Assessing the climate of an early childhood centre by using key features of organisational culture

Abstract

SUMMARY The purpose of this study was to assess the teaching/learning environment of one early childhood education centre by combining a quantitative methodology that focused on the staff's perceptions of the learning environments with a qualitative methodology that focused on specific features of organisational culture. The rationale for conducting this assessment stemmed from indications that many members of the centre's staff were concerned that the centre had strayed from its original mission — a mission that focused on parent involvement in the education and care of young children. Results indicate that the centre's professional staff perceived significant differences between their actual and preferred teaching/learning environments. These differences were attributable to concerns staff members had regarding organisational dimensions such as unclear communication, lack of adherence to the school's stated mission and vision, changing expectations, and dissonance they perceived as originating at the leadership level. Staff members of this early childhood centre, whose mission centred on meeting the needs of young children and their families, found themselves attempting to refocus what they described as a “blurred vision.”