Changing School Culture Research Articles

Changing leadership: Teachers lead the way for schools that learn

This paper presents findings from a three-year, qualitative study of teachers enrolled in a Masters of Teacher Leadership program. Researchers sought to understand the ways teachers’ beliefs about and understandings of teacher leadership were affected by their participation in a formal teacher leadership program, as well as the kinds of actions they took up as a result of this participation. Data indicate three significant ways participants’ work as teacher leaders was developed and enhanced, including: (a) identifying and amplifying their professional voice, (b) deepening and extending their voice as they plan, and (c) reframing their work/shift responsibility through constructing widening circles of influence and impact. Authors identify implications of their research for growing teacher leaders, school improvement and change, changing school culture, enhancing student engagement, and building new structures.

How Well Does the Standards Movement Measure Up? An Analysis of Achievement Trends, Academic Course-taking, Student Learning, NCLB, and Changes in School Culture and Graduation Rates

This is the first of two papers examining the standards movement. In it, I review data from NAEP, the SAT, the international assessments, transcript studies, and NCLB assessments, as well as surveys and case studies of changes in curriculum and pedagogy. The picture is a bleak one. Over the past quarter century, achievement has stagnated, dropouts and aliteracy have grown, and large minority achievement gaps have persisted. The quality of student learning remains poor. School changes, stratified by class and race, have constricted instruction and harmed students and teachers. NCLB has made things worse, not better. Even in the two areas where the movement has achieved some success—lower grade math achievement and high school academic enrollments—the gains were largely superficial, other forces such as teaching-to-the-test and social promotion contributed, and serious deficiencies remain. In the second paper, “Why the Standards Movement Failed,” I examine the educational and political reasons for the failure—including its misconstruction of pedagogy and links to the neoliberal reform project—and propose a progressive alternative.

Changing School Culture at Zeeland Christian School

Inclusive Christian education is not simply about changing who enrolls in a school or what supports are provided to teachers and children to make that happen. This inclusive education is also about changing the very culture of a school community. At Zeeland Christian School, inclusion of students with diverse learning characteristics led to changes in relationships, in experiences of school community as an interdependent body made up of many parts, and in instruction designed to meet the needs of all students.

Brincadeira, mídia e pós-modernidade: reflexões e dilemas na sociedade atual

Discuss the relationship of play and Postmodernity, in order to verify characteristics, the understanding of this period and the trajectory of the play such a cultural heritage. Its central question is the way how the play are being developed within the postmodern society, in the context of physical education classes, especially in this period where the references to children are based primarily on media presence, like TV and internet. The theoretical basis of this test was anchored in the studies of Hall, Brougère, Postman, Betti, among others. Understanding this point is made relevant within the cultural context in which we live, and helps to encourage thoughts about possible changes in school culture.

Changing School Culture: Using Documentation to Support Collaborative Inquiry

This article considers how documentation as a professional development tool acts as a change agent for teachers and how collective engagement in the documentation process mediates the inherent tensions of working and learning in a group. Three groups of educators, at three distinct schools, used Reggio Emilia-inspired documentation as the mediating activity through which to construct collective discourse, enhance professional development, and grow collaborative inquiry. Changes in culture and practices at each site are framed through the tensions and subsequent group shifts these educators experienced as they structured their collaborative practices, developed intentional experiences, and cultivated collective ownership of the process. Managing the challenges that emerged both strengthened the community of learners and enhanced teachers' abilities to observe, record, analyze, represent, and respond to the teaching and learning that occurred in their classrooms, ultimately changing the culture of their learning communities. Documentation is a way of acknowledging our own experience and expertise. Working in this way is challenging because it is hard. I feel it is empowering for teachers. –(kindergarten teacher, Eliot Pearson Children's School)

The Youth Empowered for Success Program: A Multi-faceted Approach to Youth Leadership Development and School Culture Change in Southern Arizona

Arizona’s first Teen Institute (TI) program, Youth Empowered for Success, began in July 2004. It is the first TI-based project to focus on nurturing resilience via Health Realization (Pransky, 2007). The YES program’s design to “create conditions for success” in high schools is discussed. YES utilizes a strengths-based, multi-faceted approach of (1) teaching participants how to access their innate resilience and common sense (Health Realization), (2) training them in community development for school culture change and (3) helping them develop meaningful partnerships with adults. YES also expands upon the TI model by providing staff support for community development throughout the academic year. It is hypothesized that these efforts ultimately will increase overall well-being and reduce the incidence of alcohol, tobacco and other drug use (ATOD) as well as depression and suicide among youth.

Emotional literacy and the ecology of school wellbeing

School connectedness is increasingly identified as significant for enhancing young people’s resilience, prosocial behaviour and learning outcomes (Benard, 2001; Libbey, 2004; Cunningham, 2007). Connectedness encompasses how students feel at school, their participation and engagement with learning, and the quality of the relationships they experience (Bond et al., 2001; Whitlock, 2006). Emotional literacy is defined here as relational values and competencies at individual and whole school levels, and as such is the basis of relational quality and social capital.This paper is based on a qualitative research project exploring processes and practices in six Australian schools. These schools, across ages and sectors, were promoting values of respect, acceptance and care, and actively working to develop emotionally literate learning environments.An eco-systemic analysis of the data illustrates how elements of school systems interact with others over time to create school wellbeing. This highlights what is both useful and challenging in promoting and sustaining good practice in developing a caring school ethos. The findings include the centrality of the vision, skills and resilience of school leaders, a focus on valuing each member of the school community, the development of a positive discourse and high relational expectations. Positive changes in school culture are maintained by shared relational values, a belief in inclusive practices and by maximum ownership by the whole school community in the change process. Sustainability is threatened by negativity from members of staff who may perceive the leader’s vision for students as counter to their own wellbeing.

School Culture Change in the Making

The urban elementary school profiled in this case study was considered low performing based on state-mandated assessment scores from the time the school opened its doors in 1998 until very recently, putting the school on academic watch under the terms of the No Child Left Behind Act. However, in recent years the school realized a significant turnaround with the placement of a proactive principal and internal specialized supports accompanied by district office support. Survey data on school culture measures demonstrate an improvement in professional communities of practice, collaborative leadership, and evidence-based practice. This case study provides evidence that leadership coupled with multiple and coherent district supports can result in dramatic change at a school in a short period.

Literacy Assessment Practices: Moving from Standardised to Ecologically Valid Assessments in Secondary Schools

SSLI test protocol data revealed the dominance of ‘central’ literacy measures and ‘local’ subject-specific measures aligned to institutional requirements, curriculum and national examination content. These measures initiate secondary students into a pervasive culture of assessment that generally fails to support further learning; a culture antagonistic towards the use of assessment that reflect how expert teachers address subject-specific literacies. In a culture of content-focussed, high stakes assessment, the use of ecologically valid formative assessment that reveal what students can do with what they know, and that empower teachers to test like they teach, is marginalised. Consistent with Neisser's claim that some experimental measures may not reflect reality, the pedagogy and assessment protocols of many secondary schools fail to reflect the use of literacy and thinking tools, and so fail to reflect best evidence about teaching. Changes in school culture, teachers' pedagogical knowledge and the use of ecologically valid assessments are associated with shifts from transmission to co-construction approaches. Consistent with the work of David Corson the use of ecologically valid assessment that reflect the use of literacy and thinking tools is an inclusive, future-focussed literacy event, but the use of ‘central’ curriculum and institutional-linked measures is exclusive.

Restorative practices in Australian schools: Changing relationships, changing culture

AbstractThe application of restorative justice principles and practices in schools is beginning to consolidate as an area of educational interest and reform. Although there is enthusiastic support for a philosophy that focuses on problem solving and repair of damaged relationships following an incident or crime, this support is tempered by hesitation about how restorative justice works, what impact it may have on current approaches, and how it is measured. This article presents the findings of a study conducted in eighteen Australian schools in 2004 and considers how such an approach may contribute to school culture change and to broader goals associated with producing a more civil society.

Online learning in primary schools: designing for school culture change

This study explores how an online integrated learning environment (ILE) to cater for individual learning differences is used by teachers in two primary schools in Hong Kong. The findings reveal a positive change in both perception and pedagogy of the participants. The results indicate that scaffolding activities led to an enhanced ability to engage in independent learning. Principals and teachers were prepared to alter systemic structures to support the use of the ILE. During the 3‐year period teachers developed coping strategies which led to ICT‐enriched learning, provision of extended learning opportunities and development of study units for online delivery. Evidence also suggests that adoption of the ILE allowed teachers to pay fresh attention to the need to engage students, to respond to them properly and efficiently and to ensure that at each step of the way the students fully understand the work they are doing and that the work set is at an appropriate level. L’apprentissage en ligne dans les écoles primaires : concevoir pour changer la culture scolaire Cette étude examine la façon dont les enseignants de deux écoles primaires de Hong Kong utilisent un environnement intégré en ligne (ILE) pour répondre aux différences individuelles dans l’apprentissage. Les observations font apparaître un changement positif à la fois dans la perception et dans la pédagogie des participants. Les résultats indiquent que les activités d’étayage ont conduit à une plus grande capacité à entreprendre un apprentissage autonome. Les chefs d’établissements et les professeurs ont été prêts à changer les structures du système pour faciliter l’emploi de l’ILE. Pendant cette période de 3 ans, les enseignants ont mis au point des stratégies complémentaires qui ont conduit à un apprentissage enrichi par les TIC, à une offre étendue d’occasions d’apprentissage et à l’élaboration d’unités d’étude destinées à être transmises en ligne. Les résultats indiquent aussi que l’adoption de l’ILE a permis aux professeurs de prêter une attention nouvelle à la nécessité de communiquer avec les élèves, de leur apporter des réponses adaptées et efficaces et de s’assurer qu’à chaque étape du processus ces élèves comprennent pleinement le travail qu’ils sont en train de faire et que ce travail est bien situé au niveau qui leur convient. Online‐Lernen in Grundschulen: Entwürfe für eine Änderung der Schulkultur Diese Studie erkundet wie eine Online‐integrierte Lernumgebung (ILE), die ursprünglich für das Beheben individueller Lernunterschiede gedacht war, von Lehrern zweier Grundschulen in Hongkong verwendet wird. Die Befunde zeigen eine positive Änderung sowohl in der Wahrnehmung als auch der Pädagogik der Teilnehmer. Die Ergebnisse ergaben, dass Stützaktivitäten zu einer verbesserten Fähigkeit führen, selbständiges Lernen zu praktizieren. Schulleitung und Lehrer waren bereit, systemische Strukturen zur Unterstützung des Gebrauchs von ILE umzubauen. Während der dreijährigen Laufzeit des Versuchs entwickelten Lehrer erfolgreiche Anwendungsstrategien zum Einsatz verstärkter ICT‐Nutzung beim Lernen, Vorsorge zur Anwendung erweiterter Lernmöglichkeiten und zum Erarbeiten von Studieneinheiten für Online‐Belieferung führten. Es war auch evident, dass die Einbeziehung von ILE es den Lehrern erleichterte, der Notwendigkeit von Engagementbildung der Schüler neue Aufmerksamkeit entgegenzubringen, passend und effektiv auf ihre Bedürfnisse zu reagieren und sicherzustellen, dass die Schüler an jedem Punkt des Lernweges wussten, was sie arbeiteten und dass die Arbeitsmenge sich auf einem angemessenen Niveau befand.

The Discursive (Re)construction of Parents in School Texts

This paper explores the familiar issue of parental (non-)involvement in schools. More specifically, it examines the language of selected texts in one school context and finds initially that the roles of parents are not discursively constructed in these texts as their being involved in the school. Rather, a close reading of the texts’ discourse displays parents as the deficit half of a contrastive pair (parents vs the school). The issue of parental involvement at this school, first highlighted in a survey analysis as significant, gains a complementary and extended interpretation through the application of discourse analysis to interviews with the school leaders and a section of the school’s web page. Further analysis of interview data referring to the implementation of activities designed to increase parental involvement highlights movement towards the discursive reconstruction of parents as standard relational pairs with school leaders. The findings highlight the importance of the use of discourse analysis as a tool for understanding and implementing change in school culture.

Active learning in the process of educational change

The findings reported in this article form part of a wider comparative research project investigating the active learning of teachers and of pupils in the educational practices of eight countries. This article aims to describe what a small rural school in Finland understands by active learning. Data is presented from a qualitative research case study of one school in relation to six aspects: goal setting, task structuring, accessing of information, processing of work and learning, utilizing the outcomes of work and learning, and assessment procedures. On the basis of the data, the transformative learning process of teacher in the changing school culture is presented.

A case study of inclusive school development: a journey of learning

A global recognition of students' rights requires school organizations to recognize, value and provide for diversity. The move towards more inclusive schooling in Queensland, Australia, requires schools to address professional development on two levels: reculturing of the school to reflect inclusive beliefs and values; and enhancement of teacher skills and knowledge to better address the learning needs of all students. The recently developed Index for Inclusion 2000) is one resource that can facilitate the process of professional development and facilitate change in school culture, policy and teaching practice. The process used incorporates a critical friend and peer mentoring model within an action research framework, which together provide benefits for all involved in the professional development process. The journey of learning incorporating the phases of the Index for Inclusion are reported along with discussions for future directions.

‘They are not like us and neither should they be’: issues of teacher identity for teachers of pupils with profound and multiple learning difficulties

This article analyses notions of teacher identity for a group of teachers of pupils with profound and multiple learning difficulties. Teacher identity is analysed from the perspective of the role it plays in supporting the teachers' ideas of being separate and different from their teaching colleagues in mainstream education. For some of the teachers this is manifested in an identity to a cause, which is deep rooted and complex. It is argued that teacher educators need to be aware of the potential influence of teacher identity when planning and delivering initial teacher training and continued professional development. This is particularly pertinent in a context of supporting greater shared professional identity between teachers who work in segregated and mainstream contexts. It is also argued that the development of the discourses of inclusion needs to take account of the complexities of these issues. Whilst engaged in a doctoral research project exploring teachers' views of how pupils with profound and multiple learning disabilities learn, issues of teacher identity emerged as an important element in the teachers' discussions about their work. This article focuses upon these issues, particularly in relation to professional development and a changing school culture that explicitly expects greater inclusive practice. It appears that the discourse relating to identity is about continua, tensions and boundaries that continually interplay. In my own developing understanding of issues of identity, I found the sociological paradigm helpful in offering an appreciation of identity that acknowledges the interplay between the individual and society. Notions of social identity, embracement and distancing offer a conceptual framework for appreciating the teachers' views in this study. Bakehurst and Sypnowich (1995) discuss the synergy of individual and societal influences on the development of identity: ‘We are participants in our own construction and exercise some autonomy in the face of the forces of socialization. But conversely, the human mind is not just shaped by society, it is made by society’ (Bakehurst and Sypnowich, 1995, p. 5, italics my addition). Jenkins (1996) suggests that changing understandings of identities coupled with changes and developments in society have created a tension and mismatch of identities in a social context: The popular concern about identity is, in the large part perhaps, a reflection of the uncertainty produced by rapid change and cultural contact: our social maps no longer fit our social landscapes. (Jenkins, 1996, p. 9)

Do Men Still Manage While Women Teach? Using Four Reports on Middle Schooling to Portray Continuities and Changes in Teachers' Work in the 1990s

This article examines the ways in which primary, secondary and middle school teachers are represented in four Australian reports on middle schooling in the 1990s. All reports argue for changes in school culture in the middle years but portrayals of each group of teachers reinforce the gender order in contemporary schools. Although there are continuities in the ways teachers are discussed across the reports, a focus on action research and the discourse of teacher as researcher appears in the two most recent documents. The final section of the article considers the potential of this discourse to reconstruct teachers' work and challenge the gender order of the occupation. It concludes that if the positive potential of teachers as researchers is to be realised, then primary, secondary and middle school teachers, men and women, must be participants in all types of research which inform middle schooling.

Using Teacher Evaluation To Change School Culture

Using Teacher Evaluation To Change School Culture

Transforming school cultures

A story of crisis and hope a vision for schools the cultures of school school cultures make a difference toward school-culture change Riversedge - recreating the magic of learning Plainview - establishing a learning community by thinking small so what did we learn? a hopeful word.

Discipline: why Does It Continue to Be a Problem? Solution Is in Changing School Culture

Although many schools today are dealing more effectively with issues like drug abuse and violence, they still find disrespect, conformance to rules, and other areas that relate to values a problem. The author suggests commitments to six common val ues to improve discipline in the school.

La cultura de la evaluación y la mejora de la escuela

La relevancia que la evaluación ha adquirido en las dos últimas décadas en el país ha producido cambios importantes en la cultura de las escuelas. Algunos cambios han sido para bien, pero otros han tenido consecuencias negativas. Aunque en México la cultura de la evaluación se encuentra en ciernes, su poder y capacidad de influencia resultan indiscutibles. Vivimos una época marcada por constantes evaluaciones. Se invierte mucho en la empresa evaluadora, no obstante, este fenómeno no parece estar contribuyendo a la mejora de la enseñanza y el aprendizaje. Los resultados de las pruebas nacionales estandarizadas parecen tener escasa incidencia positiva en la educación básica. La escuela, lejos de reducir la brecha entre los grupos sociales, lo que hace es confirmar y profundizar ésta. Si cabe la esperanza que mediante la evaluación se pueda lograr la mejora de la educación, la apuesta parece estar en las evaluaciones de aula con carácter formativo.