School vision/mission statements

[jimmycajun]

Of course I am aware of the function of school visions and mission statements, however, the more schools I look at, the more difficult I find it to differentiate between them. As a good job hunter, I have been tailoring my cover letter and CV to each school I apply to and have been trying to demonstrate how my experience/philosophy/skill set lines up with the direction they're headed. But recently I've been noticing it seems like vision/mission statements are a different combination of buzz words that do not change very drastically from one school to the next....global citizen, critical thinking, 21 century skills, socially responsible, etc. Does anyone have an opinion about this? It seems paradoxical that recruiters want candidates to differentiate their school from others but, based on mission statements/visions, schools aren't very differentiated themselves. Thoughts?

[reisgio]

Of course most of these mission statements are a joke. Full of fluff. As most schools are created with great intentions but with ever-transient staff, how could schools' mission statements be anything other than cliches to make the locals happy that they are sending their child to a pricey international or American school?

[fine dude]

At the end of the day, it all comes down to most economic hire: experienced teacher couples and single teachers.
However, if you wish to still make it to that long list pile, look for key differences in those mission statements.
For example, at UWCSEA, 'education is a force to unite people, cultures..', whereas that of Tanglin focuses on 'individual value, integrity, happiness, and success.'
You should just tweak around accordingly and show evidence of authentic experiences that reflect those differences in mission statements.

[peachestotulips]

I personally look at a school's hierarchy/governance more than their mission statements.

[PsyGuy]

Agree with previous contributors, mission, vision, strategic and other such philosophical statements are little more then advertising and sales fluff with whatever happens to be trending in pop.ed.

If it makes you feel any better, most ITs are as equally indistinct. Degrees, certificates, years of experience, ASPs are all very indistinct or lack utility and value. Cover letters are a waste to read, and few recruiters read them until the short, short list, if at all.

Agree with @peachestotulips that governance (especially ownership type) and organizational structure is more informative than the sales advertising material an IS publishes about itself. The exception is when it comes to religious or political affiliations.

1) Whos money is it, is it a for profit, non profit, board, government, or individual owned organization? What does ownership know about education. Is the boards greatest experience and qualification about running a school based solely that the members once attended school?

2) How is senior leadership organized? Is it dispersed? Top heavy (Junior, Deputy, Assistant Class Lead), too light? Is leadership western, local, or mixed? How can pull the trigger (a number of ISs have a western head of senior leadership, but this individual cant do anything without assent and approval of a "local" director, etc.).

3) How much authority is vested in junior leadership and support staff. Does a secretary have as much power as an AP. What role do HODs serve (are they little more than communication liaisons, or are they responsible for your evaluation that determines contract renewal)? Who controls your access to resources?

4) Aside from the contract, what does the policy manual look like? Is is convoluted, are all the business practices based on having special receipts triple stamped and submitted in triplicate (health care expenses can be VERY informative about the operation of an IS)? Is there even a policy manual?