What is a School Culture?

"School culture is the set of norms, values

and beliefs, rituals and ceremonies,
symbols and stories that make up the
'persona' of the school”
- Historically Transmitted
- Formed over the course of school’s history
- Understood in varying degrees by members of
the school community
A School Culture refers to a group’s
shared beliefs, customs, and behavior.

- schedules
- curriculum
- demographics
- policies
- social interactions
“the way we do things here”

A school culture represents the

unwritten rules of how people
think, feel and act in an
organization. (Raywid, 2001)
Importance of School Culture
Influences:
• thoughts, feelings,
relationships attitudes
• job satisfaction, levels of
determination, productivity
• student achievement and
motivation
Critical situations that may signal a
reexamining of your school culture
• Employees frustrated and stressed
• Disappointing results of faculty and staffs
opinion surveys
• Major changes in organizational structure
• Consolidation of departments or
integrating other units and divisions
• Internal reorganization and other major
change initiatives
Critical situations that may signal a
reexamining of your school culture
• When the institution is considering a merger
or acquisition
• Trust in leadership eroded
• Exodus of faculty to other institutions and/or
other job market
• Schools experiencing legal actions
• Low energy level of faculty and staff
 Elements of A School Culture

A school culture maybe formal or informal

Formal school culture is manifested in three areas:

- conceptual / verbal
- visual
- behavioral manifestation

The informal culture operates simultaneously

within the formal cultural network and done by:

- storytellers,
- priests
- whisperers or “bulong” brigade
- gossips, spies, and cabals
 Conceptual / Verbal
Manifestation of a School Culture

Includes aims and objectives, curriculum,

organization’s vocabulary, metaphors, organization
stories, heroes and structures.
 Visually school culture is
reflected in its…

Facilities, equipment, artifacts, memorabilia,

mottos, and uniforms.
 Behavioral Manifestation of a
School Culture

Rituals, ceremonies, teaching-learning process,

standard operational procedures, rules and regulations,
psychological and social support systems and
community interaction patterns.
 Bureaucratic,
Fragmented,
Balkanized,
Collegial, and Toxic
Cultures
 Bureaucratic School
Culture
• Top-down management
• Feelings of being devalued
• Standardization
• Isolation, individual problem
solving
• Little incentive to grow
• Growth threatening to others
 Fragmented Culture

Employees do not have clear knowledge of the school’s vision

and sense of purpose. Teachers tend to be isolated
and individualistic. They have diverse loyalties, some loyal
to their principals and bosses, others loyal to faculty association
and still others loyal only to themselves
 Balkanized School Culture
When various groups

within the organization

operate as separate

entities and often

conflicts with each

other when major

decisions are made.

The cabals and cliques

reign supreme.
Toxic Culture
• Focus on failure
• Rare sharing, little
cooperation
• Conformity, fear of
being different.
• Negative
subcultures, hostile
and critical of
change
 Toxic Culture
• Innovations met with complaints,
criticisms, and distrust
• Few celebration of what is good
or hopeful
• Pervasive feelings of isolation and
hopelessness
Collegial/Collaborative
School Culture
• Strong commitment to
the school mission.
• Honest, open
communication
• Shared leadership
• Trust and confidence
 Collegial/ Collaborative
School Culture
• Collegiality, cohesiveness,
and collaboration
• Problems viewed as group
challenges
• Collective responsibility
Collegial/Collaborative
School Culture
•Continuous
improvement
•Experimentation
•Support
•Celebration
•Humor
“Storytellers”

• Preserve the institution’s

heritage
• Impart legends to new
employees
• Interpret institutional
events to suit their
perspective
 “Priests”

• Serve as the ‘worriers’

of the organization
• As ‘old guards’, serve
as ‘historians’ of the
organization
• Yearn for ‘old good
days’
“Whisperers, Spies and Gossips”
• The “bulong” brigade
• Have access to the
boss’ ear
• Seeming ability to
influence decisions
• Keep bosses up-dated
on pulse of
organization
• Manage the lives of
others
“Cabals”
• Most dangerous group in
the informal cultural
network
• Groups of two or more
people who secretly join
together to advance their
interests
• Develop a sub-culture;
share resources among
members
• Always act surreptitiously
• Collects dominant emotions and perceptions

• A statement of findings and recommendations that

can be used for planning purposes.

• Reflective opportunities for the faculty and staff.

• Engagement of faculty, staff, and other stakeholders

in improvement efforts.
 Observation/Interviews
1. Collegiality– the way adults treat each other, i.e., respect and
harmony vs. disrespect and discord.
2. Efficacy – feeling of ownership or capacity to influence decisions;
i.e., do people tend to live with or solve problems?
3. High expectations – of self and others – excellence is
acknowledged; improvement is celebrated, supported, and shared.
4. Experimentation and entrepreneurship – new ideas abound and
invention occurs.
5. Trust and confidence – participants believe in the leaders and each
other based on the matching of creeds and deeds.
6. Tangible support – efforts at improvement are substantive with
abundant resources made available by all.
7. Appreciation and recognition of improvement –
people feel special and act special.
8. Humor – caring is expressed through “kidding” or joking
in tasteful ways.
9. Shared decision-making by all participants. Anyone
affected by a decision is involved in making and
implementing the decision.
10. Protect what is important participants keep the vision
and avoid trivial tasks.
11. Traditions celebrations identify the rituals that are
important to the school community.
12. Open and honest communication information flows
throughout the organization in formal and informal
channels. Everyone is on a need to know basis.
13. Metaphors and stories evidence of behavior being
communicated and influenced by internal imagery.
Survey
Brochures
Professional Collaboration - Do teachers and staff
meeting and working together to solve professional
issues e.g. instructional, organizational or curricular
issues?
Affilliative/Collegial Relationships - Do people enjoy
working together, support one another and feel valued
and included?
Efficacy or self-determination - Are people in this school
here because they want to be? Do they work to improve
their skills as true professionals or, do they simply see
themselves as helpless victims of a large and uncaring
bureaucracy?
The PREMISE of the School Culture
Assessment process is:

If People Do Not Improve, Programs

NEVER Will!!!
Note:
Some parts of the discussions were based
on the seminar-workshop conducted by
the Educational Leadership Management
Department, DLSU-Manila entitled
Strategic Planning and Management in
Higher Education Institutions
Assessing school
culture
The School Culture
Assessment Survey
(Keefe & Kelley,1990).
 The School Culture
Assessment Survey
• Responses
1. strongly agree
2. agree
3. no opinion
4. disagree
5. strongly disagree
that the given characteristic of the school is
evident at all times
 The School Culture
Assessment Survey
#1 Shared goals. A shared
sense of direction places
teaching, learning and pupils'
interests front and center.
Rating: 1   2   3    4   5
 The School Culture
Assessment Survey
#2 Responsibility for success.
There is a belief that everyone
can and must make a
difference: all students can
learn.  
Rating: 1   2   3    4   5
 The School Culture
Assessment Survey
#3 Congeniality. This involves mutual
sharing and assistance, an orientation
towards the school as a whole and is
spontaneous, voluntary, development-
oriented, unscheduled and
unpredictable.
Rating: 1   2   3    4   5
 The School Culture
Assessment Survey
#4 Continuous improvement. No
matter how effective the
school is deemed to be, there
is an assumption that more
can always be achieved.
Rating: 1   2   3    4   5
 The School Culture
Assessment Survey
#5 Lifelong learning. There is a
fundamental assumption that
learning never stops; there is
always more to learn and
students can only learn alongside
adults who also learn.
Rating: 1   2   3    4   5
 The School Culture
Assessment Survey
#6 Risk taking. Experimentation,
trial and error and learning
through failure are essential
parts of learning.

Rating: 1   2   3    4   5

 The School Culture
Assessment Survey
#7 Mutual respect. Diversity is
perceived as strength; there is
freedom for individuals to realize
shared goals in different ways.
  Rating: 1   2   3    4   5
 The School Culture
Assessment Survey
#8 Openness. The ability to
speak one's mind and voice
concerns in school rather than
in the parking lot.

  Rating: 1   2   3    4   5

 The School Culture
Assessment Survey
#9 Celebration and humor.
Recognition of students and adults
and celebration are highlighted,
and teachers talk of feeling
valued.
  Rating: 1   2   3    4   5
 
 Interpretation: 
Average rating of:
1: A cause for celebration!
2: Requires some discussion and
attention
3: Neutral, clarification regarding
meaning of specific criteria may
be necessary
4-5: Areas may require attention
and an action plan