How Do You Change School Culture? - Educational Leadership.
School culture can be defined as the quality and character of school life. It is based on patterns of school life experiences and reflects norms, goals, values, relationships, teaching, leadership practices and the structure of the organization.
As Naylor (2006) argues, culture and change are inter-related and constantly influence each other either negatively or positively with the latter culminating into school improvement which should be the hallmark of the change process. This paper therefore, discusses the impact of school culture on the change process and vise versa.
As part of the changes the role of schools and education will also be different both in the educational system and in the society. Together with them the role of teachers will also change. The way students are learning is changing therefore, the tools to accommodate these demands are changing as well.
The greatest impediment to meaningful cultural change is the gap between what leaders say they value and what they actually do. Staff members are not seduced by a leader's claim of “collaborative culture” when every meeting is a series of lectures, announcements, and warnings.
School culture is a mindset that can either be positive or negative. No one flourishes in constant negativity. When negativity persists in a school culture, no one wants to come to school. This includes the administrators, teachers, and students.
Cultural awareness is the sensitivity and respect for cultural diversity or the fact that people from various cultures have different values, beliefs and traditions. Different histories and traditions result in culturally-prescribed particulars on how people should perceive and relate with other people.
Little is known about schools’ policy-making capacities with regard to pupil well-being, and the impact of school culture on these policy-making capacities. This study addresses these questions.
Culture within schools can create an environment where learning is positive, or it can put serious constraints on the school’s ability to function. Whether you work in a school, in a doctor’s office, or in a major company, employees prefer to work in an environment that is engaging and fulfilling.
How to Challenge Discrimination in Schools Discrimination is one of the worst practices of humanity because it arises from unfair assumptions and is expressed through different forms of prejudicial treatments. Two kinds of discrimination exist. Direct discrimination happens when a certain group receives a less favorable treatment due to characteristics they are presumed to have, while indirect.
Instead, principals often try to tackle individual symptoms (like attendance, graduation rates, and grades) rather than addressing their cause. And when principals do try to shift a school's culture, one of the problems they typically encounter is that they first act without getting stake-holders' buy-in first.
Fostering cultural diversity in a school community is a process, and school leadership sets the tone. Find out why you can't ignore it at your school.
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I think cultural diversity is not only important but critical in our education today and all schools say that they are preparing students for the future and that they are preparing them for the bigger world. When students leave their neighborhoods and go off to college or go out in the workaday world, they are not going to find just one culture.
