PowerUp A: Strong Mission and Culture
When a school has a strong mission and culture, what does it look like and feel like in practice, for both adults and young people? If you’re visiting a school where everyone shares a strong, unifying sense of mission, what behaviors and practices are you likely to observe?
In this PowerUp, we’ll explore those questions through excerpts from “The First Class,” a documentary that follows the founding class at Crosstown High, an XQ high school in Memphis, Tennessee. You’ll have a chance to look for evidence of the school’s vision for project-based learning and its commitment to being a “diverse-by-design” school where all students can achieve high levels of learning. You’ll also see moments of stress, when the school community had to call upon its shared sense of mission to find a way forward.
A PowerUp is a concise, just-in-time learning module designed to address a specific topic or practical skill, typically lasting between 1-2 hours, and is offered individually or in bundles to support professional educators with immediate, actionable content.
| Designed For | Teachers and educators;System leaders and administrators |
| Topics | Leadership; Classroom management; Collaboration; K-12; Learner-centered education |
| Platform | Bluebird |
| Source | XQ |
Learning outcomes
- Develop understanding about what a compelling mission and shared purpose look like and feel like in practice.
- Observe and unpack the ways in which a clear, bold mission can support a community in navigating through stress and conflict.
- Consider strategies for engaging school stakeholders in understanding, and enacting a school’s mission in every aspect of school life.
- Explore best practices for sustaining a school culture grounded in shared purpose.
