Hello colleagues,
I hope this note finds each of you happy, healthy, and functioning at peak performance.
When Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963, he didn’t present solutions to problems. He didn’t say “We’ve got race problems in this country and I have some ideas for changing that.”
No, he said, “ I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream .” And, in expressing his dream for the future of race relations in the United States of America he captured the hearts and minds of a generation of Americans.
Our challenge is to create an idealized future for the Division for Systemic Change—a future that is deeply and irrevocably connected to AECT and one that is sharply focused on transforming the way teachers teach and the way children learn in school systems.
Our challenge, of course, is not the same as the one that Dr. King and people of color faced back then. Nevertheless, it is an important challenge because if we succeed in creating the future we envision for the Division we will have a profound and enduring effect on teaching and learning in the United States and throughout the world. We recognize this challenge and we must rise up to meet it.
The attached document represents our dream for the future of the Division. It serves as a blueprint for creating an idealized future for the Division for Systemic Change. We cannot create the idealized future that we envision without your help. Please review the scenarios in the attached document and find a place for yourself in those scenarios. We know there is a place in there for you. Find a way to help. Identify a task in which to engage. Help us, please, to create a division that is a powerful and highly respected advocate for transforming teaching and learning in school systems.
After you find a place for yourself in the strategic plan, please contact me and let me know. Also, as you engage in tasks that support the plan, please report your results to me so we can keep track of our progress.
Thank you.
Frank
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