I really like the idea of core values and it's interesting when you're thinking about arts education as well. A lot of artists and arts organizations fret about assessment and evaluation in their programs.
I see them both as an extension of the core values idea, taking the time to articulate what it is you are trying to impart in students, naming the journey you hope to take or perhaps the end result you hope to create together.
I'll be curious about your session and how the identification of core values might help arts educators to consider assesment and evaluation in a new light.
Lara
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Lara,
ReplyDeleteLoved your post. While I have to admit to being new to assessment and evaluation, I do believe it to be a piece of the puzzle that we can get excited about. It is an integral component that helps build a brand or a program to its tipping point.
In my work with the book "From the Barrio to the Board Room" for example, we've been crystal clear with our core values and worked strategically to build a brand that inspires and motivates at-risk youth and those who work them. Recently we have built a curriculum (a perfect extension of our core values) that we are piloting at Chicago Public Schools. Because we've been invited to present our findings at a US Department of Education conference in DC this summer, we have been aggressively collecting data.
As I mentioned, this area is not my expertise, so we have someone else overseeing this collection and the evaluation will be done by people who understand the proper way to do such things.
What's exciting for me is how we have built the brand so that people are inspired to help us with the survey and ensure its implementation, not because a superior told them they have to do it, but because they are genuinely motivated to be part of the journey of this book.
It is that emotional buy-in that core values and strategic branding can create. Consider your brand a big game of chess. Every move of a piece on the board is motivated through your core values and actualized through marketing materials, programs, videos, etc. The small "checks" on the king are those emotional buy-ins from people around you. When there is enough emotional buy-in, a tipping point, or check-mate, is inevitable and that's when a program suddenly explodes.
I'll be looking forward to exploring that with you in June!