2010
Dr. Kent D. Peterson
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Madison, WI
kpeterson@education.wisc.edu
Positive school cultures foster trust
, collaboration, and improvement.
Negative cultures foster distrust,
isolation, and lack of change.
“At a deeper level, all organizations,
especially schools, improve performance by
fostering a shared system of norms,
folkways, values, and traditions. These
infuse the enterprise with passion, purpose,
and a sense of spirit.”
(Peterson and Deal, 2002)
School culture influences
how people think, feel, and act.
Culture is a key determinant of staff
focus, commitment, motivation, and
productivity.
Norms, Values and Beliefs that underlie thinking,
feeling and acting
 Symbols and Artifacts that Communicate Meaning
 Stories that Herald Values
 Cultural Network
 Heroes and Heroines
 Rituals, Traditions, and Ceremonies
 “Culture is “the way we do things around here!”

Negative Values and beliefs
 No Shared sense of purpose
 Negative Relationships.
 Destructive individuals or groups.
 No sense of trust or caring.
 Few positive rituals or ceremonies to build a
sense of community and hopefulness.

Deal and Peterson (2009)
Culture has strong norms and values as a
foundation.
Such as:
Norms
Norms
Norms
Norms
of
of
of
of
Improvement
Collegiality
Caring
group and individual trust
What hallways and classrooms look like.
Relationships among staff.
How newcomers are treated.
Relationships between staff and administration.
How students who are struggling are treated.
Relationships with parents and the community.
How staff collaborate to improve the school.
How successes and accomplishments are celebrated.
(Deal and Peterson, 2009)
 Build
Community
 Shape the Culture
 Revive Energy
 What
are your most meaningful ceremonies
and celebrations?
•Conduct
a school history.
•List Six Adjectives to describe your school.
•Think of a song that depicts your culture.
•Create a metaphor… If my school were an
animal, it would be a _______
because_________________________.
•Interview a school’s storytellers.
 What
are the best aspects of your culture?
 What are the less positive aspects of your
culture?
 What aspects are missing?
 Prioritize what you would like to work on to
improve your school culture.
 Work
with the informal network
 Recount stories and history
 Role model core norms and values
 Use symbols and artifacts
 Communicate core values in your actions
 Use ceremonies and celebrations to
recognize accomplishments
 Are
there ceremonies throughout the year?
 Are there communal events during the
demanding times of the year?
 When will the team meet and work together?
 When will the team meet and have fun
together?
 When will you celebrate your
accomplishments?
 Write
an advertisement for the school you
want to be in 5 years.
 Describe the culture.
 Detail how you work together.
 Note the core norms and values you will hold
then.
 Suggest what the mission will look like.
 Be clear, detailed, and specific.
 Be hopeful but honest.
“Teachers usually have no way of knowing
that they have made a difference in a
child’s life, even when they have made a
dramatic one…
Good teachers put snags in the river of
children passing by, and, over the years,
they redirect hundreds of lives…
[Great schools are] made up of people
who can never really know the good they
have done.”
Kidder (1989): Among Schoolchildren
Effective Schools Research (Edmonds; Brookover;
Lezotte)
Shaping School Culture (Deal and Peterson)
School Reform Literature (Fullan)
Professional Learning Communities (DuFour;
Louis; Kruse)
Good to Great (Collins)
Balanced Leadership (Marzano et al)
School Culture Surveys (Valentine)

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
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
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a mission focused on student and teacher learning
a rich sense of history and purpose
core values of collegiality, performance, and improvement that engender
quality, achievement, and learning for everyone
positive beliefs and assumptions about the potential of students and staff
to learn and grow
a strong professional community that uses knowledge, experience, and
research to improve practice
an informal network that fosters positive communication flows
leadership that balances continuity and improvement
rituals and ceremonies that reinforce core cultural values
stories that celebrate successes and recognize heroines and heroes
a physical environment that symbolizes joy and pride
a widely shared sense of respect and caring for everyone
Source: Shaping School Culture: Pitfalls, Paradoxes and Promises 2nd Ed. (2009). Terrence Deal and Kent Peterson,
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.