Shayne Goodrum, Ph.DSherry Ward,

Share some research-based understandings about how school culture impacts student success

Share steps for changing a school’s culture Share 2 tools school leaders can use to

surface culture issues to start the change process

The shared beliefs and values of a school What people agree is true and right

These beliefs become entrenched and can persist after changes in the school’s environment render them irrelevant or harmful

Therefore – culture is both a resource and a risk.

Have the highest ambitions for each student Put the welfare of students ahead of the

comfort of staff Held teachers accountable to the whole

school; reduce professional autonomy Promote teamwork and learning from each

other Are intolerant of failure and excuses from

staff Value service delivery

Informal and less conscious channels Rites and rituals of school life

Operational: tasks of running a school or teaching (e.g. the way we divide our attention to students in a lesson)

Reinforcing: actions that communicate and reinforce our actions and beliefs (e.g. rites of passage for a new staff member at a school

Rituals: celebrations, ceremonies, shared mannerisms

Hero Making: role models, hierarchies, mentors, scapegoats

Storytelling: shared humor, common anecdotes, oral and written history

Symbolic Displays: decoration, trophies Rules: etiquette, taboos, tacit permissions

Your biggest celebration this year-what did you celebrate? Who is the most respected person in the school?-Why is

that person so highly respected?Please name The first thing you notice in the school reception area Something that commonly happens in other schools that could

never happen in your school The behavior in an adult that is most frowned upon Something that people regularly ‘get away with’ (things you know

are wrong but still do – e.g. late for meetings) Something that people worry about a great deal

Is difficult through traditional, top-down managerial techniques

Values and beliefs are no longer suited to the challenges the school faces

You encounter repeated resistance to sensible and necessary changes

You have a nagging doubt that the school is not reaching its full potential

There is conflict, poor communication, vocal disagreements

Lack of a sense of identity Culture is so precious and valued that

opportunities are lost

1. Create a crisis of faith to look with new eyes at the world around you and generate some tentative theories.

2. Compare these lessons to those implicit in both your aspirations for the school and in your current behaviors and activities.

3. Create a consensus in terms of aspirations that not only addresses the gaps but also builds on current strengths.

4. Analyze the modes through which culture is communicated – formal and informal, conscious and unconscious– and adapt them to your new direction.

5. Create cultural capacity– a particular way of working in school which balances the need to create a strong shared identity with the need to constantly adapt and grow.

30 statement about possible values and beliefs in a school based on research

In groups of 3-10, sort in order of priority using the diamond grid as a template

Sort once with groups coming to consensus about the ideal

Then sort again about the actual state in the school

Build professional discussion about the gaps

Top Rows – those values for which other parts of the culture will be sacrificed

Bottom row – What might be overlooked and lost

“I recognized the culture my colleagues described. I admired the culture they said they wanted. I just wish they weren’t so far apart.”

Chapter 6 - pp. 49-62 Activities for each step of the cultural change process

Six key strategies to develop collaborative school cultures:

1. Strengthen the school’s culture2. Stimulate and reinforce cultural change through structured

collaboration3. Foster staff development4. Encourage direct and frequent communication about

cultural norms values, and beliefs, resulting in shared vision5. Develop leaders at all levels6. Empower staff, give autonomy, build trust

Even better if …Even better if …What went well?What went well?