Why School Culture Matters and Strategies to Improve It

Why School Culture Matters I recently read a quote by Dr. Joseph Murphy, Associate Dean at Vanderbilt’s Peabody College of Education, which really spoke to me. He said, â€Å"Seeds of change will never grow in toxic soil. School culture matters.† This message has stuck with me for the past several weeks as I have reflected on the past school year and look to move forward towards the next.   As I examined the issue of school culture, I wondered how one would define it. Over the past few weeks, I have formulated my own definition. School culture includes an atmosphere of mutual respect amongst all stakeholders where teaching and learning are valued; achievements and successes are celebrated, and where ongoing collaboration is the norm.      Dr. Murphy is 100% correct in both of his assertions. First, school culture does matter.   When all stakeholders have the same goals and are on the same page, a school will flourish.   Unfortunately, toxic soil can keep those seeds from growing and in some cases create virtually irreparable damage.   Because of this school leaders must ensure that creating a healthy school culture is a priority.   Building a positive school culture starts with leadership. Leaders must be hands-on, willing to make personal sacrifices, and should work with people rather than working against them if they want to improve school culture.   School culture is a mindset that can either be positive or negative. No one flourishes in constant negativity.   When negativity persists in a school culture, no one wants to come to school. This includes the administrators, teachers, and students. This type of environment is set up to fail. Individuals are just going through the motions trying to get through another week and eventually another year. No one prospers in this type of environment. It is not healthy, and educators should do everything they can to ensure that they never allow this mindset to creep in. When positivity persists in a school culture, everyone thrives. Administrators, teachers, and students are generally happy to be there. Amazing things happen in a positive environment.   Student learning is enhanced. Teachers grow and improve. Administrators are more relaxed.   Everyone benefits from this type of environment. School culture does matter. It should not be discounted. Over the past few weeks as I have reflected on this, I have come to believe that it may be the single most important factor for school success. If no one wants to be there, then ultimately a school will not be successful. However, if a positive, supporting school culture exists then the sky is the limit for how successful a school can be. Now that we understand the importance of school culture, we must ask how to improve it. Fostering a positive school culture takes a lot of time and hard work.   It will not happen overnight. It is a difficult process that will likely come with immense growing pains.   Tough decisions will have to be made. This includes personnel decisions with those unwilling to buy into a change in school culture. Those who resist these changes are the â€Å"toxic soil† and until they are gone, the â€Å"seeds of change† will never firmly take hold. Strategies to Improve School Culture The following seven broad strategies can help guide the process of improving school culture. These strategies are written under the assumption that a leader is in place which seeks to change the culture of a school and is willing to work hard. It is important to note that many of these strategies will require modifications along the way. Every school has its own unique challenges and as such there is no perfect blueprint for refining school culture.   These general strategies are not the end all be all solution, but they can aid in the development of a positive school culture. Create a team consisting of administrators, teachers, parents, and students to help shape changes to school culture. This team should develop a prioritized list of issues they believe harm to the overall school culture. In addition, they should brainstorm possible solutions for fixing those issues. Eventually, they should create a plan as well as a timeline for implementing the plan for turning around the school culture.Administrators must surround themselves with like-minded teachers who fit the mission and vision the team has in place for establishing an effective school culture.   These teachers must be trustworthy professionals who will do their job and make positive contributions to the school environment.It is important for teachers feel supported. Teachers who feel like their administrators have their backs are generally happy teachers, and they are more likely to operate a productive classroom.   Teachers should never question whether or not they are appreciated.   Buil ding and maintaining teacher morale is one of the most important duties a school principal plays in fostering a positive school culture.   Teaching is a very difficult job, but it becomes easier when you work with a supportive administrator.Students spend the largest amount of their time at school in the classroom. This makes teachers the most responsible for creating a positive school culture.   Teachers help this process through a variety of ways. First, they build trusting relationships with students. Next, they ensure that every student has an opportunity to learn the required material. Additionally, they figure out a way to make learning fun so that students keep wanting to come back to their class. Finally, they show a vested interest in each student in a variety of ways including attending extracurricular activities, engaging in conversations about interests/hobbies, and being there for a student when they are having a hard time.Collaboration is critical to developing a p ositive school culture.   Collaboration enriches the overall teaching and learning experience. Collaboration builds lasting relationships. Collaboration can challenge us and make us better. Collaboration is essential in helping a school truly become a community of learners. Collaboration must be ongoing between every stakeholder within the school. Everyone should have a voice.To establish an effective school culture, you must consider every little nuance in a school. Ultimately, everything contributes to the overall culture of a school. This includes school security, the quality of the food in the cafeteria, the friendliness of the main office staff when there are visitors or when answering the phones, the cleanliness of the school, the maintenance of the grounds, etc.   Everything should be evaluated and changed as necessary.Extra-curricular programs can foster an immense amount of school pride.   Schools must offer a well-balanced assortment of programs to give every student an opportunity to be involved.   This includes a mixture of both athletic and non-athletic programs.   Coaches and sponsors responsible for these programs must provide the participants with everyone opportunity to be successful Programs and individuals within these programs should be recognized for their accomplishments.   Ultimately, if you have a positive school culture, every stakeholder feels a sense of pride when one of these programs or individuals is successful.

Essay on Platos Cave - 1124 Words

The basic premise of Platos allegory of the cave is to depict the nature of the human being, where true reality is hidden, false images and information are perceived as reality. In the allegory Plato tells a story about a man put on a Gnostics path. Prisoners seating in a cave with their legs and necks chained down since childhood, in such way that they cannot move or see each other, only look into the shadows on the wall in front of them; not realizing they have three-dimensional bodies. These images are of men and animals, carried by an unseen men on the background. Now imagine one of the prisoners is liberated into the light, the Gnostic path will become painful and difficult, but slowly his eyes will begin to accommodate†¦show more content†¦Many want a vampire boyfriend, not distinguishing that its just fantasy not reality. I myself once became the victim of this imperfect reality, when I was in elementary school I used to watch many Soap Operas and soon I began to beha ve like one of the characters. It just goes to depicts the power the media, and movie directors have over us because they are capable of creating stories that many us cannot distinguish whether its a story, fantasy or reality. Some continue to live in that darkness of perception, believing everything they see on the screen, and never grasp true reality. To break loose of this imperfect reality, one must simply not rely on what they see on the screen and higher being, but rather inner consciousness, and individual autonomy for creating their own philosophical belief. In George Orwell novel 1984 the bases of Plato story of the allegory is depicted, in the city of Oceanian, the idea of false reality and world, thats created by the government of Oceanian for its citizen to perceive as reality. The cave in the novel is represented by the city of Oceanian, the prisoners is the outer party members and the inner party members is the fire that feeds big brother all the information he needs to control the mind of its citizen. The Proles represents true reality, they possess truth about the world outside the cave, or in the novel the world outside big brother’s control. In the allegoryShow MoreRelatedPlatos Allegory of The Cave752 Words   |  3 Pagesinterpreting Plato’s â€Å"Allegory of the Cave’’ in which is a representation that described a narrative of the society of people in before Christ years. I realized how there was a major comparison of people in today’s society that reflected the same prisoner traits as th e prisoners that were described in the dialogue. According to the Plato’s â€Å"Allegory of the Cave.† It described conditions of people chained at birth unable to function as independent individuals that were locked in a protracted dark cave. TheyRead MoreRhetorical Analysis of Platos the Allegory of the Cave2111 Words   |  9 PagesEden Scharer Darrin Broadway English III-4 5th December, 2010 From Darkness to Sunlight: An Analysis of the Allegory of the Cave Imagine yourself sitting inside a dark, damp, cave where the only thing you can see are moving shadows on the cave wall in front of you. You can’t move anywhere or see anything besides the shadows, and these are the only things you’ve seen for your entire life, so these moving dark images are the most real things you’ve ever known. At some point in our childhood weRead MoreEssay on The Allegory of the Cave in Platos Republic901 Words   |  4 PagesThe Allegory of the Cave in Platos Republic This paper discussed The Allegory of The Cave in Platos Republic, and tries to unfold the messages Plato wishes to convey with regard to his conception of reality, knowledge and education. 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Being considered a father in western philosophy, Plato presented the Divided Line and Plato’s Cave to show the differences between the intelligent and visible world people live in; as the visible world being a world of one’s own reflections and shadowing’s, while the intelligent world is about the mind and thoughts. Plato uses a complex dialogue ofRead MorePlatos Cave And The Cave1622 Words   |  7 PagesPlato’s Cave We first learn about Plato’s cave in book seven of the Republic. In his book, Plato describes a conversation he has with Socrates. He tells Socrates the story of some men who had lived their entire lives in a cave. These men knew nothing beyond what they could see on the cave wall. One day, a man is freed. At first he rejected his new found knowledge of the world but, once he accepted what he learned outside of the cave, he could never go back to his sheltered existence. The cave isRead MorePlatos Allegory of the Cave1521 Words   |  7 PagesPlato’s Allegory of the Cave Essay One of Plato’s more famous writings, The Allegory of the Cave, Plato outlines the story of a man who breaks free of his constraints and comes to learn of new ideas and levels of thought that exist outside of the human level of thinking. However, after having learned so many new concepts, he returns to his fellow beings and attempts to reveal his findings but is rejected and threatened with death. This dialogue is an apparent reference to his teacher’s theoriesRead MoreAnalysis Of Platos Allegory Of The Cave864 Words   |  4 PagesOn the surface of Plato’s â€Å"Allegory of the Cave† it is just a simple piece, but the main purpose of the piece is to explain people living in a world of face value and having individuals break free from the main idea to create a new sense of what the world is truly about. In here, Plato uses the writing style of allegory to encompass the use of imagery and symbolism to explain his purpose. He also uses very clever dialogue w ith constant repetition to represent a bigger idea about the philosophy withRead MoreExplain Platos Allegory Of The Cave1483 Words   |  6 Pagesquestions they raised. For instance, Plato’s â€Å"Allegory of the Cave† is essential for philosophy because it answers the question of why should anyone engage in philosophy. This paper will explain Plato’s â€Å"Allegory of the Cave† in both classical and modern manner as well as suggest philosophical topics for further inquiry. Plato’s â€Å"Allegory of the Cave† is told through the lips of Socrates, Plato’s teacher, to Glaucon, Plato’s brother. Socrates suggests imagining a deep cave having a large room and a steep

Ethan Frome Essay Free Essays

Ethan Frome Essay Destiny can shape the lives of many different kinds of people, such as princes who are meant to be kings and the poor who know they will not have the opportunity to be wealthy. Ethan Frome taught me that it is human nature to follow the destiny and predetermined life patterns bestowed on us upon birth. In one of the earlier chapters of Ethan Frome, the author describes the gravestones of many Ethan Fromes before the main character. We will write a custom essay sample on Ethan Frome Essay or any similar topic only for you Order Now It shows that Ethan will live and die in Starkfield, and he cannot change that regardless of what his aspirations are. Humans seem to have picked a spot and stayed there. A girl who grows up in a small town in the Midwest in a school with a class of one hundred, will experience the same lifestyle but through the eyes of a grown up woman. Even though this girl might have had dreams of living her own lifestyle, the barriers her destiny have formed between her aspirations and the reality of her predestined future. Life seems to be similar to a computer for many, as it is for Ethan Frome. One can type in a course for someone to follow, and it seems to never run off the tracks. Having a predetermined life does not always have to be about where you come from geographically. Even looking around Morristown High School, you can see patterns where, sadly, certain students do not have the same opportunities for success as others because of their past. The child of a well known cardiologist who lives in The Summit is given the drive and determination to learn as a characteristic from their parents, and it is already programmed into their life course. The child of an immigrant who is doing as much as they can to get by, might not be able to find that drive and determination as easily within themselves as the child who has been given those qualities from birth. On the other hand, there are those who can break those barriers. Every once in a while, you hear about a success story of somebody who fell off the life course but eventually found their way to a new and improved one. Those people are far to scarce. I will never forget a billboard I once saw in New York that read â€Å"Homeless to Harvard. † The picture showed a girl who looked as normal as a next door neighbor, but her struggles and accomplishments brought her to an ivy league school. Ethan Frome, Zeena, and Mattie Silver fell unbeknownst into the course of life that Starkfield Massachusetts had made. Cold winters and relationships forced them to stay on a path to mental destruction and misery. The story taught me that it is human nature to follow the set of rules made by the surrounding society. How to cite Ethan Frome Essay, Essays