An organizational profile (Baldrige 2007) is being constructed of J. Evans Middle School (JEMS) which is located in Greeley Colorado. JEMS is one of 7 middle schools in Greeley. This paper will focus on the organization culture of JEMS. An organization culture is “… an attempt to get at the feel, sense, atmosphere, character, or image of an organization” (Hoy & Miskel, 2008, p. 177). This information was obtained by interviewing Dawn Hillman. Dawn is the principal of JEMS and this is her first year as principal. The last two years she was the assistant principal. In this paper the writer will focus on the culture of JEMS. First the writer will talk about what a toxic culture is and will describe the culture of JEMS. Second the writer will reflect on the experience of conducting an organizational profile.
Culture of JEMS
Does JEMS have a toxic culture? Before we answer this question we need to define what a toxic school is. To do this lets start by discussing what a positive culture is. Small Schools Project states a positive culture is were shared sense of purpose and values that all staff have buy in, all staff is focused on continuous learning and school improvement and this norm is reinforced by the group (n.d.). A positive culture is where all staff believes students can learn and teachers are responsible for student learning. The school is a place of collaboration and all staff wants to become a better teacher so staff communication is about reflection and teaching strategy (Small Schools Project, n.d.). A toxic culture is the opposite of a positive culture.
What does a toxic culture look like? According to Small Schools Project a toxic culture is where staff of the school is very frustrated and sad that things are not ...
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First, leaders must examine the culture with hopes of better understanding it (Alemán, 2009; Hinde, 2004; Peterson & Deal, 1998). Second, leaders identify core values within the culture. Third, leaders reinforce positive core values and shared purpose (Peterson & Deal, 1998). The third way in which leaders indirectly influence a school’s organizational culture is through the allocation of time and resources including professional development, which policies receive primary focus and enforcement, recognition and reward decision making, and how individuals may be supervised or reprimanded (Meyer, 2010). It is when school leaders fail to intervene by putting an end to anti-gay bullying and harassment that a school climate and culture becomes one of fear, hate and violence (Koschoreck & Slattery,
Although bullying at Saint Thomas Aquinas is there it’s not as apparent as in Poison Ivy it still exists. From name calling, to clothing shaming, from verbal mockery, to bullies not taking responsibility for actions, Saint Thomas Aquinas students and the students from Poison Ivy bullying is apparent. If only people could treat each other like actual human beings we might be able to rid schools of this
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Bullying, often dismissed as a normal part of growing up, is a real problem in our nation's schools, according to the National School Safety Center. One out of every four schoolchildren endures taunting, teasing, pushing, and shoving daily from schoolyard bullies. More than 43 percent of middle- and high-school students avoid using school bathrooms for fear of being harassed or assaulted. Old-fashioned schoolyard hazing has escalated to instances of extortion, emotional terrorism, and kids toting guns to school. It is estimated that more than 90 percent of all incidents of school violence begin with verbal conflicts, w...
Imagine a society overrun by bullies. It would be awfully frightening if it was true, but it is. The Bully Society, by Jessie Klein discusses the many stories kids who are entangled with issues regarding bullying and how they are struggling to cope. Before Klein began writing her book, she worked for years as a high school teacher, a social worker, and a conflict resolution coordinator. Klein writes many scholarly journals, articles which have appeared in many well-known media organizations. One of her main goals as described on her website, www.JessieKlein.com, is “I hope to help schools build compassionate communities leading to more peaceful and productive education environments.” Klein is a very diligent and hardworking woman. She tries to emphasize the need for improvements whether it is about education or communities. She strives as an influential role model to possibly many of her past students and those she has encountered.
The first tier and arguably the most important is the students. Students should have an expectation of how to treat others and feel comfortable telling a teacher if there is a situation they need help with. Teachers should look out for early signs of bullying and think of an effective strategy to stop it. Personally, I believe that ‘team-based’ learning is the most effective method of reducing bullying. By creating a team atmosphere, students should be more encouraged to work together and give each other support to achieve a common goal. Offering incentives for everyone to perform well could distract students who are likely to bully their classmates. Next, administrators carry the important task of monitor student behavior trends and implement school policies to combat bullying. My suggestion for administrative policy against bullying is the ‘zero-tolerance’ method. Bullying in any form is unacceptable and should not be allowed on school
Some of the reasons why some teachers model the aggressive behavior they experience at home, might be due to education levels and years of teaching experience. In some states, when teacher are tenure, they cannot or hardly be fired. Three articles (See Table 8) directly tested the assumption that education and/or experience were related to bullying behavior. Zerillo (2011) performed a two-part study to see how teacher education and experience affected the way teacher perceived bullying behavior. In the first part, teachers were asked to answer a survey about the teacher perception about peer-to-peer bullying and teacher to student bullying (quantitative data). On the second part, two focus groups were made to discuss the same issues (qualitative data).