School Culture

Book Review: School Culture Rewired

by Steve Gruenert & Todd Whitaker

As the title indicates, the purpose of Steve Gruenert & Todd Whitaker’s School Culture Rewired is to assist school leaders in understanding the concept of school culture and learn strategies for influencing it in positive ways.

The authors provide a number of definitions for culture, with two of the better ones being:

·           Deeply embedded beliefs and assumptions

·         “The way we do things around here.”  - Deal & Kennedy (6)

In Chapter 2, important distinctions are made between culture and climate: “If culture is a school’s personality, climate is its attitude.” (11)  Climate refers to what you do in a school as opposed to culture, which describes why you do it. (16)  School climate is “how most of us feel most of the time.” (18)  While the climate of a school may change quickly, changing a culture is a slower and more difficult process.  That said, dealing with “behavioural or attitudinal issues … addressing the climate” of a school is an effective way of initiating cultural change. (28-29)

In Chapter 3, the building blocks of school culture are listed.  They include:

• Mission and vision - Culture is the unwritten mission statement;
• Language – Jargon and popular phrases reflect the culture;
• Routines, Rituals, & Ceremonies;
• Norms – The unwritten rules that govern behavior
• Roles – ie. the staff comedian or critic;
• Symbols;
• Stories;
• Heroes; and,
• Values & Beliefs.

Leaders can have a significant impact on culture depending upon how they address these building blocks.   For instance, they reinforce those norms and values and beliefs that they model, tolerate, and/or reward.

Symbols such as this school logo, designed by a grade 9 

student, are a building block of school culture

Subcultures may exist in a school based on factors such as teacher age, grade level taught, and department.  The leader’s task is to “identify the subculture that seems to wield the most power.” (45)  If the principal is mindful of this subculture and gets its members on board, then positive change may occur; however, if this group is ignored or threatened, it can “go rogue” and undermine the change process.

Six types of school culture are described in Chapter 4.

·         Collaborative – the “theoretical nirvana” (50) of culture, whereby teachers share the values of excellence, commitment, and collaboration;

·         Comfortable-Collaborative – In this culture, it’s more important for teachers to get along than to be effective; thus, authentic inquiry about improving teacher instruction and student achievement is avoided;

·         Contrived-Collegial – The principal controls the school improvement process, and teacher autonomy is diminished;

·         Balkanized – Subcultures predominate and collaboration only takes place in cliques;

·         Fragmented – Every teacher has his/her own adventure; and,

·         Toxic – The focus is on the negative; change is resisted as teachers “prioritize survival over improvement”. (61)

Chapter 5 introduces the Cultural Typology Activity – a rubric which allows principals to determine their school’s current cultural type.  The rubric measures the degree to which each of the following 12 aspects of school culture exists:

•    Focus on student achievement
•    Collegial awareness of effectiveness
•    Shared values
•    Teacher participation in decision making
•    Risk taking
•    Trust
•    Openness
•    Strong parent relations 
•    Strong leadership 
•    Effective communication 
•    Socialization (Mentoring & Coaching of new teachers) 
•    Organization history of school improvement

In an effective school culture, “teachers feel free to critique one another” and “confident that they can share their professional struggles”. (72)

The School Culture Survey discussed in Chapter 6 can be used by teachers to determine how collaborative the school culture is.   It measures 6 indicators:

• Collaborative leadership
• Teacher collaboration
• Professional development
• Unity of purpose
• Collegial support
• Learning partnership (among all stakeholders – teachers, parents, students)

More surveys of staff are outlined in Chapter 7.  One is the Who Owns What? survey.  It assesses the degree to which teachers believe they and other stakeholders are responsible for certain behaviours in the school, such as student learning, student absenteeism and tardiness, student misbehavior, and teacher morale. The authors emphasize that “The most useful aspect of [a survey] is the discussion after it’s been completed.” (103)  They also caution that “Exposing the beliefs of an organization’s members can be a sensitive proposition.” (105)  

Chapter 8 offers strategies for “jump-starting” the cultural rewiring process:

• Stop making excuses for dysfunction; instead, learn from those in the school who have overcome the obstacles;
• Stop generalizing ie. all students or parents are resistant; and,
• Let the effective teachers in on the changes you are catalyzing.

Some key “leveraging points” for cultural change are discussed in Chapter 11.  The strongest point is the start of the school year, when the possibilities seem endless: “At the beginning of the year, the culture of each classroom is like a ball of clay waiting to be formed.” (135)  Natural shifts in the school year and holidays are other key times. Moments of celebration (ie. staff wedding, awards) and mourning (funerals) are also leverage points.  Outside directives and standardize test scores can be spurs to intentionally change culture.   For example, low reading scores can be presented by the principal as both a challenge to current practices and an opportunity for new initiatives.  Lastly, first-time or one-time events, such as a crisis, can trigger change.

Banner by student Katie Heffernan at Mother Teresa HS 

reflecting,at the start of the school year, 

a restorative culture at the school.

The banner was placed in the school atrium

Chapter 12 provides advice on how the school-year cycle can support cultural change.  Physical changes, to spruce up the school and better facilitate collaboration, can be completed over the summer.  During the first week of the year, the principal should open up preliminary dialogues about school culture with teachers perceived to be open to change.  Towards the end of the first month, the principal should have all teachers complete the School Culture Survey.  The School Culture Typology Activity can then be completed sometime during the first half of the year.  

   

Suggestions on creating a school culture rewiring team is the topic of Chapter 13.  The process should begin with a rating of each teacher in terms of both effectiveness and ability to influence other teachers.  Once the teachers who have the broadest impact on other teachers are identified, the next step is for the principal to share with these teachers, through stories, the vision of a renewed school culture.  Then the principal should send them out to tell these stories to other teachers. “Don’t think of the school improvement  team as a group of people who meet once a month to look at data; rather, think of them as people who interact with all teachers every day.” (160)

Along with the great advice on how school leaders can rewire culture comes an important caution from the authors: “Rewiring a culture is like turning around an ocean liner – it takes a long time.” (141)