“The improvisational ability to lead adaptively relies on responding to the present situation rather than importing the past into the present and laying it on the current situation like an imperfect template.” -Ronald Heifetz
What Is a Portrait of an Educator?
The Portrait of an Educator (POE) is a vivid description of who we need you to be.
Who is “You”?
“You” is anyone involved in academics at LICC, top to bottom. If you write academic policies, specify academic outcomes, develop curriculum, design courses, teach or advise students, the POE applies to you. This includes:
- Board of Trustees
- President
- Vice President for Academic Affairs
- Academic Dean
- Department Chairs
- Instructors of all types (full-time, part-time, adjunct, etc.)
Who are “We”?
“We” includes LICC stakeholders. Stakeholders are all those who have an interest in the outcomes of our academic programs. This includes:
- Employers, who need you to develop students who will meet their current and future needs.
- Students, who need you to guide them as they acquire knowledge, develop skills, and grow into people with characteristics needed to serve Christ and to build their nations.
- ULICAF, who founded LICC, who is the school’s most significant partner and its biggest financial contributor. ULICAF needs to see that the school is achieving good outcomes and is there for a worthwhile investment.
- Board of Trustees, who have a fiduciary relationship with LICC students and graduates. A fiduciary is a person who holds a legal or ethical relationship of trust with one or more other persons or group of persons. Students enroll in LICC and pursue degrees trusting that they will be equipped with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions they need thrive in the workplace and life.
Portrait of an Educator
Mission-Focused
Everything you do helps to achieve the aim carrying out the LICC mission of equipping students to serve Christ and build their nation.
Shared Vision
Your professional vision should be consistent with the LICC vision for graduates described in LICC Portrait of a Graduate.
Christ-Follower
Your first priority is to serve the Lord (Matthew 6:33). As an educator, this means that your God-given mission in life is to teach (Ephesians 2:10, 4:11).
Student-Focused
Your second priority should be to serve LICC students. This school and your positions exist to serve LICC students. This makes you a servant-leader (John 13:12-15). You are willing to live sacrificially (Matthew 16:24) for their sake.
Guide
You resist the temptation to tell what you know (“Sage on the Stage”) and guide learners to make meaning independently through inquiry, discussion, and reflection (“Guide on the Side”).
Effective Communicator
In verbal and written communication, you seek to understand and to be understood. You communicate in a timely manner with an awareness of the needs of your audience, and you communicate.
Extraordinary
You have a passionate desire to go beyond mediocrity in pursuit of excellence and efficiency. You regularly reflect on your own past performance to determine what did and did not work, and the reasons why. You courageously challenge your own assumptions and beliefs about how the world works in the quest for continuous improvement. (Colossians 3:23)
Lifelong Learner
You realize that the world is constantly changing, and your curiosity and love of knowledge makes you want to learn more. As a result, you actively search for new knowledge through reading, continued education, and new experiences.
Integrity
You live and work to the highest ethical standards (James: 3:1, 1 Thessalonians 5:22).