were branding it. This is how I help businesses and organizations reveal the purpose for their existence, help them see their core services, identify their survival challenges and opportunities for success, and create messaging that is consistent between what they say and what they do.
I am offering you this framework as a lens to see the school system more clearly.
How can you decide what’s best for your children, your family, or your community? When can you trust your experiences, and when does it create blinders around your ability to see clearly? How can you make small but effective changes without needing the system to change first?
