DuFour and Eaker Chapter 6: Shared Values (Collective Commitments) and Common Goals - Chapter Outline (Week 4)

Values address how we will fulfill our purpose and make our desired future a reality.

When educators clarify and commit to certain shared values, they are engaged in the essential ABCs of school improvement, identifying the actions, behaviors, and commitments necessary to bring mission and vision to life.

Collective Commitments

Shared Values (Collective Commitments):

-  Contribute to the action orientation of a professional learning community

o  when educators clarify collective commitments, they make promises about what they are prepared to do now to create the school or district that reprsents their shared hopes for themselves and students.

-  Clarify how each member can contribute to the common purpose and shared vision of the school or district

-  Can help to create an internal focus

-  Provide a more effective system of accountability

-  Help to change the culture of organizations

Consider the following when developing collective comments:

-  Limit the commitment statements to a reasonable number

-  Be explicit and direct rather than vague and ethereal

Common Goals

“Goal setting is the single most powerful motivational tool in a leader’s toolkit” (Blanchard)

-  Common goals establish clear benchmarks of progres and milestones on the improvement journey

-  Effective goals contribute to the action orientaiotn of a professional learning community.

-  Clearly undersgood goals motivate and energize people to take purposeful action

-  To have positive impact, goals must be specific enough to help people in the organization gauge progress and remain focused on the right priorities

-  Use the SMART goal acronym (Conzemius & O’Neill, 2005) in the goal setting process:

o  Strategic and Specific

o  Measurable

o  Attainable

o  Results-Oriented

o  Timebound

The Four Pillars of a Professional Learning Community

Mission / Vision / Values / Goals
Whay do we exist? / What do we hope to become? / What comitments must we make to create the school or district that will improve our ability to fulfill our purpose? / What goals will we use to monitor our progress?

DuFour, Richard & Eaker, Robert. (2008). Professional Learning Communities at Work: New Insights for Improving Schools Bloomington, IN: National Educational Services.