Improving School Culture One Person At A Time

A negative culture in a school can be a nightmare. It may start with a few people huddled in an office or the teacher's lounge complaining about a decision made by the administration. It also may creep its way in to a school when leaders don't tend to the school's culture and address underlying issues. Whatever the root cause may be, it is imperative for EVERYONE to work on their school's culture on a daily basis. Simply hoping that things will get better with time will not work. It takes a community of people to change a culture and that includes you.

Growing up, I was always told by my parents that I needed to own my responsibility in any issue that I brought to them. Keep in mind that both my parents were teachers and had spent years working with kids, so they had this down to a science. They would never let me complain about something without first identifying how I had contributed to the issue. This really made me not want to come to them with my problems because all I really wanted to do was complain. After awhile, however, it dawned on me that there was a method to the madness. If I was able to identify how I was contributing to the problem, it provided a way for me to be actionable to change the outcome. When this epiphany came to me, I could see great joy in my parent's faces because they knew they had taught me an invaluable skill. I had the power to change the outcome of events through my own actions. It didn't matter what other people were doing because I had no control over them. The only thing that I could control was myself and the decisions that I had made.

Fast forward a few years and I am finding that this lesson is applicable in the building of a school culture. As a principal, I am constantly tending to my school's culture. I would venture to guess that it consumes about 80% of my day. I have sought feedback from students and teachers on how to make our culture better and with this, I have had to swallow a few bitter pills. I have had to own my responsibility in areas where our school's culture has shortcomings. In this process, however, I have also learned that there are things that are out of my control and this is where culture ownership becomes the responsibility of everyone.

Every school culture is at different stages and levels. If you are in a toxic culture or one that needs a makeover, I challenge you to act and take ownership of improving it. That starts with you doing some soul searching and identifying how you contribute to that culture. No one wants to think that they are a detriment to their school's culture, however, if you really analyze what you do/say on a daily basis and acknowledge that you own part of the responsibility, you have an actionable way to improve your school.