Campus Budget Plan Proposal
Running head: CHANGING SCHOOL 0
Changing School Culture
April 4, 2017
Changing School Culture
Introduction
According to an article on the Education World website, school culture is the set of norms, values and beliefs, rituals and ceremonies, symbols and stories that make up the 'persona' of the school (Education World, 2017). I also liked the thoughts given in our text by Wilkins and Patterson (1985) - culture consists of the conclusions a group of people draws from its experience (as cited in Sorenson and Goldman, 2013). Our text lists the components of a functional school culture as values, beliefs, and attitudes. All of us have a set of values that we live by, they are standards that guide us and in this case by which a school governs. Beliefs are things that we believe to be true. How many times have we heard that our attitude determines our actions? For our attitude is how we think or feel about a person or thing. For the purposes of this assignment, I have attributed several dysfunctional traits to my daughter’s school
Dysfunctional School Culture Traits
Our school culture has some dysfunctional school culture traits that include; lack of a clear sense of purpose among some leaders, blame on students for lack of academic progress, presence of norms that reinforce inertia, and active hostile relations among staff. The school leadership does not hold teachers accountable or responsible for lessons they are supposed to give to students. Instead, blame is assigned to the students. The principal has not set a good example, she is not leading the team in a way that is supportive or productive. Additionally, the students are feeling the effects of the negative culture.
Dysfunctional School Culture Explanation
Components of the school culture prevent the school from moving forward with the success it deserves (Heathfield, n.d.). Students lack adequate support from their teachers, an essential factor in their success. Instead of receiving support to ensure that they succeed, they are blamed for the lack of academic progress. Time is wasted on unnecessary things that limit the school’s efforts to ensure that students succeed. For instance, hostile relations among staff may lead to conflicts that need time to resolve. Lost time can never be recovered (Schein, 1993). Most teachers wish they had several more hours in a day. Focusing on personality differences or disagreements, takes the focus away the students.
Develop Strategies for Changing School Culture
Some strategies that might help improve the above stated dysfunctional school culture traits are: training – we will hire a consultant to come to the school to help us resolve our issues and develop a plan for improvement. The principal will ensure that all staff members clearly understand the school’s goals and new expectations. Training is significant in communicating expectations as well as in teaching new behaviors (Heathfield, n.d.). The second strategy is the practice of effective communication - all staff members will meet bi-monthly to discuss the progress toward creating a positive culture. We will also discuss what is working, what needs to be changed, and we will end each meeting with a team building activity. This will help us get to know one another, understand one another and begin the healing process. The third strategy is to help the students understand culture. We will have an all school assembly to explain it and watch the YouTube video Change the Culture, Change the Climate of Your School. We will invite the Student Council president to say a few words about the video.
Rationale for Changes to School Culture
The goal of making changes to my school’s culture is to establish a professional learning community that encourages teacher’s to share expertise, communicate, and work together in a more collegial and productive manner that will lead to academic progress. The culture should encourage group work more than individual work; teachers should be willing to share expertise for better results (Schein, 1993). Positive changes to school culture should lead to a new attitude of hope, encouragement, support, motivation, shared values and the belief that we can accomplish any goal as a team.
New School Culture
My school’s mission is to actively involve parents, teachers, students, and the community to support students’ academic success and promote responsible citizenship. Our vision is to vary the learning experiences of the students to increase academic success. Differentiate our resources in programs based on needs. Develop stakeholder involvement to promote student success. Recruit, hire, support, and retain employees for the highest levels of excellence. Changes made in the school culture should make the school safe, comfortable and productive (Schein, 1993). The changes will lead to trusting, productive, and collaborative staff relationships. The staff will model positive and healthy behaviors for students and be held accountable to the new expectations. Important leadership decisions (when possible) will be made collaboratively with input from students, parents, and staff members making each party to feel valued and appreciated. Students will be held to high academic expectations. All students will have access to the academic support that is essential for them to succeed.
School Success
The new school culture encourages survival, growth, and adaptation of students to the school (Schein, 1993). This will help students to learn to work together. When students or staff walk into this school and feel welcomed and a part of a family, they will feel a level of comfort that allows them to be their true selves. This will also allow them to focus on why they are there whether for leading, teaching or learning. Changing the culture increases the potential to achieve improved results.
References
Education World. (2017). Is Your School’s Culture Toxic or Positive? Retrieved from http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin275.shtml.
Heathfield, S. M. (n.d.). How to change your culture: Organizational culture change. Retrieved from http://humanresources.about.com/od/organizationalculture/a/culture_change.htm.
Heathfield, S. M. (2010). How to understand your current culture: Artifacts and interactions display your existing culture. Retrieved from http://humanresources.about.com/od/organizationalculture/a/culture_create.htm.
Schein, E. H. (1993). Organizational culture and leadership. Retrieved from http://www.tnellen.com/ted/tc/schein.html.
Sorenson, R. D., & Goldsmith, L. M. (2013). The principal’s guide to school budgeting (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.