I have been asking students, teachers, administrators, parents and others lately – When you have just a couple of sentences to say something about your school or your district – what do you tell people?
Almost all the younger students I spoke with mentioned their teacher. From being “nice” to “funny” to “caring”, elementary students said that when others ask them about their school they talk about how much they like their teacher. They also spoke about how fun school was and often referenced field trips, sports or other activities out of the norm. One young woman shared how she loved when her teacher told stories, like a recent one of the missing “O”. The story was built around learning about contractions and how “do not” becomes “don’t” – she recited the full story to me.
For older students, many often referenced teachers, but also were more likely to talk about what courses or programs they like. They also spoke about how their high school program was preparing themselves for university. I heard from students who said that by taking AP courses, they were more ready for post-secondary. The high school students also often spoke about culture and climate and how school made them feel. It was interesting as while some of the comments around care and concern are ones I would think could be heard at almost any school in the country, they felt it was unique in their individual schools.
Adults – whether staff or parents – used words like innovation, leadership and culture (not terms that came up with the students). Adults also often commented about the size of the district. West Vancouver, while a large district when one looks provincially, is small by Metro Vancouver standards – and that was a selling point for adults. Comments like, “we are a small district so we have close relationships” came up. Another said, “The fact that we are small is a positive. It’s personal.” There was also a sense that the smallness allowed for nimbleness. There were also a number of comments about culture. I am always interested in these, in trying to pinpoint exactly how culture shows itself. Culture was often linked to support, innovation, risk-taking and opportunities.
It is the time of year when families are making choices for school for next year. And I think it is important to always know what our elevator pitch for our schools and our district is. I love how words like community, opportunity and innovation came through so often. Of course now I am curious to know if this is what we are about, and these qualities in some way are unique to what we are doing in West Vancouver – exactly what is it we are doing that perhaps others aren’t that is leading to this work.
cultureofyes.ca 