Chapter 7

• School Culture


  The beliefs, perceptions, relationships, attitudes and written and unwritten rules that shape and influence every aspect of how a school functions
• School culture is created by all the people in school and in the community, especially the school heads
• A school community must strive to create a positive culture
• School Climate


  The school's effects on students, including teaching practices, diversity and the relationships among administrators, teachers, parents and students
• School Culture


  A deeper level of reflection of shared values, beliefs, and traditions between staff members
• Components of School Culture


  • Fundamental beliefs and assumptions
  • Shared values
  • Norms
  • Patterns and behaviors
  • Tangible evidence
• Types of School Culture


  • Collaborative Culture
  • Comfortable-Collaborative Culture
  • Contrived-Collegial
  • Balkanized
  • Fragmented
• School culture matters and research confirms its central role to school success
• A positive school culture fosters improvement, collaborative decision making, professional development and staff and student learning
• Elements of a Positive School Culture


  • Relationships
  • Risk-taking
  • High expectations
  • Tangible support
  • Continuous improvement
  • Celebration and humor
  • Involvement in decision making
  • Alignment with the school's mission
  • Traditions
  • Honesty
• Strategies in Addressing Conflicts in a Positive School Culture


  • Promote Understanding and Empathy
  • Collaborate to Find Solutions
  • Provide Support
  • Follow Up and Monitor Progress
  • Encourage Open Communication
• Conflict resolution strategies


  • Gain understanding from each other's perspective
  • Understand each other's feelings and needs
  • Foster a sense of mutual respect
• Conflict resolution strategies


  1. Collaborate to find solutions

  2. Provide support

  3. Follow up and monitor progress

  4. Encourage open communication
• Shared norms between teachers and students


  • Being a good neighbor
  • Respecting others and oneself
  • Being kind
  • Raising hand before talking
  • Walking in the hallways
• Shared norms


  • Promote mutual respect, inclusivity, and collaboration
  • Contribute to a positive school culture
• Teacher norms


  • Teach in different ways
  • Call students by their names
  • Care about students' feelings
  • Have a good attitude
  • Help students understand
  • Attend school the majority of the time
  • Be respectful
  • Have a growth mindset
• Student norms


  • Have a growth mindset
  • Call classmates by their names
  • Be responsible for your work
  • Listen
  • Attend school majority of the time
  • Be a good team player
• Strategies for promoting shared norms


  1. Develop a clear and shared mission and vision

  2. Promote a culture of respect and inclusivity

  3. Set achievable academic goals

  4. Encourage collaborative learning

  5. Involve students in decision-making

  6. Use positive reinforcement
• Enforcing shared norms in the classroom


  1. Model behavior

  2. Consistently reinforce norms

  3. Encourage peer monitoring

  4. Regularly review and reflect

  5. Incorporate norms into daily routine

  6. Engage in collaborative problem-solving

  7. Maintain consistent communication
• Examples of a positive school culture


  • Teacher agency
  • Teacher control over personal budget
  • Open discussion
  • Responsiveness
  • Student and parent participation
  • Relationship-building events
  • Teacher buy-in for professional development
  • Teacher participation in strategic planning
  • Teacher participation in events
  • Teachers provide free and open feedback to leadership
• Collaborative Culture

  Teachers work together, share the same educational values, and are committed to improving their teaching and the school as a whole.
• Comfortable-Collaborative Culture

  The school atmosphere is professional and although teachers are aware of the efforts of their colleagues, there is not a great deal of professional reflection.
• Contrived-Collegial

  The tone of the school is determined by leadership, which supports teachers’ growth but on a superficial level which often undermines motivation.
• Balkanized

  The atmosphere is dominated by cliques of teachers that compete for resources and control. An “us versus them” attitude can develop between the teachers and administration.
• Fragmented

  Teachers all function independently and there is very little collaborative effort to improve the school. Meetings are uninspired and lack involvement of the staff.
• Norms, or how members believe they should act and behave, or what they think is expected of them. For example: “We should talk often and early to parents of young students about what it will take for their children to attend college.” “We all should be present and engaged at our weekly grade-level meetings.”
• 1. Patterns and behaviors, or the way people actually act and behave in your school. For example: There are regularly-scheduled parent engagement nights around college; there is active participation at weekly team curriculum meetings. (But in a weak culture, these patterns and behaviors can be different than the norms.)
• 1. Tangible evidence, or the physical, visual, auditory, or other sensory signs that demonstrate the behaviors of the people in your school. For example: Prominently displayed posters showcasing the district’s college enrollment, or a full parking lot an hour before school begins on the mornings when curriculum teams meet.
• Shared values, or the judgments people at your school make about those belief and assumptions — whether they are right or wrong, good or bad, just or unjust.
• Fundamental beliefs and assumptions, or the things that people at your school consider to be true.