Portraits are Not Add-Ons

I’m a big believer in taking walks. Little walks, long walks, solo walks, partner walks. I love a walk. Part of the reason I love it so much is that it can be extremely grounding and even meditative at times. On my walk this morning, I saw so many little creatures that I would have missed had I not put my phone away. I saw a humming bird, a chipmunk, a lizard, ducks, a flock of geese, a monarch butterfly, a tuxedo cat perched on a window sill, a caterpillar, and a bulldog whose legs dangled as he happily quit mid-walk and made his mom carry him up the hill. We exchanged glances and a chuckle. She knew it was a spectacle, and I was thrilled to spectate.

During this particular walk, I also found myself thinking about how so much of life comes down to brain training. Like we grow our muscles in the gym, we can grow our brains and our thinking with practice. Walks aren’t just good for our physical health, they support mental well-being, habit formation, and emotional regulation too.

I started thinking about how my walks give me an opportunity to practice the durable skills in our Portrait of an Aviator (which is our portrait of a learning or as some called it – portrait of a graduate.) Our POA was created with a team of teachers spanning elementary, middle, and high school. We gathered input from professionals across industries in our local area, from parents, and higher education too. We also explored researched from sources such as America Succeeds before distilling our portrait into four main attributes:

Character

Curiosity

Communication

Collaboration

George Couros has been thinking and writing about what we all now refer to as the portrait for over a decade, and I highly recommended reading his recent post on this topic which is filled with incredible and practical insights.

The post is so good and so accessible. If I let myself, I would quote all of it here, haha. But I keep coming back to this in particular:

“No matter the “portrait” you create, if we do not align leadership practices to this process, it risks becoming a nice poster we hang in the hallways rather than something that meaningfully shapes learning.”

Portraits of a Learner are not meant to be posters on a wall. They serve as north stars for students AND staff. We cannot give to others that which we do not have for ourselves. Portraits give us an opportunity to take the chaotic world of school and make it more meaningful and coherent.

Operationalizing the Portrait of a Learner is not a solo mission. As George stresses across all bodies of his work, not only are we more invested in something we were a part of creating, whatever we create is smarter and more effective when we build it together too.

This approach requires time, attention, planning, and strategy. It can feel overwhelming and daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. In fact, it can be quite FUN.

George and I love coming alongside schools and districts, bringing communities together to make their portraits come alive in the ways that make the most sense for their unique contexts. We believe deeply in this work, and the impact it can have on students, staff, communities, and our collective future.

If you are interested in learning more, please reach out to us. We would love to connect!