Positive School Culture

This week's question asked What impact does the creation of a positive school culture have on school reform.  And I would answer by saying that a positive school culture is really probably the most important aspect in reform.  The best way to explain this is by comparing two schools I am familiar with, my husband's and mine.

My husband works in a suburban high school.  It is a large school, with a lot of pressure on the staff.  The school district has been on strike 5 times in the history of the school.  There is a lot of animosity between the teachers and the adminsitration.  Because of this, no matter what the district initiatiive is, there is a fight between the administration and staff.  When my husband comes home and tells me things the district wants to do, I can see that their ideas the match those of a PLC .  But, because of the hard feelings between the groups, it is seen as forced change and an attack on the teachers.  There is no sense of collaboration nor group goals.  Reform is very difficult there.

On the other hand, my school district's staff members just agreed to a temporary pay freeze in order to save jobs for staff members and to maintain the current offerings for students. Once the teachers agreed to that, the board made an "executive decision" to freeze the pay of all the administrators even though each of those contracts is individually negotiated.  Our district has a culture of "always doing what's best for the kids" and we all work together to do that.  That's why I believe concepts such as PLCs and other types of school reform are accepted and collaborated on by teachers.  Of course, there are desenters, but for the most part we realize that we are a team that gives our colleagues the benefit of the doubt.

In the end, it is the students who win in these types of situations.  School culture can make or break progress and reform, therefore it must be taken very seriously!