I recently enjoyed visiting the beautiful city of Ljubljana, Slovenia. This was our first time in Slovenia and based on our experience it was one of our favorite stops on the Europe leg of our Adventure Year. Here is a quick story that stood out to me from my visit.

Lovely Library

Just a few streets over from the bridges, dragons, and tourist traps of the city sits a lovely library. According to our tour guide, like most of the most beautiful buildings in the city, the library was designed by Jože Plečnik, Slovenia’s cherished 20th century architect. This isn’t just any old library, it’s the National and University Library of Slovenia and a UNESCO world heritage site which houses a copy of every book published in the country.

Symbolic Staircase

Plečnik designed the staircase at the entrance of the library to be symbolic. When you enter the library, you find yourself at the bottom of a dimly lit staircase. This symbolizes students beginning their studies in the dark, because they haven’t learned very much yet. 

As you walk up the stairs to the second floor you’re bathed in increasing amounts of natural light from numerous windows. This represents the enlightenment of knowledge gained throughout the learning process. 

What can school leaders learn from Plečnik’s 90-year-old staircase? 

• Internalize the idea that we are all people in process, all on a never-ending journey of learning. We don’t have it all figured out in elementary, secondary, university, or at this present moment in our careers. Try as we may, we will never be all-knowing, that honor is reserved only for God. How can you model being a lifelong learner to your school community? 
• Enjoy the tremendous gift we have been given. As school leaders we have the privilege of guiding students and faculty on learning journeys, let’s not take this for granted and do the best we possibly can for our schools. What is one way that you can improve your role as a guide for your faculty? 
• Appreciate each step on the journey. Encourage our community members to take a moment every so often to look back and reflect on our learning journeys. Through reflection, discussion, feedback, and celebration, we are able to tap into deeper levels of appreciation for how far we’ve come and steel ourselves for the journey ahead. When was the last time that you paused to appreciate how far you have come? 
• The process of learning is not always easy, just like climbing a big set of stairs. However, if the process is purposefully designed by dynamic educators, it will be increasingly rewarding as the light shines through. How can you invest in improving the design of your school’s learning experiences?
• Like the story of the staircase, we all have stories to share about the meaningful learning that takes place in our school communities. What stories will you tell?  

Build culture, unlock potential. Visit my Connect Page or send a message on LinkedIn. 

Peace & Blessings, 

– Josiah