Making a ripple -v- making a dent

Leaders are the people who arrive in the future before anybody else - Bill Cook

I'm writing this in a fairly exhausted physical and mental state, having spent around 8 hours a day for the past 2 days involved in ASB's strategic planning process.  It's really exciting to be thinking about where we are as a school and where we want to go, in a time where the future is changing fast and where that change is bound to impact education.  I feel fortunate to be working at a school in India, a country that is growing and where change is accelerating, and I'm excited to be at a school where I feel there is more potential for change than in schools in many First World countries.  I also feel fortunate to have spent the past 2 days having amazing conversations with school leaders, teachers and parents.

International education is growing fast, in fact it is predicted the number of international schools will double over the next 10 years.  Currently there are around 4 million students in international schools around the world, by 2025 the numbers are predicted to be 8.26 million, which means the number of international teachers will also double (from around 350,000 to around 700,000).

We spoke a lot about empowering students to develop their full potential, based on their interests and passions as well as their abilities and aptitudes.  We talked about the necessity of recruiting and developing educators who will deliver a relevant and challenging programme, and we also talked about character and the kinds of people we'd like to see our students become.

This afternoon we were talking about our vision, and someone suggested the word "ripple".  I really liked this metaphor of what we are doing spreading out in ever widening circles.  However later I also heard the word "dent", as in the Steve Job's quote "making a dent in the universe".  Is this more what we are going to do, I wonder?  ASB is already a thought leader in education, and as we plan for where we are going in the next 5 years I have a feeling that sharing our direction and vision will be important for many schools around the world.

Photo Credit: Yogendra174 via Compfight cc