Shayne Goodrum, Ph.D
Sherry 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.

. . . school culture is the ultimate ceiling on
our ability to transform our school and raise
standards. Other initiatives, whether
focusing on teaching strategies, leadership
development, structure, team work or
collaboration are wasted, doomed to deliver a
fraction of their potential, without the right
cultural supports.”
p. 6, “A Culture for Learning”






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.
2.
3.
Create a crisis of faith to look with new eyes
at the world around you and generate some
tentative theories.
Compare these lessons to those implicit in
both your aspirations for the school and in
your current behaviors and activities.
Create a consensus in terms of aspirations
that not only addresses the gaps but also
builds on current strengths.
4.
5.
Analyze the modes through which culture is
communicated – formal and informal,
conscious and unconscious– and adapt
them to your new direction.
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.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Strengthen the school’s culture
Stimulate and reinforce cultural change through structured
collaboration
Foster staff development
Encourage direct and frequent communication about cultural
norms values, and beliefs, resulting in shared vision
Develop leaders at all levels
Empower staff, give autonomy, build trust
What went well?
Even better if …