“Culture is the underground stream of norms, values, beliefs, traditions and rituals that has built up over time as people work together, solve problems and confront challenges.” (Deal, 1993)
“What are we doing and why are we doing it”? This is a question ask myself daily.
As the principal I see myself as the guardian of the school’s culture. One of my favorite researchers on this topic is Edgar Schein. In his research he identifies three levels of organizational or school culture: the artifacts, values, and underlying assumptions.
According to Schein, a school’s artifacts are those things that are easy to observe but more difficult to decipher. Artifacts can be ambiguous and are often dependant on the observer’s reference point (Schein, 2004). Schein goes further and states that to find a deeper level of understanding of a culture one must move to identifying the espoused values of a school. The values themselves fall on a variety of levels. At the outset, a culture’s values might not be shared knowledge; they must be tested over time (Schein, 2004). Once a group’s values are reinforced through such things as problem solving, stories, traditions, and celebration than those values can become basic assumptions.
Schein argues that these assumptions are the root of an organization’s culture and are so strongly held that any behavior based on a different premise in inconceivable (Schein, 2004). These basic assumptions, according to Schein, are at the core of understanding organizational culture. Good or bad, these assumptions are so entrenched in the group that, at times, it can be the cause of the distortion, or rationalization of certain realities. As such, the challenge for leaders is to identify the assumptions of a culture, assess them and come up with coping strategies to deal with the anxiety when you try to change them.
As we plan for next year our leadership team is asking important questions related to our shared sense of purpose contained within our school culture. In other words, are our stated values and visible artifacts congruent with what we believe and do – across all stakeholder groups? Put another way - does our talk match our walk?
To accomplish this, we will have to test whether or not our stated values are being matched by the actions of our stakeholders – in this case, the professional teaching staff of the school.
The following is a sample of some of the espoused values at our school and some guiding questions that I came up with to test our underlying assumptions:
Value
We educate the whole child.
Testing underlying assumptions:
How is teaching and learning conducted in the classroom? How much differentiation is happening? Is technology being embraced?
How do we assess and grade our students?
Are learning opportunities extended beyond the classroom?
What extra-curricular activities do we provide our students?
Value
All children can learn.
Testing underlying assumptions
Do our actions affirm our belief that all kids can learn? Does our assessment and grading reflect this? What does success look like for students?
Do you follow the pyramid of intervention effectively and consistently?
Do we understand the different ways that students learn? (Brain based learning)
Do our school polices related to such things as admission, discipline, grading & reporting align with this stated value?
Who is control of the learning in the classroom? What will an observer see when walking thru classes? Who is doing the talking? How are students being engaged?
Value
“Jesus is the reason for our school”
Testing underlying assumptions
How does this translate across the curriculum?
Do our school policies match this value statement?
Value
Parents as primary educators and partners
Testing underlying assumptions
How and what do we communicate to our parents?
Are parents given enough voice?
Value
Working and learning in community is important
Testing underlying assumptions
How is teaching and learning conducted in the classroom?
How is our PLC time being used?
What does collegiality look like?
How do we treat each other?
How do we celebrate together?
I am looking forward to leading the staff in this important process of finding integrity between our words and actions.
This process is critically important in order for us to sustain a positive school culture - where there is a shared sense of purpose, where there are underlying norms of collegiality, where there is a focus on improvement, where student accomplishments are celebrated, where there is teacher innovation, where we encourage parental involvement, where meaningful traditions are maintained and where learning is surrounded with integrity, joy and humour.
Any suggestions or comments that could assist in us finding greater “alignment” would be gratefully welcomed!
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