Vision, Mission and Values - What is the Difference?

Your VISION is your picture of what your school/education should look like in the future.

Forming a strategic vision should describe what kind of enterprise the school is trying to become and infuse it with a sense of purposeful action. Think big! To write a vision statement, answer this question: What will our school look like in five to ten years from now?

Examples of Vision Statements:
A Christian community committed to excellence
Valuing the Individual, Celebrating Learning
We strive to provide an environment in which every individual is cared for, morally, intellectually, physically, socially and emotionally
Vision statements often begin with words like:
We strive for
We believe that
We are committed to

Your MISSION describes what your school/organization does, with whom (or for whom) and, in broad terms, how it does it.

If you think of the vision as the end point for what your school stands for, then your mission is your means and it points to how you are going to reach your dream.

To write a mission statement, answer the questions: What is our business? Who are we serving? How will we accomplish it?

A mission statement communicates to others what you do and how you do it; and helps to clarify and focus the work of the organization.

The three elements of the Mission Statement are:

Who? The statement should define the exact group (the students, parents, staff and community) the school is wishing to serve.

What? The mission statement describes the student, parent, staff and community needs the school wants to satisfy.

How? The mission describes in broad terms how the school will satisfy the needs of stakeholders.

Examples of Mission Statements:

School A

School A aims to provide a high quality education for all students to assist them to become young men and women of competence, compassion and excellence by engaging them in challenging learning, motivating them to do their best and providing opportunities for service to others.

School B

The goal of School B is to facilitate the development of the whole child and to assist the child to become a contributing member of society. The school strives to do this by encouraging the treatment of others with equity and respect; promoting physical fitness and moral character; developing communication, comprehension, literacy and numeracy skills; developing independent workers who are about to think creatively and critically; and engendering an appreciation of music and other creative disciplines.

In developing your mission statement, ask the following questions:

Does our mission statement describe who our customers are?
Does our mission statement explain what needs of our stakeholders our school is trying to satisfy?
Does our mission statement explain how the school will serve its stakeholders?
Is our mission statement realistic?
Is it clear and easily understood? Short and sharply focused?
Is it memorable?
Does our mission statement reflect what we want the school to stand for?
Is it motivating and inspiring?
Does it focus on our key customers: our students?

Your ORGANISATIONAL VALUES are the shared values that underpin the work of the school and its relationships with users and other stakeholders. Values reflect what the organization believes is the right way to do things and to deal with people, and what the organization believes about the way in which the world ought to be organized.

Clarifying values is important because values provide a basis on which to make difficult decisions. If a school is clear about its values, then everyone in the school knows how to behave in particular circumstances. For example, if the school decides on values such as: integrity, honesty, openness, personal excellence, constructive self-criticism, continual self-improvement, and mutual respect, then these values will motivate all of the actions of school personnel and other stakeholders.

It is important not only to consult with the school community to decide on the values everyone will accept, but also to model those values in every day actions and words. If a school decides that respect is one of its values, then this might mean, for example, that students sign up to be polite to their teachers, teachers agree not to use sarcasm and belittling words to discipline students and parents agree not to criticize teachers in front of students, and so on. In clarifying values, the school also makes decisions about what those values mean in action.

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