The notion of School Culture and its importance for Educational Leaders

By Maisara C. Dandamun-Latiph Introduction

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. Without a strong, positive culture, schools flounder and die. The culture of a school or district serves a central role in exemplary performance. -Peterson and Deal(2002), p.7

The main task of educational leaders is to ensure that schools provide a positive culture with the best environment for teaching and learning. To be successful in these task leaders must: 1. Know the important factors that leads to the creation of a positive environment for teaching and learning; and 2. Understand their role in the creation of this environment. School improvement and school effectiveness research had shown that school culture is the key to the creation of successful schools (Leitwood, et. al 1999, p. 82) and leadership plays a major role in the creation of school culture (Hopkins et al., 1994; Sergiovanni, (1995), cited in Bush and Baker, (2003), p. 53) by trying to gain the positive engagement of staff (Wallace et al., 1997, ibid) and students (Ruddock et al., 1996, ibid). Thus, the foremost step that leaders must take in their aforementioned task is to understand school culture and how it affects the work of educational leaders. As a student of educational leadership and a practitioner it is necessary for me to understand and know the meaning of School Culture and the crucial role it plays in school improvement and effectiveness with the hope there will be acquisition of appropriate key skills in promoting best practice in leadership and apply this in particular situations. The aims of this course work are to: 1. Demonstrate an understanding of school culture;

School Culture & its importance for Educational Leaders

2. Explain how culture operates and how it affects the people in the organization; 3. Give the significance of school culture on the work of educational leaders particularly in school improvement and effectiveness ; 4. And present recommendations on how to build and shape positive school culture as exemplified by recent findings. Meaning and Concept of School Culture The modern conception of school culture has been characterized as accumulation of bits and knowledge and as conceptual structures which interpret behaviour and practices (Mc Laren, 1981, cited in DAlessandro and Sadh, 1998, p. 1). In 1932, sociologist Willard Waller, argued that every school has a culture of its own, with a set of rituals and folkways and moral code that shapes behaviour and relationship (Peterson and Deal, 2002, p. 8). Taguiri (1968) defined school culture as the norms, values and meaning systems shared by members of the group. (cited in DAlessandro and Sadh, 1998, p. 1). While, the postmodern ideas of culture define it as a political struggle (Erickson, 199, ibid) including the notion that there is no culture but rather cultures both over time and across overlapping groups of people within an institution or society, as discussed by Geertz (1973), (cited in Erickson 1991, ibid). For Mc Laren (1991), culture: Does not consist of isolated, bounded and cohesive meaning systems but multiplicity of voices, inseparable from the economics of privilege, and the power of politics, which reflect conflicting and competing discourses. (ibid, p. 1) Quantz(1988) argued that previously held static ideas about culture are inadequate because they fail to take into account how values, beliefs and customs are ideologically and historically constituted (cited in DAlessandro and Sadh, 1998, p. 1).). These gives rise to the insight that cultures are negotiated, dynamic process. (Mc Laren (1991) and Quantz (1988), ibid).

School Culture & its importance for Educational Leaders

Purkeys (1990) description of school culture is more comprehensive in that, he stated that: Each school culture is created by a particular combination of people in the school at any given historical point and thus, each culture is unique. At the same time, he showed that a school culture is always greater than the sum of the individual contributions and thus, school cultures exhibit commonalities around a set of issues, such as leadership. He also argued that school culture functions as well as just existing; that it is performative. (ibid, p. 556 ) Finally, Purkey asserted that culture is the cohesive bonding that moves a school toward the accomplishment of its mission (performative) (ibid, p.558). In non-educational setting, Schein(1985) described culture as: A pattern of basic assumptions-invented, discovered, or developed by a given group as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration-that has worked well enough to be considered valid and therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems. (p. 9) Schein (1985) had emphasized that the assumptions and beliefs that are shared by members of the organization are learned responses to a groups problems of survival in its external environment and its problems of internal integration. They come to be taken for granted because they solve those problems repeatedly and reliably. (p.6) In school context, culture is reflected in: Observed behaviour regularities when teachers interact in staff room-the language they use and the rituals they establish; The norms that evolve in working groups of teachers in terms of lesson planning or monitoring the progress of students; The dominant values espoused by a school, its aims or mission statement; The philosophy, that for example guides the dominant approach to teaching and learning of particular subjects in schools;

School Culture & its importance for Educational Leaders

The rules of the game, that new teachers have to learn in order to get along in the school or department; The feeling or climate that is conveyed by the entrance hall to a school, or the way in which students work is or is not displayed. (Hopkins(1994)p. 88, as cited in Angelides and Ainscow, 2000, p. 148)

To help leaders in understanding or uncovering the cultural paradigm that exists in the organization, Schein (1985) suggests the work of an outside researcher or consultant and the participation of willing insiders (p. 312). This can also be done by doing a school culture audit. This is a vital tool for planning and school improvement (Wagner, et. al, 1998, p. 1) methods for data collection on culture can be through interview, unobtrusive observations and critical incidents (Angelides, 2000) these are research tools in uncovering culture in the school setting. How culture is influenced and affects the members of the school Culture is shaped by its history, context and the people within them. (Stoll and Fink, 1997, p. 83). It is also affected by external and political economic forces and changes in national or local educational policies. (ibid) But, it is also pervasive that it affects everything around it (Coleman, M. and Early, P. 2005, p. 64). Culture is powerful. It influences and shapes how students, teachers, administrators and staff [including parents] think, feel and act, for example whether staff think improvement is important, how motivated they are to work, how they feel when students are not performing well (Peterson and Deal (2002). It is a two-way process: culture influences the behaviour and actions of the people in the organization and in turn people influence the kind of culture that will exist in the organization. In particular, School culture influences what people pay attention to (focus), how they identify with the school (commitment), how hard they work (motivation), and the degree to which they achieve their goals
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(productivity) (Deal and Peterson, 1999) (Cited in Peterson and Deal, 2002, p10) Importance of Culture for Educational Leaders in School effectiveness and improvement It is used to define the nature of good and poor schools (Lightfoot, 1983; Sergiovanni, 1994), and most importantly, it is an aspect of schooling that educators can actually change or improve (Purkey, 1990; Sarason, 1990; Power et al., 1989) (as cited in DAlessandro and Sadh (1998) p. 554). Since school culture is not fixed, development planning can change it or even a new principal. (Stoll and Fink, 1997, p.84) Educational leaders must realize that any effort to improve schools or produce effective schools will fail if they do not take culture into account, as evidence by some restructuring process to improve schools. Stoll and Fink (1997, p. 84) argued that changing structures without changing cultures will likely lead to superficial changes which is a danger to all externally generated reforms.1 Hallinger and Heck(1998) elaborated that in school effectiveness, the contribution of culture depends on the content of the norms, values, beliefs and assumptions (e.g. student centered). It also depends on the extent to which they are shared, and whether they foster collaborative work. (cited in Leithwood and Jantzi(1999), p. 115) Thus, a leadership that supplies the necessary condition to achieve a positive culture with a shared vision, collaborative learning and is student focused creates an effective school. Muijs (2006), on the other hand argues that effective schools are characterized by its culture with the following elements:
1

Consistency High expectations of staff, pupils and parents

Structure is different from culture. Structures are the physical manifestations of culture of the organization. (Bush, 1998, p.36, see Coleman and Early (2005), p. 63) . Culture can be affected indirectly, structures directly, if there is a change in structure without a change in culture then the change will be superficial. (Stoll and Fink, 1997, p.84)
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Orderly climate Creation of a learning community. (p.4)

All of the above must concur if leaders want to create a positive learning culture, he added. (ibid) In the field of school improvement, culture may be a cause, an object or an effect of school improvement, school culture are usually the focus of change because in due course it will exercise an improving causal influence on other variables, and eventually on student outcomes, which in turn reinforce the culture (Hargreaves, 1997, in Harris, et al., eds 1997, p.248). In school change, attention must also be made to school culture by school leaders because in certain types of school, culture there maybe high resistance to change by the members of the organization or who are flexible and sensitive to changes depending on the type of culture prevailing in the school. In summary, Law, et. al. (2004) explains that the culture in effective and improving school is one of high improvement focus (dynamic) and high effectiveness and said culture is called Motivating Culture. It is Collaborative and actively responsive to change; capable of rapid development when and were necessary.( ibid. p. 122). How leaders influence school culture There are four major school conditions through which leadership may exercise its influence, namely: (1) Purposes and Goals, (2) School Structure and Social Networks, (3) People and, (4) Organizational Culture (Hallinger and Heck (1998), cited in Leithwood and Jantzi(1999), p. 115). Leaders play a major part in the construction of organizational culture (Hopkins, et al. 1994). They provide the vision and set directions that influence the shape of school culture. (Deal and Peterson, 2002, p. 12) Deal and Kennedy (1982) argued that educational leaders play a very important role in creating and shaping school culture (cited in Crawford et al.(1997) p. 19) and they influence the meanings people attach to

School Culture & its importance for Educational Leaders

organizational events (Smircich and Morgan 1983, cited in Crawford et al.(1997) p. 19). For Coleman (2005), leaders influence culture by their nature and style of leadership (p. 64). Leadership therefore plays an important part in the creation of school culture. In the United Kingdom in a study of the perceptions of 3,300 students in 11 secondary schools on teaching and learning, one of the five indicators of culture which was used to measure the schools success was leadership style. It showed that in those schools where the leadership style is visionary, consultative and decisive is adjudged by their students to be successful in terms of having the highest level of learning experience. (Glover and Law, 2004, pp. 1 and 320) A strong and purposeful and visionary leadership that is consultative is seen as a main ingredient in the making of a successful school. This is not surprising considering that according to Goleman(2002) 50-70% of climate in the organization is accounted for by leadership styles. (Cited in Watkin and Hubbard, 2002, p. 385) Leaders are responsible for the creation of positive working climate for the teachers. Climate in schools refer to teachers perception of those aspects of their environment that directly impact how well they can do their jobs. (Watkin and Hubbard, 2003, p.380). Motivated teachers do their best and there is a strong possibility that this will lead to better student outcomes. This is because, the teachers are directly influenced by the leaders and the teachers directly affect their students. Just like climate, developing a shared vision by the school leaders has a direct impact on culture. Tice (1996) suggests that the principals vision for the school is an essential ingredient to positive school culture (as cited in Wagner and OPhelan (1998), p. 5). Similarly, in a study of secondary schools in California, shared vision was seen as a unifying factor that affects student achievement. Goldring (2002), (p. 43) found that:

School Culture & its importance for Educational Leaders

Developing a shared vision is a leadership process that must include all contributors at a school site, including students. The ability to commit to longterm purpose of a vision serves to build and maintain trusting, interdependent relationships among the staff members, and increase the flexibility necessary for change (p. 43) Vision is important as a guide to school culture change. (Finnan and Levin, p.1) because of the fact that school culture can either serve as a barrier to change or a vehicle to sustain it (ibid, p11). How leaders build and shape positive culture Deal and Peterson (2002) argued that in positive school culture, the environment is most likely to foster hard work, commitment to valued ends, pay attention to problem solving and a focus for learning for all students. In others, or what are called negative, despondent or toxic culture, staff have either fragmented purposes or none at all, feel no sense of commitment to the mission of the school, and have little motivation to improve. (p.11). In positive cultures people are happy to be there and good things happen; they know and understand the purpose and goals of the organization and they collaborate with each other to get to their vision (Peterson and Deal (1998) as cited in Wagner and OPhelan (1998), p. 4) The leaders must assess the kind of culture prevailing in the school if they wish to make meaningful changes or improvements. If the school culture is negative, the leader can alter it to become a positive one. They do this through myriad daily interactions, careful reflection, and conscious efforts. (Deal and Peterson, 2002, p. 12). But, to be successful in changing culture, leaders must collaborate with other members of the school, i.e. teachers, students, parents and the community towards the development of shared vision and values aimed at meaningful changes in the culture of the school. Some of the more specific activities that leaders can undertake to transform negative or toxic culture into positive ones are as follows:

School Culture & its importance for Educational Leaders

Articulate a clear, compelling, and positive vision for the school; Identify the core mission and purpose of the school and find ways to reinforce hat sense of purpose; Have staff members develop action plans for their personal mission and the school mission; Recognize and acknowledge the contribution of positive energizing staff members; Provide leadership and nurture leadership among staff; Provide direct, nonjudgmental feedback about specific negative behaviours and their effect on the school and the staff. Buffer newly hired staff members from negative members of the culture, or they will be socialized into the toxic subculture; Build a sense of community by celebrating contributions, developing relationships, articulating the shared purposes and values of the school and establishing respectful, trusting, caring relationships; (ibid, pp.92105) Moreover, Schein (1985) formulated what he calls primary

mechanisms as powerful tools for culture embedding and reinforcement by leaders as follows: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) what leaders pay attention to, measure and control; leaders reaction to critical incidents and organizational crises; deliberate role modeling, teaching and coaching by leaders; criteria for allocation of rewards and status; criteria for recruitment, selection, promotion and excommunication. (p.224-225)

He also added secondary articulation and reinforcement mechanism which build organizational ideologies and thus formalize much of what is formally learned at the outset, which are effective only in as much as they are consistent with the primary mechanisms. If they are inconsistent, they either will be ignored or will be the source of internal conflict, they are as follows: (1) organizational design and structure; (2) organizational systems and procedures;
9 School Culture & its importance for Educational Leaders

(3) design of physical space, facades, and buildings; (4) stories, legends and myths, and parables about important events and people; (5) formal statements of organizational philosophy, creeds and charters. (p. 237) By implementing the above suggestions leaders can help shape and build a positive school culture that will be conducive to teaching and learning environment and also in dealing with changes or reforms from external forces. Criticisms of the leaders role in managing culture As opposed to the popular view that culture as argued by Schein (1985) that the unique and essential function of leadership is the manipulation of cultures (p. 317), Richard Bates (2006) argued that this concept of manipulation is symptomatic of what 20th century study of leadership is about what Callaghan called the cult of efficiency, meaning: A cult rooted in the drive for rational systems of corporate management; functionalist accounts of the virtues of bureaucracy and hierarchy; and the quest for science of educational administration. (p. 1) He asserts that the enthusiasm of some writers like Deal and Kennedy who adopted corporate culture to the educational setting with his leadership conception as a cultural worker and Fullan with his educational reculturing largely taken from transformational leadership theories had become the new educational dogma in educational reform (Bates, 2006, p. 159-160). According to Bates(2006), the problem with this is that such a view of culture, as an independent variable that can be manipulated by management to achieve its particular ends of controlling the dependent variable of worker (teacher and pupil) performance, is quiet different from the view of culture taken by anthropologists. (ibid). For Bates, there is an inherent conflict between the anthropological concern for understanding and the managerial concern for manipulation.(ibid).

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School Culture & its importance for Educational Leaders

He argued that studies by Corrigan, 1979, Grace, 1978, Lacey, 1970, among others, focused on a different conception of school culture but sadly, it is not reflected in educational leadership texts. This studies showed: The complexity of the dynamics of cultural interactions both within schools and across their boundaries with different communities. The result was a complex mosaic of negotiation (and sometimes rebellion), constantly shaped by the exercise of various forms of power across boundaries of class, gender, ethnicity, religion and ability, and how these behaviours were more or less systematically related to the curriculum, pedagogy, assessment and the disciplinary practices of schools. (ibid) For Bates, it does not mean the abandonment of the notion of culture or the notion of leadership, but rather we have to be careful in and more comprehensive in the understanding of culture. He added that schools should be understood in its complexity and argued going back to the notion of school as social organisms by Waller (1932). (2006, p. 164). Conclusion Culture is a dynamic social process, it is a powerful force that shapes and underpins educational practices and behaviour. IT is a key to improvement and effectiveness in schools. It is influenced by both internal and external forces and the leaders play a major role by gaining the positive engagement of teachers and students to create a positive culture. Thus leaders cannot work alone in creating positive culture, the teachers, students, staff, parents and community also play crucial roles. Each member contributes to the shaping of culture through shared vision, interaction, shared decision-making, collaboration, communication, and innovation (Goldring, 2002, p.33) For educational leaders (policymakers, governors, LEA, etc.,), culture has tremendous impact on their work because it goes in to the heart of school improvement and effectiveness. Educational reformers tasked with policy making must therefore work within the context of a school and consider

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School Culture & its importance for Educational Leaders

school culture when prescribing policies. They have to understand that changing culture is a shared process and it is not a tool to be manipulated by educational leaders. It is a product of negotiation between conflicting interests in pursuit of shared meanings and be understood in all its complexity (Bates, 2006, p. 164). For school leaders the power of culture is that is serves as a lens to assess where the organization is and what needs to be done to achieve the best environment for teaching and learning. It spells the difference between effective schools and those that are not. It can also hinder or support improvement efforts. Thus, culture has to be understood by leaders if they want to build and lead successful schools characterized by a learning community2 focused on student achievement. References:
Bates, R. (2006). Culture and Leadership in Educational Administration: A Historical Study of What Was and What Might Have Been. Journal of Educational Administration and History. 38(2), 155-168 Busher H. and Baker, B. (2003). The Crux of Leadership. Shaping School Culture by Contesting the Policy Contexts and Practices of Teaching and Learning. Educational Management and Administration. BELMAS. 31(1), 51-65 Coleman, M. and Early, P. (2005). Leadership and Management in Education: Cultures Change and Context. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Corrigan, P. (1979). Schooling the Smash Street Kids. London:Macmillan Crawford, M. et. al.(1997). Leadership and Teams in Educational Management. Buckingham: Open University Press DAlessandro, A and Sadh. D. (1998). The dimensions and measurement of school culture. Understanding school culture as the basis for school reform. International Journal of Educational Research [online] 27 (7), 553-569. Available From: sciencedirect.com [Accessed December 21, 2006] Deal, T.E. and Kennedy, P. (1982). Corporate Cultures. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
2

It means staff coming together engaged in learning, focus on improvement, open to new experiences, experimentation and learning from mistakes. (Muijs, 2006, p. 4)
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Deal, T. E., and Peterson, K.(1999). Shaping School Culture: The Heart of Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. Erickson, F. (1991). Conceptions of School Culture: An Overview. In N.B. Wyner (Ed.), Current perspectives on the culture of schools (pp. 1-12). Brookline, MA: Brookline Books. Finnan, C. and Levin, H. (1998). Using Culture to Bring Vision to Life. report paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Education Research Association, San Diego, California, April 13-17, 1998. Giroux, H.A. (1988). Teachers as intellectuals. Towards a Critical pedagogy of Learning. Boston, MA, Bragin and Garvey, Inc. Glover, D. and Law, S. (2004). Creating the Right Learning Environment: The Application of Models of Culture to Student Perceptions of Teaching and Learning in Eleven Secondary Schools. School Effectiveness and School Improvement. 15(3-4), 313-336 Goldring, L. (2002).The Power of School Culture.Leadership,32(2),32-35 Goleman, D. (2001). Primal leadership. New York: Bantam Books Grace, G. (1978). Teachers, Ideology, and Control.London: Routledge, Hallinger, P. and Heck, R.H. (1998). Exploring the principals contribution to school effectiveness:1980-1995. School Effectiveness and School Improvement. 9(2), 15791 Hargreaves, D. (1997). School Culture, School Effectiveness and School Improvement Practice. In Harris, A et al., (Eds.), Organizational Effectiveness and Improvement in Education. (pp.239-250).Buckingham: Open University Press Hopkins, et. al. (1994). School Improvement in an Era of Change. London: Cassel Lacey, P. (1970). High Town Grammar. Manchester: Manchester University Press. Law, S. and Glover, D. (2004). Educational Leadership and Learning:Practice, Policy and Research. Buckingham: Open University Press. Lightfoot, S.C. (1983). The Good High School: Portraits of a Character and Culture. New York: Basic Books Leithwood, K et.al. (1999). Changing Leaders for Changing Times. Buckingham: Open University Press

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Leithwood, and Jantzi, D. (1999). The Effects of Transformational Leadership on Organizational conditions and student engagement with school. Journal of Educational Administration. 38 (2), 112-129 Mc Laren, P. (1991). Decentering Cultures: Postmodernism, Resistance, ad Critical Pedagogy. In N.B. Wyner (Ed.), Current Perspectives on the Culture of School (pp.231-258). Brookline, MA: Brookline Books. Muijs, D. (2006). Culture, Vision and Learning and teaching. [Handout] Unpublished course unit source for Educ. 70341 School Effectiveness. Manchester: University of Manchester Panayiotis, A and Ainscow, M. (2000). Making Sense of the Role of Culture in School Improvement. School Effectiveness and School Improvement. 11(2), 154-163 Peterson, K.D. and Deal, T.E. (1998). How Leaders Influence the Culture of Schools. Educational Leadership. 56 (1), 28-30. Peterson, K. and Deal, T. (2002). The Shaping of School Culture a Fieldbook. San Francisco:John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Power, F.C. (1989). Lawrence Kohlbergs Approach to Moral Education. New York. Columbia. University Press. Purkey, S.C. (1990). A Cultural Change Approach to School Discipline. In O.C. Moles (Ed), Student Discipline Strategies: Research and Practice (pp. 63-76). New York: State University of New York Press. Quantz, R. (1988). Culture: A Critical Perspective. A Paper Presented to the American Educational Studies Association. Toronto, Canada. Ruddock, et. al. (1996). School Improvement: What Can Pupil Tell Us? London: David Fulton Sarason, S.B. (1990). The Predictable Failure of Educational Reform:Can We Change the Course Before Its Too Late? San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bassey Schein, E. (1985). Organizational Culture and Leadership. San Francisco: JosseyBass Publishers Sergiovanni, T. (1995). The Principaliship: A Reflective Perspective. Boston, MA:Allyn and Bacon. Stoll, L. and Fink, D. (1997). Changing Our Schools: Linking School Effectiveness and School Improvement. Buckingham: Open University Press. Taguiri, R. (1968). The Concept of Organizational Climate. In R. Taguiri, G. H. Litwin (Eds.), Organizational Climate: Exploration of a Concept. Boston, MA:Harvard University, Graduate School of Business Administration, Division of Research.

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Tice, T. N. (1996). Reframing Principals. Education Digest. 62(1) 42-47. Wagner, C. et.al. (1998). Improving Schools through the Administration and Analysis of School Culture Audits. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Mid-South educational Research Association, New Orleans November 3-6, 1998. Wallace, E. et. al. (1997). The Learning School: A Guide to Vision-Based Leadership. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press Watkin, C. and Hubbard, B. (2003). Leadership motivation and the drivers of share price: the business case for measuring organizational climate. Leadership and Organizational Development Journal. 24(7), 380-386

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School Culture & its importance for Educational Leaders