Imagine that you had the power to design a school in which you wouldn’t know the role you would play in it (student, teacher, principal, support staff, or parent) and that you would be in that role forever.

That’s a question I sometimes asked schools that were serious about re-creating themselves for the benefit of everyone in the school community.

Answering that question requires that we think more deeply about the experiences of others in the community and have empathy for perspectives we may previously have dismissed.

My vision of that school begins with a culture of mutual influence and respect in which everyone is both a learner and teacher. Daily life would involve individual and collaborative learning, and success would require strong teamwork. Each essential and distinct role would be valued for its contribution to the whole.

That same perspective-shifting question could be asked in families, civic organizations, and clubs in which we tend to think only about our role and interests within them.

Perhaps most relevant today, how would you reshape the United States if you didn’t know what your place in it would be and you would be in that place forever?

What institutions, in your experience, would benefit from this kind of perspective shifting?