Portrait of a graduate

I first saw a portrait of a graduate years ago. In hopes that this was isolated, I didn't say anything. More recently, I have seen signs that this is far more common than I realized. It's time that I finally vent about this disturbing trend. In the unlikely event that someone reading this is familiar with my personal views, a lot of this will sound familiar.

The idea behind a portrait of a graduate is that a school shares a list of values they expect from their graduates. This goes by many names, which is part of the reason I believe this has become fairly common. I don't have a list in front of me. The only alternative I know of the top of my head is a portrait of a learner. Since each school comes up with its own list, this concept will usually include either the school's name or nickname. In other words, it will frequently be shared along the lines of a portrait of a wildcat.

One of my many criticisms of our schools is the intolerance of mental diversity. How can you have a singular portrait of what should be a diverse student body? Simply put, you can't.

What do you get when you destroy mental diversity? Another common topic of mine, conformity. If a school gets to decide what their graduates are expected to value, there will be an ongoing push to ensure that all students conform to those values.

This is similar in concept to another frequent source of my criticism, the minimum standards approach. Schools want all students to reach minimum standards to graduate, so students frequently neglect areas of strength in favor of areas of weakness. Because schools get to frame their portrait of a graduate however they want, the values are typically positive, but there are a lot of positive traits that people can value. To properly fit a portrait of a graduate, each student must neglect some of their personal values in favor of what a school values.

I honestly don't understand how this disturbing concept has become popular. Students are all unique individuals with their own strengths, passions, and needs. This doesn't only impact academics. It also impacts each student's personal values. If a school openly pushes the idea that children should be molded to value the same things as their schools at the expense of the diverse sets of values that are right for them, I would immediately look for alternatives. There is just no defense for this form of anti-individual hostility.