Why the Mission, Values & Vision of an International School in Bangkok Matter
Just like with any organization, the mission, values and vision of an international school in Bangkok are critical when it comes to choosing an academic institution for your children. Why? Because they set the mood, tone and ethics of the establishment, not to mention define the school’s strategic direction. Without the foundation of a strong set of values, illustrated by a vision, and undertaken by a mission, an organization cannot hope to achieve its most important goal(s). At the same time, without developing a clear brief — to assist in developing a strategy — an organization cannot hope to distinguish or explain itself to prospective employees and customers (aka parents/students). Let’s now look in more detail about how these principles are applied in a school setting.
VISION
To put it succinctly, a vision statement clearly defines the overarching aspirations of what an organization hopes to achieve or to become. Here are some famous examples:
Disney: To make people happy.
Oxfam: A just world without poverty.
Ikea: To create a better everyday life for the many people.
Sony: To be a company that inspires and fulfils your curiosity.
Nike: Bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.
However, it should be noted that a vision statement does not provide specific targets. Notice that each of the above examples could apply to many different companies. Instead, the vision is a broad description; it is a visual image of what the organisation is striving to produce or become. It aims to inspire people to want to be part of and/or contribute to the organization.
MISSION
For several reasons, companies often use the terms ‘vision statement‘ and ‘mission statement’ interchangeably and get them confused. However they each have a distinct purpose. As stated above, the vision statement describes where the organization wants to be in the future. Whereas a mission statement describes what the organization has to do to achieve it. In this way, they support each other. The most significant difference is that whilst a vision statement might be a single sentence or short paragraph, a mission statement is often much longer and more specific. Here are examples:
TED: Spread ideas.
Tesla: To accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.
Asana: To help humanity thrive by enabling all teams to work together effortlessly.
PayPal: To build the web’s most convenient, secure, cost-effective payment solution.
LinedIn: To connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful.
VALUES
And lastly, we get to the values statement, often also referred to as the “code of ethics” of a company. As we have learnt already, where the organization is going (vision) and what it will do to get there (mission) have already been taken care of, the values are here to govern how they perform their job. Meaning, the values statement defines what the organization believes in and how employees are expected to behave — with each other, with customers, with suppliers and with other stakeholders. In a nutshell, the values of an organization set forth its moral compass. This is crucially important on two fronts: guiding decision making processes and establishing a standard for assessing actions.
SCHOOL SETTING
And so, in the context of an international school, how and why are these guidelines important? Well, as clearly stated above, they are the framework for how a school conducts itself and what ethics and standards it will instill in your child. Together, the clearly defined mission, values and vision of an international school Bangkok provide direction for everything that happens in that academic institution. Keep in mind that they are not intended to inhibit initiative or innovation, but rather guide decisions and behaviors to achieve a stated goal. Here is an example of what a school’s statements could look like:
Our Mission: Inspire growth, empower individual excellence and enrich lives.
Our Vision: Provide individualized and authentic learning pathways for students to flourish and positively impact others.
Our Values: Integrity, caring, community and growth.
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