Our Mission

The Mission of The Friday Institute for Educational Innovation

Inspire, Innovate, Educate.  These three timeless themes permeate the fabric of the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation and are engraved in the words and images of Bill and Ida Friday that grace our entrance.  The mission of the Friday Institute is to advance education through innovation in teaching, learning, and leadership.  Bringing together students, teachers, researchers, policy-makers, educational professionals, and other community members, the Friday Institute is a center for fostering collaborations to improve education.

As we progress into the 21st century, our work focuses on preparing students for success in work, life, and citizenry in the global, knowledge-based, technology-rich, culturally-diverse, rapidly-changing world in which they will live.  This task requires helping schools become future-oriented organizations that build upon their traditional strengths while updating curriculum content, teaching practices, management approaches, and technology tools to best serve the students of today and tomorrow.

We conduct research, develop educational resources, provide professional development programs for educators, advocate to improve teaching and learning, and help inform policy-making.  All of our work builds upon a foundation of the following core commitments:

1. Schools are the most important of our social institutions because they are the cross-generation carrier of knowledge, skills, and the democratic values of our nation.
2. Dedicated and well-prepared teachers who inspire a love of learning are the most critical component for the successful education of children.
3. Successful approaches to education respect a child’s natural ability and inclination to learn, explore and create.
4. Collaboration across different perspectives and areas of expertise is essential to the complex task of updating and improving education. This task requires changes that are grounded in the local context and fostered by the local community.
5. Respect for diverse cultural heritages and the need to address persistent disparities in educational opportunities are central to maintaining a thriving democracy.
6. Digital, interactive technologies, and dynamic forms of communication are critical to engaging students and preparing them for work and life in the 21st century.