Got vision?
Sometimes in the day-to-day stress of our responsibilities,
it’s hard to remember “the big picture”
of why we’re doing what we’re doing. When phone
calls, e-mails, grade reports and IEP deadlines fill the calendar,
it’s hard to envision the lofty goals that we were striving
to reach when we started the year. So now that the first semester
is over, it’s a good time to reflect on our work and
on Missouri NEA’s vision for the future.
As an association, we began the process of re-examining our
vision, mission and values last year. We’ve spoken with
hundreds of our members and asked them why they believe MNEA
exists, what we do that no other organization does, words
that come to mind when thinking of MNEA, and their hopes and
dreams for our public schools and association.
To hear our members’ voices, we’ve traveled to
local meetings and the statewide representative assembly.
We’ve met with ESP members, retired members and student
members, asking them the same questions about our organization.
As we worked to update the vision, mission and values statements
of the organization, we realized that one voice was left out
of this discussion—the voices of our beginning teachers
who will be the future of the public school workforce, the
future of the profession and who, along with our ESP, retired
and student members, will be the future of our association.
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Mission work in
progress
I am very interested in your thoughts on what
we have developed to date on our vision, mission
and values. Nothing is finalized at this point,
but here is what we are working with:
Vision
Keeping the promise of a quality public education
by creating a great public school for every child
Mission
(Option #1) “Missouri NEA’s mission
is to work to ensure that the education of our
students and the working environments of our members
are of the highest quality.”
(Option
#2) “Missouri NEA’s mission is to
promote, advance and protect public education,
the education profession, and the rights and interests
of its members.”
Values that shape our actions…
1.
Democracy
2. Professionalism
3. Partnerships
4. Advocacy |
5.
Fairness - a just society
6. Equity
7. Dignity and respect for all |
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It’s critical that we hear from members new to the
education profession. With the help of MNEA board members,
we’re traveling across the state to hold meetings with
new teachers and ask them questions about why they became
teachers, why they joined a professional organization, what
a professional organization needs to offer them and what their
hopes and aspirations are for the future of public education.
We’re excited about the opportunity to listen and learn
from those who will shape the future of public education and
our association. Together, we will all continue to make MNEA
“something better.”
Our goal is to finalize our vision, mission and values by
the Spring R.A. in April. We have much work to do in continuing
to survey our members about whether the proposed vision, mission
and values are truly reflective of our hopes, dreams, and
beliefs if there’s more work to be done.
I am interested in your thoughts about the work we’re
doing and your vision for our association.
Please e-mail me at Chris.Guinther@mnea.org
to share your ideas and reflections on your association.
Thank you in advance for your thoughts, and thanks for the
work you do every day to make our public schools great for
every child!
by Chris
Guinther, MNEA president
sb,
winter '09
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Guinther
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