BE SAFE • BE RESPECTFUL • BE RESPONSIBLE • BE KIND • BELONG

BVUSD COMMUNICATION PRINCIPLES


Our words and our behavior matters. 

We are all human beings having human experiences.

Honest communication requires that we suspend certainty and engage openly.

Positive results require solution-oriented engagement.


Please note there are few subpages to support effective communication. 

COMMUNICATION IS EVERYTHING.

Background

Understanding that communication is the core of organizational health, the BVUSD Leadership Team spent several months investing heavily into communication research and best practices. (A complete list of our research and our references is included at the bottom of this page.) 


Originally, the BVUSD Leadership Team embarked on this project for the purposes of our own professional development, but along the way, it became clear that the conversations we were having were important for our entire community, because, well...


Communication is everything. 


Granted, the language and ideas could be re-crafted for student consumption, but the Principles & Practices that revealed themselves during our journey are important messages for our entire community. 


Over several months, our conversations helped us develop a Communication Framework for the district. The scope of the framework is quite broad because communication impacts almost everything we do (e.g., identity, information sharing, community building, relationships, district branding, marketing, positive promotion, recruitment and enrollment).

Framework Rational • Purpose • Goals

Rationale

Improving communication within, throughout, across, and beyond our district boundaries is a top priority for Bennett Valley Union School District because:


Meaningful communication is critical to our success, our efficacy, and our relationships.  

Clear communication is one of the defining features of a positive school culture. 

Effective communication improves learning environments, increases community engagement, supports relationships, and establishes a shared understanding of important information.  

Purpose

The purpose of the BVUSD Communication Plan is to provide a clear framework for engaging and communicating with internal and external audiences by means of establishing: 


I. Goals | Clarify the District’s communication goals

II.  Agreements |  Establish community agreements to support meaningful communication

III. Strategies |  Outline strategies to meet our communication  goals

Goals

BVUSD Communication Goals include the following: 

“How we use our voice determines the quality of our relationships, who we are in the world, and what the world can be and might become.” - Harriet Lerner, The Dance of Connection

Primary Principles & Practices 

This section defines 4 Principles & 8 Norms for engagement.  It is important to credit a variety of sources that supported the development of this framework. A full list of works is cited at the bottom of the page, but significant credit must be give to Jennifer Abrams and her book: Stretching Your Learning Edges: Growing (Up) At Work.

A SUMMARY OR PRIMARY PRINCIPLES & PRACTICES

(expanded detail below the summary)


In support of our health, our children, our spirits, our reputations, and our community:

PRINCIPLE A

Our words and our behavior matters. 

PRACTICE #1

We regulate and take responsibility for our behavior & our emotional responses

PRACTICE #2

We avoid speaking about others and we don't listen to gossip

PRINCIPLE B

We are all human beings having human experiences.

PRACTICE #3

We choose to be honest & kind with our words and behaviors - always

PRACTICE #4

We maintain the dignity of others - especially when there’s a concern

PRINCIPLE C

Honest communication requires we suspend certainty.

PRACTICE #5

We check our assumptions & information and are open to other perspectives

PRACTICE #6

We assume goodwill in others- especially when they are imperfect

PRINCIPLE D

Positive results require solution-oriented engagement.

PRACTICE #7

We seek solutions - we may attack problems, but not each other

PRACTICE #8

We 'go to the source' of our concern - privately and respectfully

That's a lot of information to synthesize and put to use.  

Here is a more accessible checklist:

PACTS

Have you heard? 

Kind people are sometimes labeled as being weak or naive, but kindness is actually an indicator of a highly evolved and healthy brain. Neuroscientists have found that  being mean, angry, and selfish doesn't take much skill or effort, whereas kindness is the highest form of intelligence.

Principal A

Our words and our behavior matters. 

Practice #1

#1 |  We regulate our behavior & our emotional responses

We are responsible for the energy we bring - into any room, space, or interaction

Practice #2

#2 |  We avoid speaking about others and we don't listen to gossip 

If you do speak about others, do it to lift them up. 

It's good for your spirit, our children, your reputation, and the health of the entire community. 

The Significance of Principal A:

We must be careful with our words and we take responsibility for our behavior. 


In every interaction we have an opportunity to: support, encourage, improve, and connect - or - on the flipside, to: attack, discourage, threaten, and divide. 


We understand that a community is only as strong as its weakest member and Tearing apart any one person or single group harms everyone. 


We choose to engage in ways that strengthen individuals and thereby the whole.  

Behaviors that Support Principal A:



“Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be.” 

― Martin Luther King Jr

Principal B

We are all human beings having human experiences.

Practice #3

#3 |  We choose to be honest & kind with our words and behaviors

We can be open, honest, tactful and kind in every single interaction. Being honest is kind and being kind is honest. You really can’t have one without the other. Honesty without kindness is just mean. Kindness without honesty is unkind. 

Practice #4

#4 | We maintain the dignity of others (especially when there’s a concern)

We share concerns privately, compassionately, and in search of a solution.

Significance of Principal B

Be kinder than is necessary. Engage with kindness and honesty in every interaction. We understand that In any given moment, we are all doing the best we can and we all have fears and insecurities and imperfections. We're probably working toward the same goals, and harming another hurts us all.

Behaviors that support Principal B:


Important Note: Talking about people is neither honest nor kind. It’s an incomplete, one-sided (dishonest) story, and it’s an overt act of disrespect toward the speaker, the listener, and the person being talked about. 

“Honesty plus kindness helps us to see more clearly – indeed honestly – the vulnerability which we all share which underlies much of our behaviour.” 

― Meg John-Barker,  Kindness & honesty: Can we have one with the other?


Principal C

Honest communication requires that we suspend certainty.

Practice #5

#5 | We check our assumptions and our information and stay open to other perspectives

Practice intellectual honestly & humility. Be honest with yourself, the accuracty of your information, and your intentions.

Practice #6

#6 | We assume goodwill in others (especially when they are imperfect)

Trust and respect is impossible to build when we assume the worst of another. 

Often, we have the same goals, but our egos and insecurities encourage us to fabricate hurtful narratives about others. 

Cruel intentions we may assign to others are rarely true and often destroy relationships. 

Significance of Principal C

Meaningful communication requires that we suspend certainty that we are right or that our understanding is complete. We understand that we generally do not see the whole picture; we see our picture. As human beings, we carry blind spots, assumptions, and biases that require us to pay great attention to both our emotional and hygiene and our intellectual honesty.

Behaviors that Support Principal C:

“Openness is part of what makes you a more developed individual and a more effective team member.”

― Jennifer Abrams, Stretching Your Learning Edges: Growing Up at Work

Principal D

Positive results require solution-oriented engagement.

Practice #7

#7 | We seek solutions (we may attack problems, but not each other)

We often have the same goals. It’s better to approach the situation from a “me and you against the problem” than as “me against you.”

Egos can urge us to "win" and prove we are "right," but this can harm ourselves, our goals, and our community and cause us to miss out on mutually beneficial opportunities.

Practice #8

#8 | We 'go to the source' of our concern (privately and respectfully)

We must communicate directly with the source of the concern before talking to anyone else. 

Do it privately - never confront in front of others. Be assertive - but not arrogant or aggressive. 


What this means:

We often have the same goals. It’s better to approach the situation from a “me and you against the problem” than as “me against you.”

We are in this business to support our students and one another. We can help each other do this, or we can make it harder.


Behaviors that support this:

“Cooperation is a higher moral principle than competition.”

― Bryant McGill, Voice of Reason

References & Works Cited

Click here for a complete list

Websites: 


Articles:


Books: