PED9C

SCHOOL CULTURE:
PRINCIPLES and THEORIES

REPORTER: PELIGRIN, ARRO, SUMODA

SCHOOL CULTURE

A healthy school culture fosters continuous improvement in student

achievement.

School culture - is the historically transmitted patterns of meanings

that include the norms, values, beliefs, ceremonies, rituals, traditions,
and myths understood by members of the school community
(Mitchell, 2008).
School culture is what an educational institution's stakeholders
perceive as the school's health.

The culture of a college, for example, permits a stakeholder to

work out if the college may be a stable, safe, and positive place
for student learning.

Additionally, the culture also demonstrates if it may also be a

positive place for the adults; an environment that encourages
professional development and teaching. Educational
institutions, therefore, should strive to be learning organizations
where personnel is continuously involved in cycles of action,
progress, and result in analysis and change; for the
achievement of a shared vision or goals.
SCHOOL CULTURE

The school culture affects teachers' beliefs, cognitions, and

behaviors; and influence the school culture. Wagner (2006)
purported that everything in a school, including school achievement,
is affected by the school's culture. He noted that school culture
consists of things such as traditions and celebrations shared with
the family, faculty, and staff, and the community and the importance
of how stakeholders support, treat and value each other as well as
share teaching strategies.
Barth (2002) defined school culture as a complex pattern of norms, attitudes, beliefs,
behaviors, values, ceremonies, traditions, and myths that are deeply ingrained in the
very core of the organization. It is the historically transmitted pattern of meaning that
wields astonishing power in shaping what people think and how they act.

School culture is wide in scope. It demonstrates how the students, staff, and
community look at the institution; how safe the school makes the stakeholders feel while
on campus; and how high the level of rigor within classrooms is.
It also illustrates how the teachers care for their students; how highly accessible the staff
is to community members; and whether the staff receives a lot of opportunities to learn
and excel in their craft. School culture also depicts whether the staff has trusting
relationships among themselves and with their leaders.
 TYPES AND CATEGORIES OF SCHOOL
CULTURE
• School culture can be either positive or negative.

• Positive school cultures, teachers, administrators, and students value learning. There is a
norm of continuous learning and improvement and all educators feel responsible for the
learning of all students in the school. Collaborative, collegial relationships are valued; and
opportunities are provided for reflection, collective inquiry, and sharing about teaching and
learning.

• Negative school cultures. - These “toxic” cultures exude norms and values that hinder
growth and learning. There is a lack of purpose and often students are blamed for poor
performance. Collaboration is not the norm and often toxic cultures have hostile
relationships among the staff. These schools are not healthy for educators or students. It is
recommended that the staff and the principal work together to address negativity and shape
a more positive culture for the school (Peterson, 2002).
 TYPES AND CATEGORIES OF SCHOOL
CULTURE

Saphier and King (1985) declared that if specific norms of an

educational institution's culture are sturdy, there will be vital and
continuous enhancements in instruction. If the norms are weak, tutorial
enhancements may likely be infrequent and random. They suggested
that the norms be maintained where they already exist. Otherwise, the
leaders and the staff can help build the norms.
Here are the cultural norms impacting
school improvement:

1. Collegiality
2. Experimentation
3. High expectations
4. Trust and confidence
5. Tangible support
6. Reaching out to the knowledge bases
7. Appreciation and recognition
8. Caring, celebration, and humor
Write a closing
9. Involvement
statement or
in decision-making
10. Protection of what's
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important
11. Traditions
12. Honest, open communication
Schoen and Teddlie (2008) in their model
of school culture, referred to as
"The Dimensions of Culture," include

(1) skilled orientation,

(2) organizational structure,
(3) quality of the learning setting, and
(4) student-centered
Write a closing focus.
statement or
call-to-action here.
 TYPES AND CATEGORIES OF SCHOOL
CULTURE
Dimension Major Description

Professional It involves the amount of emphasis the school places on the continuous
growth and development of faculty members as professionals. This also
Orientation refers to activities or indications that faculty members are both individually
and collectively involved in professional growth and development centered on
student learning.

Original Structure This includes the type of leadership that exists at the school who is involved
in leadership activities, the development of vision and/or mission
statements, the formulation of goals or action plans, the degree of
consensus and commitment regarding organizational goals, school policies,
and the importance placed upon externally imposed mandates and
accountability, the degree of formality among organizational members, the
type of communication patterns and relationships that exist within the school,
and the means of communication with others outside the school.
 Dimension Major Description

Quality of the Learning The quality of the learning environment is determined by assessing the
Environment degree to which students are continually engaged in substantive, cognitively
challenging activities. The intent here is not to determine whether students
are engaged on task in their classes, but rather to get a feel for the intellectual
rigor that exists across the classes at the school, and to gauge the types of
learning and assessment activities that are typically used in the school.

Student-centered Student-centered focus refers to the collective efforts of the school staff to
focus on students as individual learners, with unique characteristics. This
dimension is designed to assess the extent to which the needs of individual
students are met by the school. This dimension of the school culture
examines the type and extent of parental involvement, the student support
services (e.g., special assistance with class work, after school tutorials,
parent education programs, etc.) offered by the school, and the extent to
which the school policies, practices, and programs support the differentiation
of instructional strategies based on students' unique interests and abilities.
SCHOOL CULTURE

Senge (2000) in his book entitled, Schools that Learn, discussed school
improvement within a learning organizational structure which came up with
five main disciplines of organizational learning. There transpires a culture of
learning when these disciplines are integrated into the current practice of
educations and adopted by individuals and groups alike within the school.

The disciplines are (1) Personal Mastery, (2) Shared Vision, (3) Mental
Models, (4) Team Learning, and (5) Systems Thinking.
SCHOOL CULTURE

While these disciplines work together, team learning is being emphasized.

Team Learning is a discipline of group interaction. Small groups of people
change their collective thinking with the use of such techniques and skillful
discourse. In this situation, they learn to mobilize their actions and energies
to achieve common goals and draw forth intelligence as well as an ability that
is greater than the sum of all individual members' talents. Team learning can
be nurtured inside classrooms, between parents and teachers, among the
community, and in the "pilot groups" that engage in successful school
change.
 On the other hand, Stoll and Fink (1996) grouped schools into descriptive:
categories based on observed dimensions of culture:
Classification Major Concepts

These are effective schools. The people in these schools actively work
Moving Schools together to respond to their changing context, and to keep developing. They
know where they are going and possess the will, structure, and skill to get
there.

These schools are generally perceived as effective by teachers,

Cruising Schools administrators, and the surrounding community. They are usually located in
higher Socio Economic Status (SES) areas where pupils achieve despite the
quality of teaching. Students score well on standardized measures when
compared with the population at large, though not necessarily well against
other students of similar economic backgrounds.
 On the other hand, Stoll and Fink (1996) grouped schools into descriptive:
categories based on observed dimensions of culture:
Classification Major Concepts

Strolling Schools These are neither particularity effective or ineffective. Efforts are made
towards improvements, but at an inadequate pace. They have ill-defined and
sometimes conflicting aims. These are average schools that seem to be
meandering into the future. Strolling schools often require stimulation from an
outside source.

Struggling Schools These are ineffective and they know it. They have the will to improve, but lack
the direction or the skill. They will try anything (and often already have).
These schools benefit the most from outside consultants.

Sinking Schools These are ineffective schools, often found in lower SES areas. The staff is,
either out of apathy or ignorance, making no effort toward change. The
curriculum at these schools is undemanding and the teachers explain away
failure by blaming it on the home-life of the students. Such a school culture is
incapable of repair. The school should be closed to allow this harmful culture
to die out. Later another school with a new name, new faulty, etc. can be
reopened
Thank You For
Listening!