Thread: @KarenSeashore, Moosung Lee (2019) Mapping a strong school culture and linking it to sustainable school improvement. Teacher and Teacher Education 81 pp84-96 Paper explores features of strong school culture linked to school improvement.
Increased evidence in lit. suggests leaders have key facilitating role in connecting school culture/improvement, linked to leaders’ capacities to lead/facilitate change. RQ1: What key elements of strong school culture in conjunction with school improvement in existing studies?
RQ2: What is the relationship btw strong school culture & sustainable sch. Improvement as measured by student learning outcomes?
School improvement initiatives usually > inconsistent outcomes & don’t embed cultural/deep change. Culture was a key variable in study of declining schools. Without attention to culture, improvement is unlikely. Organisational conditions impact teacher motivations/learning.
Sustained change requires persistence/collaboration (Leithwood 2018). In strong cultures teachers collaborate with collegiality/trust/collective responsibility>improvement continues. Improvement driven by teachers’ professional networks lasts longer than when externally imposed
Culture is critical. Study explores 2 components of culture: Organisational Learning (OL) & Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). OL is associated with student learning.
Study explores 3 dimensions of PLCs: collective responsibility/deprivatisation of practice/reflective dialogue. OL + PLC >> improvement.
4 aspects of culture linked to student achievement - 3 positive: academic emphasis/optimism about students & sustained academic support/trust&respect among adults. One negative: racial and/or cultural tensions & pessimism/negative attitudes to students/absenteeism.
Discussion: schools with cultures showing characteristics of OL & PLCs showed higher levels of school performance. OL is promoted in schools that prioritise student learning and academic standards. School culture is multi-dimensional & essential for sustained improvement.
Teachers’ cultural assumptions can either promote or inhibit improvement.
Culture is critical but we should be very cautious about trying to measure it for accountability purposes.
Thank you again @KarenSeashore & Moosung Lee for another cracking paper.
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