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I tend to think of value on an individual level but schools have a heterarchical structure with subsystems that act as an individual including the system as a whole. At each level, value only has value if it is valued. A Value’s measure of value is how many decisions it provides valence for.

On a fundamental level value enables action. We are all taking action because at some level we have assigned value to it. Making our own underlying values explicit is very tricky. The difficulty of school choosing a few to be prioritised by each individual in each action often leads to lip service?

I think there is a difference between valuing a value and acting in a way that embodies a value as described by an organisation (and values can also inhibit action…) And even if assigned value is different across people, that’s not an issue imo. That is to be expected.

24/7/25, 8:33 am0 reposts0 likes

I think you might be at risk of disembodying value. Value only has value if the person doing the enacting assigns the value when making decisions. It has no value if it does not become part of the person taking the day to day actions. Communicating is not enough it has to resonate on a deep level?

I don’t disagree at all. But I don’t think it’s an issue here, as I think that teachers already do value their school’s values to an extent. And the communication is two way - it includes leadership understanding what staff are finding difficult to appreciate about the values.

It’s the extent that is in question. How many of my decisions are actually informed due to the school communicating its values. I think we are getting down to lots of decimal places. A higher % do align but those decisions would have happened anyway because of my own values.

That’s part of my point. The values themselves are not the key aspect here. It’s the understanding of how to enact them. What does ‘do the right thing’ look like in this school? That’s what leaders should be communicating. ‘How we act’ rather than ‘what we value’.

If we get to a point where staff don’t align at all with values? Then that’s a different issue. And I think at that point, the teacher needs to assess whether they really want to work in that school.

It’s the role of leaders to make it clear why specific values are a priority for their school at this time. As I wrote, I don’t think there’s a set of school values with which any teacher fundamentally disagrees with, so the challenge is not in valuing them but ensuring aligned enactment.

If we all agree with the hundreds of different values chosen by different schools what actual difference does it make being in a school with a particular set of values? Would it make a difference if the values changed to another set? Could we not replace them all with ‘Do the right thing’ ?