When thinking about school culture, I think about how students, teachers, parents and administrators talk, act, and react to one another. I do not think my school has a positive school culture nor do I think my administration tries to support a positive school culture.
Victoria Boyd (1992) describes culture “as the existence of an interplay between three factors: the attitudes and beliefs of persons both inside the school and in the external environment, the cultural norms of the school, and the relationships between persons in the school”. In my school, the interplay between teachers is “catty”. It is sad to say that I cannot trust another person in the building. There are many “spies” that will run to the administration if they think they have something to tell. The administration supports this type of behavior because they embrace the “spies” and often point them to various leadership positions.
The cultural “norms” of the school are negative because the leadership is not consistent. The principal has changed 3 times in the past 7 years. Each principal walks into a situation where fights happen daily, test scores are not improving, and parents are not supportive. Parents do not visualize themselves as part of the school but rather as a place to send their children.
To improve the present school culture I think it would take a second-order change. Marzano (2005) describes two types of change, one type of change is called a first order change and that uses what already works to solve a problem. The second type of change is called a second-order change and requires coming up with a new solution to solve the problem, thinking outside the box. It would take a second-order change to change the culture of the school because the negative cultural is deeply rooted into the school.
The negative aspects of the school are part of the teachers, students, and parents “mental maps” of the school. The leadership of the school has to redefine the mental maps of the stakeholders to change the school. Marzano (2005) explains that a leader that tries to present an innovation that would create a second-order change has to be:
1. Knowledgeable of how the innovation would affect curriculum.
2. The driving force behind the fight.
3. Knowledgeable about research and theory regarding the innovation.
4. Committed to the innovation even if not supported by everyone.
5. Continually monitoring the innovation.
6. Flexible
7. Consistent in all situations regarding the innovation.
These responsibilities that Marzano describes are a way for fostering an innovation that creates change. Coming up with the new innovation is the hard part. Creating a chain of events that will have the desired outcome is challenging but is the test of a strong leader.
Boyd, V. (1992). School context: bridge or barrier to change?. (Literature Review). Retrieved from: http://www.sedl.org/change/school/
Marzano, R.J., Waters, T., & McNulty, B.A. (2005) School leadership that works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Angie, great wordle! :) Wow, your school's culture sounds so much like many schools and similar to the one where I am a board director. It is so difficult to change the mental models or maps of people that don't believe in the change process or have trust in what others are doing. What can you do to help rebuild a more positive culture in your school district? Something simple could begin to change the paradigm. It sounds like a long road ahead and at times moving on might be the only options for leaders that can not make change. Your new learning will take you far Angie. Trust me, your hard work and dedication to kids will pay off.
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