School Culture

“The way we do things around here” (Bower,1966)

Aims What is school culture ?

The impact of culture

Leadership and School Culture –your context

Leading my School Culture

The challenge for leaders is to go beyond a focus on day-to-day management concerns and crises and to focus on the larger purpose of work and of the institution in which the work is carried out…The deeper and more important task is to give

passionate, relentless attention to mission and purpose,

continually seeking ways to offer the gift of significance to one's constituents.” -Bolman and Deal, Leading with Soul

“The bottom line for leaders is that if they do not become conscious of the cultures in which they are embedded, those cultures will manage them.” Edgar H. Schein, 2004

What do we mean by school culture ?

If a teacher walked into a school , how would they “pick up” the culture ?

Culture is the most powerful source of leverage for bringing about change in a school – or any organization, for that matter.

Thomas J. Sergiovanni

Culture – a Definition“The collection of relatively uniform and enduring values, beliefs, customs, traditions and practices that are shared by an organisation’s members, learned by the new recruits and transmitted from one generation of employees to the next” Edgar Schein

“The way we do things around here…”

“The collective programming of the mind”

A set of common understandings around which action is organized, . . . finding expression in language whose nuances are peculiar to the group (Becker and Geer 1960).

A set of understandings or meanings shared by a group of people that are largely tacit among members and are clearly relevant and distinctive to the particular group which are also passed on to new members (Louis 1980).

A system of knowledge, of standards for perceiving, believing, evaluating and acting . . . that serve to relate human communities to their environmental settings (Allaire and Firsirotu 1984).

What are the challenges you face in the current climate in maintaining the culture of your school?

What are the cultural changes that are taking place within the school context because of external factors?

Three Levels of Culture

Artifacts

Espoused Values

Underlying Assumptions

Level One What you might see on

your first visit – first impressions

Level Two Values, beliefs, “the way

things should be done” These are “testable” in

the physical environment Level Three

Fundamental beliefs about school, students, etc.

Reason for being

Three Levels of Culture

“The way we do things around here!”

(Bower, 1966)

normsshared meanings

regularities artefactspractices

ceremoniesrituals

myths & legends symbolstraditions

beliefsunderstandingsattitudes

values

AssumptionsMental models – mindsets

A

Physical StructuresLanguage

Rituals and Ceremonies

Stories and Legends Communication

Networks

HistoryBeliefsValues

Assumptions

Artifacts ofOrganizationalCulture

OrganizationalOrganizationalCultureCulture

Elements of Organizational Culture

How Culture Evolves

Practice

Belief

Shared Tacit Assumption

Taken for granted!

Problem / Need

Solution Continued Success

Culture

Shaping cultureThree processes school leaders can use to shapethe school culture:1. Read the culture to identify current norms andvalues2. Assess the culture to determine which elementssupport the school’s purpose and mission3. Shape the culture by reinforcing positive aspectsand working to transform negative aspectsReference: Peterson, Kent (2002). Positive or Negative? Journal of Staff Development, 23:3

Positive School Culture ? What are the characteristics of a

positive school culture

How does it affect teaching and learning?

POSITIVE CULTURE LEADERSHIP PERMEATES SUCCESS IS CELEBRATED AND

RECOGNISED HONESTY, OPENESS ARE EVIDENT EXTERNAL INVOLVEMENT PARTICIPATION IS ENCOURAGED OPEN TO CHANGE TAKES RISKS SOCIALISATION

21st Century Leadership21st Century Leadership

Negative School Culture ? What are the characteristics of a

negative school culture

How does it affect teaching and learning?

NEGATIVE CULTURES

Weak leadership Lack of direction/rudderless Closed and secretive Mistrust / suspicion Bully tactics Fear/anxiety/isolation Tension/stress Inconsistency Destructive internal competition Controlled

CHARACTERISTICS OF A TOXIC CULTURE

Cultural Nutrients - Toxins Exercise

Every school has skeletons These skeletons become a

part of the culture – good or bad

The way a community deals with these “skeletons: speaks volumes about its “culture” and commitment to self-improvement

Leadership

"It can be argued that the only thing of real importance that leaders do is create and manage cultures; that the unique talent of leaders is their

ability to understand and work with culture; and that it is an ultimate act of leadership to

destroy culture when it is viewed as dysfunctional." (Schein, 2004)

Culture is transmitted and embedded by…

Primary Embedding Mechanisms

What leaders pay attention to, measure and control

How leaders react to critical incidents

How leaders allocate resources

Leader’s role modelling and coaching

How leaders allocate rewards and status

Recruitment, selection, promotion and exit

Secondary Reinforcement Mechanisms

Design and Structure Systems and Processes Rites and Rituals Physical space, facades

and buildings Stories about important

events Creation of heroes

Can become Primary over time!

If a head is consistently interested in one thing, it will become a centerpiece of school culture. If a head is inconsistently interested in many things, unclear in communicating with employees, or inconsistent in decision-making or defining priorities, people will spend a lot of time trying to figure out what’s going on. The head’s inconsistency will become a central feature of the school culture. (Understanding School Culture, Michael Thompson

Requirements for Successfully Changing Organizational Culture

Understand the old culture first Support employees and teams who have ideas for a

better culture and are willing to act on those ideas Find the most effective subculture in the

organization and use it as a model Help employees and teams do their jobs more

effectively Use the vision of a new culture as a guide for

change Recognize that significant cultural change takes

time Live the new culture

Belief Practice

Changing Culture

TO CHANGE YOUR SCHOOL’S CULTURE

Promote your mission, vision, values and goals.

Bring your staff together to find best practices.

Sustain the culture through communication.

Persist.

Confront problems.www.schoolofeducators.com

My School Pick 1 practice in your school you

would like to change or introduce and 1 that you would like to maintain

What are the beliefs , assumptions on which this practice is based

How will you bring about this change?

Symbol of Culture Potter who shapes the

Culture Poet who uses language

to describe the Culture Actor who plays out the

values and vision Healer who presides

over life transitions in the community

The Leader is: