Unlikely Reflections: Why Portraits of a Graduate Should Begin With Portraits of the Adults

The phrase “Portrait of a Graduate” has become a modern artifact of well-intentioned educational reform. Across K-12 schools and higher education institutions, we carefully craft these aspirational visions—portraits in words—of the young adults we hope to shape. These documents are filled with laudable traits: adaptability, critical thinking, collaboration, empathy, creativity. They are beautifully designed, collaboratively written, and publicly shared, often displayed in entryways or printed on strategic plans. But an uncomfortable truth lies buried in their glossy presentation: we write these portraits for students, but not from them—and more importantly, not with them or through us.

The unlikely thing—the thing we rarely discuss but must if these portraits are to become more than performative—is this: we must first become what we hope our students will be. The portrait of a graduate must begin with the portrait of the adult. And not a written one—a lived one.

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