School Culture

HEALTHY SCHOOL CULTURES

Widely shared sense of purpose

Purpose is shared by faculty, staff, students, parents, community

Group norms of continuous learning and school improvement

Everyone is engaged in continuous learning and school improvement.

Sense of responsibility for student learning•When students don’t learn, the staff

assumes responsibility for figuring out ways to help them learn.

Collaborative and collegial relationships between/among staff members• Staff members collaborate with each

other; there is a sense of respect and camaraderie

Focus on professional development, staff reflection, and sharing of professional practice.• Everyone engages in activities designed to

improve practice. Opportunities for sharing ideas and effective practice are provided.

TOXIC SCHOOL CULTURES

Sense of depression and frustration• Employees feel as if they are not in

control of situation, that things won’t get better, and that they are just stuck.

Fragmentation

• Communication is poor; one department does not know what another is doing. There is no sense of a shared purpose; no collaboration; no collegiality.

Negative norms around improvement and learning•When students don’t learn, the staff

tends to make the problem external to them. They blame the administration, the students, the parents, circumstances that are beyond their control.• There are also very low expectations for

student learning. When students don’t learn, the low expectations are confirmed.

Blame the victim attitude

• The students are blamed for their lack of success. The students are not putting forth the effort, the students lack the ability, the students come from impoverished home, etc.

Few traditions

• Because these schools often have little stability in administration or teaching staff, there are typically few traditions, few stories that have been passed down.

CHANGING THE SCHOOL CULTURE

Collaboration

•We work together to solve problems; collaboration must be the norm. We see it in how the administration relates to the teachers, in how the teachers relate to each other, and how the students relate to each other. Collaboration is the vehicle that drives school improvement.

Developing mission, vision, values, and goals•We have a clear sense of direction and

everything we do supports our achieving our vision. Also, all of the stakeholders can articulate our goals.

Focusing on Learning

•We judge our effectiveness by how students learn. If students do not learn, we accept responsibility for addressing the problem.

Leadership

• Principals are leaders of teachers; teachers are transformational leaders

Focused school improvement plans• School improvement plans drive the

school program. These plans are focused, specific, research-based, data-driven, and they inform practice.

Celebration

•We celebrate what we value (i.e. Learning)•We recognize the accomplishments of

individuals and groups•We try to create “winners”

Persistence

•We stay with an initiative long enough for it to work•We stay the course in our commitment

to realizing our vision