School Culture Recharged

Strategies to Energize Your Staff and Culture

Steve Gruenert, Todd Whitaker

• Publisher: ASCD
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781416623458
• eBook ISBN: 9781416623489
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Leadership in Education

Why do some schools succeed while others struggle? Why do policies and programs often fail to deliver what they promise? In this follow-up to their insightful School Culture Rewired: How to Define, Assess, and Transform It, authors Steve Gruenert and Todd Whitaker offer practical advice and strategies that help you build positive energy to reinvigorate your school's culture and staff.

Written as a standalone guide, School Culture Recharged clarifies the difference between culture and climate and zeroes in on key school improvement efforts, including

• Moving from the culture you have to the culture you want;
• Using the school's culture to improve teaching, job satisfaction, and morale;
• Maximizing the intentions of professional learning communities; and
• Developing organizational habits--rules and rituals--that can contribute to positive change.

For education leaders at all levels, this book delivers a compelling message: Understanding and harnessing the transformative power of school culture can propel your school into the kind of place where teachers want to work, administrators can focus on what matters most, and students can thrive.

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Chapter 1

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Exploring the People–Culture Dynamic

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Although most leaders may see culture as a challenge to overcome, we would like to see them use culture as a force to improve schools.

School culture can be an extremely difficult concept to grasp, especially if we are trying to determine or describe the culture of a setting that we have been a part of for a long time. However, even if we can describe the culture, an even bigger challenge is moving it in a positive direction. Inherently, the culture does not want to be altered, and it senses when we try to change any part of it. That resistance makes it difficult to change a culture. We also know that getting people to change is often equally frustrating. People get into comfort zones and may not want to be poked and prodded even if the change will eventually benefit them.

In this book we bring these two challenges together—improving culture and improving people. The two are interconnected. Although most leaders may see culture as a challenge to overcome, we would like to see them use culture as a force to improve schools. And to a large degree, we may have to work on both—people and culture—simultaneously. Let's take a look at the concept of interactions using organizational climate, which may be easier to grasp.

Climate Versus Culture

First, let's agree that climate and culture are not the same thing. Climate is best understood as the attitude of the school building. It is a collective feeling that members are supposed to display in certain situations. It is the difference between Mondays and Fridays; it is the thing that changes when we announce that tomorrow is a snow day. Culture is much bigger than climate. Culture is the personality of the building. It is the professional religion of the group. Culture gives permission to climate to act as it does.

Schools have "subclimates"—for example, a student climate and a teacher climate (there may also be a parent climate, a community climate, and so on). Looking at climates in terms of positive and negative, let's say each one falls somewhere on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most positive. If your school has a student climate and a teacher climate, they may be different, yet they also are connected. For example, if you have a positive teacher climate (an 8 on the scale) and a negative student climate (a 2 on the scale), it is because the culture of the school accepts that as the norm. If the teachers come to work happy and the students they interact with each day have a negative tone and attitude, some teachers may find this makes their job easier. Remember, the climate is an indicator of the culture; if students are grumpy all the time, it is because that is how the culture has evolved. If teachers are happy in some schools, it may be because the students are not. Climate and culture are not the same thing, but they are connected.

A simplistic example would be if a school decided to allow its students to have soda and candy in their classes. This decision would likely lead to a short-term "happy" bump in the student climate. Students might be more positive and more excited going into classes the next day. However, as you can imagine, teacher climate might deteriorate as a result. Teachers and custodians might have to deal with spills, messes, and distractions, which could negatively affect how they feel about being at school. And at some point, the teachers' frustrations might lead to their treating students in a way that lowers student attitudes (student climate) to a point where the culture has dictated it is supposed to be. We have to be sensitive to the fact that teacher climate and student climate will tend to move toward a pre-established norm or mean. This is the comfort zone, even if some don't like it.

Regardless of structural changes, all subclimates will find a way to return to the norm. If teachers have a lower climate (negative morale) because they believe policies regarding student behavior and discipline do not support them, this belief will obviously dampen their enthusiasm toward teaching and perhaps even affect how safe they feel in their classrooms or school. Many students (though not all) might enjoy this "no limits" approach, and their morale and climate could be high. But as the situation chips away at teacher climate, the teachers' actions toward students will eventually tamp down student climate. As the school puts more and tighter restrictions on student behavior, the teachers may feel more positive, but if the clamps become too restrictive, the student climate will suffer. With student dispositions and attitudes worsening each day, teacher enthusiasm will eventually decline.

A Delicate Balance

The culture–people dynamic is a delicate balance, but if you can discover the right levers and pulleys, you can use one to assist the growth of the other and carefully improve them both so they are synergistic in helping an organization become more successful and collaborative.

The relationship between teacher climate and student climate as described in the examples is comparable to the relationship between culture and people in an organization. The relationship can be negative, in the sense that each can bring the other down in some circumstances. The purpose of this book, however, is to help you understand how culture and people can also raise each other up. In your school, the two components are already influencing each other, and although it will not be easy to take control and lead the culture–people relationship, in some ways you, as a school leader, are already in control. It is essential to know how much the culture of the school is listening to its leader.

In a later chapter we discuss the concept of "leadership by the numbers," which may help as we think about how to strategically and quantifiably improve the culture. If we think of the culture as the sum of the people and the people as the makeup of the culture, it helps us realize the inherent interrelationship between the two. Adding new, talented staff members and continuing to support and grow existing teachers enables the culture to become more productive. As the culture evolves in a positive direction, it helps to improve the quality of its current talent and inherently attracts more capable people to join the effort. Everyone wants to be associated with a winner, and building a positive culture naturally draws more talented and energetic people to the opportunity. Everyone wants to make a difference. Let's start by understanding how culture can be used to improve schools.

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Chapter 2

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Hacking Culture to Recharge Schools

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The culture should be the sentry at the door rather than the monster under the bed.

The word culture, as in "organizational culture," has become a buzzword. Whether we are discussing politics, religion, or sports, it seems there is a "culture" working behind the scenes, manipulating outcomes. Given this exposure, culture is becoming less "behind the scenes" and more "in your face." During the 20th century, various authors argued that organizations had cultures. During the first part of the 21st century, they talked about how cultures affect performance. Here we take the next step, helping to develop an understanding of how culture can be used to improve an organization and the people in it.

Culture is not something we are stuck with. Culture is something that evolves every day, sometimes at a snail's pace, sometimes in big leaps. We can all agree that it exists and that it wields great power and influence over what people think and do. Nowhere is this more obvious than in schools.

Consider this analogy. Many of us find comfort in knowing that each morning our car will start, that there will be a parking space at the school, that the temperature inside the school will be pleasant, and that the lights will come on. We believe that being able to get through most of our day without many surprises provides us with a better quality of life. Sometimes the whole day can simply run in default mode. We can do exactly the same things over and over without ever questioning whether a better way exists. If everyone does their part, then the culture will provide security. Day after day, the same thing occurs. This is what culture is supposed to do—it is kind of a manager.

Culture is a powerful force because the rules are not written down. The rules are imprinted into our souls as we pledge allegiance to the group, in this case, our schools. It's not a cult, but our school is a professional religion and we believe it can be used to improve schools. In other words, we are not just agreeing with previous authors that you need to be aware of your school's culture before making changes, we are suggesting that you let the culture be the catalyst in those changes.

Your School Five Years Ago—and Five Years from Now

When we speak of a school's vision, most people imagine five years into the future. That would mean you are currently living the vision that was developed five years ago. If we were to walk around your school taking photographs, interviewing people, maybe even looking at some student data, and were to show these artifacts to the people in the past, would they feel good about the future? Would you? What mental pictures (this is where the term vision comes from) do you have of your school five years from now? If we were able to provide artifacts from the future, what would you hope they would look like?

If a vision is something that exists in people's minds, then that vision will be vulnerable to the culture, because culture is also found in our minds. The future will always be influenced by the past, as expressed in the culture; we can't start at zero each day. The culture is a voting member of every steering committee—we can hear its voice daily.

Although it may seem that we are painting a hopeless picture, as if the culture will always overpower change, our task is to help you see culture as an ally. We want it to have a place at the table, especially once you get the culture you want. We want it to be strong and resistant to personalities, but not to improvement. The culture should be the sentry at the door rather than the monster under the bed. Changing a culture is not going to be easy, and it will be messy (Fullan, 2014). It will start with strong leadership, but the movement cannot happen without a supporting cast.

So go ahead—think about your school five years from now. What do you hope will be different? What stories do you need to start telling today to make it happen?

What Is School Culture?

In School Culture Rewired (Gruenert & Whitaker, 2015) we discussed the concept of school culture and how it affects what educators do in schools. We included some instruments to use as leaders try to get a handle on the types of cultures they have in their schools. We also suggested how they might begin to nudge a school's culture closer to the type of culture they wanted.

In our view, the optimal setting for schools to aspire toward is the collaborative school culture. Although this culture will have some common ingredients across schools, it will look different in every location. The collaborative school culture does not come naturally, largely because many teachers tend to be reluctant to ask their peers for help. Traditionally, a trait of strong teachers has been their independence and autonomy as they exercise professional discretion. The collaborative culture does not encourage autonomy. Instead, its essence is an interdependence among professionals.

In Chapter 1 of this book we discussed the relationship between school culture and school climate, pointing out that they are two different things. Because many people believe these two concepts are the same, it is worth taking another stab at clarifying exactly what culture is. See if this explanation helps:

Anytime a group of people spend a significant period of time together, they will develop roles and expectations for each other. Over time these roles will define each person and give balance to the group as its members attempt to survive the environment. The group will create rules to define who is a member and who is not. Rewards and sanctions will support these rules, usually in the form of peer pressure. There is comfort and predictability as routines and rituals bond the group. Change is not welcome. A culture has been formed.

Let's take pieces from this explanation to make the concept of culture more understandable and practical.

• The phrase "a significant period of time" can be debated because some cultures may develop more quickly than others. It probably takes longer to change a culture than for a new one to develop. Again, some are stronger than others and may be more resistant to change. However, we are pretty sure it will take the best part of a year or two to reach critical mass.
• "Give balance to the group" suggests an organic equilibrium is necessary. Surviving the environment may require stability from people with certain jobs, such as leaders, information gatherers, security enforcers, entertainers, recruiters, and so on. If someone leaves, the departure may cause an imbalance until that role is filled.
• The statement "Change is not welcome" is where culture gets a bad reputation. Without that statement, the explanation had the potential to qualify as a description of an effective organization. The notion of resisting change—good change or bad change—is the reason we have been drawn to understanding culture as school leaders.

What could all this mean for you as a school leader? Given enough time, a group of people will have or will become a culture. A set of unwritten rules determines what it means to be professional in that setting and will prevail over any written policy. Some aspects of school culture will seem weird, including the notion that it is easier to start a new culture than to change a current one, the idea that a few weak long-time teachers need to stay, that even good ideas will not be embraced if they sound like indictments of current practices rather than gentle suggestions for improvement.

Please understand that attempting to change a school culture means messing with the professional religion of other people. It does not consist of simply making a few adjustments. The desired outcome will be one that changes the way decisions are made, problems are solved, and, ultimately, how people feel about working at your school. We hope you will be able give your staff permission to experience joy when they are working with students or each other, whether it is Monday or Friday. We hope the value of collaboration will skyrocket as teachers learn that the best resource for professional development may be the teacher down the hall and that school improvement might happen in less than two minutes, between classes.

The bottom line will be the measure of trust that occurs among the adults in the building. Admitting that you don't know something is sometimes as difficult as admitting you may be the expert. Becoming vulnerable to your peers' expertise can be uncomfortable (Brown, 2015). But that discomfort is just the voice of the culture whispering in your ear. Let's change that narrative to one that supports asking for help.

The Past, Present, and Future as Variables

To help you think about a balanced approach to developing your school's vision, consider dividing a rectangle into three parts: past, present, and future. If you were to envision how you "do" leadership, how would you say that you apportion your time? One-third to each? Two-thirds to the past? Draw a rectangle and divide it into three parts to show how you would ideally apportion your school's time and efforts among the three variables.

To use another analogy, how much time do you spend looking in the rearview mirror as you drive? When driving, you have a large windshield in front of you, as well as a few smaller mirrors strategically located to catch a glimpse of where you have been—or what is approaching from behind. Is it possible to spend too much time looking at the past, worrying about what has happened or what may be overtaking you? Shouldn't you spend the most time and attention on where you are and where you are going? If we return to your rectangle, imagine the space labeled "past" as the time spent looking in the mirror, the spaces labeled as "present" as the time spent looking at the dashboard instruments, and the spaces labeled as "future" as the time spent looking through the windshield. Which space best represents how you drive?

Imagine that rectangle represents your school. The past is the past, the present is current data, and the future is your school's vision. Think about what your school leaders spend time on. Which part of that rectangle best represents how your school operates, and which represents an optimal approach? Feel free to draw your own rectangle and share this activity with your leadership team and ask them where your school's time should be spent.

We know that the past will always influence the present and the future. The culture of your school will place a strong value on what has been done in the past, which means it will advocate for the adoption of past behaviors (including problems) as the future nears. This inclination is what anthropologists call being "culture bound," or ethnocentric. The idea is that if it worked in the past, then we might be right in using it again. It is common sense. It is logical. It is how we survive. By the way, the culture is strongest when the group is just trying to survive—in defense mode.

Yet the present is not here very long. See? It's gone! What you just read is now in the past, and it is looking for a place in your brain to attach itself. The culture is trying to help you with that placement. If what you read fits into your current belief system, then it is more likely to be saved, and saved as defense for future arguments against change. If it does not fit, then the culture will try to discredit what you read—and your brain may not let those dendrites become very strong. The game is set up to prevent learning, but we can change that.

The future is the big variable that can scare a culture. The...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Table of Contents
• Dedication
• Introduction
• Chapter 1. Exploring the People-Culture Dynamic
• Chapter 2. Hacking Culture to Recharge Schools
• Chapter 3. Building an Intentional Culture
• Chapter 4. Harnessing Culture to Energize and Enrich People
• Chapter 5. Using Culture to Enhance Teaching
• Chapter 6. Empowering Student Voices
• Chapter 7. Understanding the Layers of Culture
• Chapter 8. Disrupting the Culture-People Balance
• Chapter 9. Settling the Blame: It’s Never Policies or Programs
• Chapter 10. Solving Problems with Professional Learning Communities
• Chapter 11. Leading by the Numbers
• Chapter 12. Developing New Organizational Habits
• Chapter 13. Allowing Culture to Manage
• Chapter 14. Cultivating Culture to Improve Job Satisfaction and Morale
• Chapter 15. Developing a Culture Where Teaching Is Cool Again
• Concluding Thoughts
• References
• Study Guide
• Related ASCD Resources
• About the Author
• Copyright