The Importance Of School Culture

School cultures are intangible, but essential: you walk into a school and know immediately whether you want to be there or not. Just because culture is intangible doesn’t mean that is undefinable. According to Fullan, school culture can be defined as ‘the guiding beliefs and values evident in the way a school operates’. ‘School culture can be used to encompass all the attitudes, expected behaviors and values that impact how the school operates.’
At the beginning of the school year, we had the opportunity to watch the TED Talk by Linda Cliatt-Wayman called How to Fix a Broken school? Lead fearlessly, love hard. In this talk Linda Cliatt-Wayman sets the stage by sharing her first day at a North Philadelphia low income, low performing high school where a fight had just occurred. Her solution was to call the staff and student body together and share her rules. However, in the process, a student makes the statement, “Miss! Miss! “Why do you keep calling this a school? This is not a school.”

First, If you are going to lead, lead. “What happens in a school and what does not happen in a school is up to the principal.” I am the principal and having that title required me to lead.” That meant stepping up and taking charge. “I was not going to be afraid to address anything that was not good for children, whether that made me liked or not’. She put together a team that created a visually appealing environment, rebuilt school schedule to include flexibility for children with different needs. She also designed a behavior system to promote positive behavior called “Non-Negotiables.” The result of these changes were that her school, Strawberry Mansion, was removed from the “Persistently Dangerous’