Transforming School Culture : How to Overcome Staff Division
Chapter 1:
MV would argue we provide clear pathways not only out of the intervention, but a clear pathway toward completion of courses commensurate with college readiness.
Staff must become as comfortable expressing views in public as they are in informal/private interactions
Anthony Muhammad
Chapter 1:
Goal of book:
Framework for understanding how school cultures operate from a political and sociological perspective.
Practical strategies to manipulate that culture in order to intentionally create positive atmospheres that not only tolerate change, but that seek and embrace the changes that maximize organizational effectiveness.p
Educators personal belief systems may be the most powerful variables in perpetuating leaning gaps
2 typed of school cultures:
Positive - all children can learn. All children will learn because of what we do. Educators create policies and procedures and adopt practices that support their belief in the ability of every student.
Toxic - belief that student success is based on students' level of concern, attentiveness, prior knowledge, and willingness to comply with the demands of the school and they articulate that belief in overt and covert ways. These teachers believe in the impossibilityl of universal achievement.
fundamentalists - preservers of the status quo
Lj - committed to the learning of each student and operate under the assumption that their efforts make an enormous difference on learning.
Tweeners - members of a staff who are typically new to a school and attempting to learn its prevailing culture.
Survivors - overwhelmed by the stress and demands of the profession and primary goal is to get through the day, week, year.
A change on school culture requires leaders adept at gaining cooperation, and skilled in the arts diplomacy, salesmanship, patience, endurance and encouragement.
Chapter 2:
Teacher evaluation doesn't even look for evidence of student learning
Predeterminations - unique human experiences individuals bring into the school.
Perceptual predetermination - involves educators own socialization and the impact of that socialization on his/her practice in the classroom, including expectations of student performance.
Teacher expectations affect student achievement in 2 ways:
1. Teach more material more effectively and enthusiastically to students from whom they have high expectations
2. Teachers respond more favorably to students for whom high expectations are held.
Teachers develop positive or negative expectations around race, gender, social class, disability status, limited english proficiency, student history, physical attractiveness, handwriting, communication and speech pattern
Teachers of similar race and class to their students are just as prone to developing low expectations
***Learning target: Need to create conditions that allow teachers to have a favorable image of students and their ability. Must help them replace their existing belief systems with a more informed and accurate assessment of student potential.
Intrinsic predetermination
Students perception of his/her probability of achieving success in school
Messages students receive from their environment (home, community, school) can build or destroy their academic confidence.
Must accept several realities:
Students are the product of their environment (they can't choose their parents or their community)
Student resistance is a product of their experiences (need to provide them with new & more productive and positive experiences to replace damaging ones)
Children are not mature enough to understand the ramifications of academic failure
Instructional predetermination
Cognitive separation of students - complex system of rules, procedures and norms, with the aim of identifying student proficiency or lack of student proficiency (then track students from "remedial" to "gifted." MV would argue we provide clear pathways not only out of the intervention, but a clear path toward completion of courses commensurate with college readiness.
In essence students spend grades k-8 auditioning for their place within the bell curve. Students are already labeled cognitively disadvantaged, cognitively average, or cognitively advanced.
Are we serious about our goal of learning for all students if we maintain a system that thrives on formal and informal tracking?
Re-read top paragraph on 28
The fact that there are those who believe natural intelligence impacts one's success or failure is eerily similar to the structure of todays schools.
A war of paradigms
Believers - educators who believe in the core values that make up a healthy school culture. Believe all students are capable of learning and that they can have a direct impact on student success. Believers battle ideas with fundamentalists
Tweeners - educators new to school culture. They're in the "honeymoon" period as they learn the norms and expectations of the school's culture. Often end up in the middle of believers vs fundamentalists
Survivors - burned out teachers surviving from day to day. Small group.
Fundamentalists not only oppose change, they organize to resist and thwart a change initiative. Can wield tremendous political power and are a major obstacle to school reform
Chapter 3 - the believers
who are the people volunteering to meet a need outside of their contractual day? Who are your student-centered staff?
Believers are often only vocal in extreme cases. We need to provide more opportunities for believers to engage in intellectual discourse on a regular and consistent basis - believers might discover increased influence on school culture
In order to close the achievement gap we need to do more than just believe in our students; we need to properly instruct and guide them.
Must increase population of believers and allow them to become more vocal members of the school community
Chapter 4 -The Tweeners
Anyone new to a particular culture
Primary goal of a Tweener is stability of the organization and understand how s/he fits within the cultural and political goals of the organization
A Loose Connection
Strengthening the bond of Tweeners is crucial to the development of a positive school culture
An overwhelming body of evidence proves that highly effective schools have school leaders who are strong instructional leaders (Maycomb, 2008)
How do you strike a balance between a tweener needing to please the principal and at the same time seek support for the many struggles experienced within the first few years in the profession? My role as teacher mentor is to strike that balance!
Tweeners need to know Scott will not only listen to their struggles but work to remove road blocks
Need to connect Tweeners to the school. A school cannot gain organizational memory with a transient staff. Tweeners also represent the the best opportunity for growth of the believers.
Admin can look at a school with young inexperienced staff as a crisis or an opportunity
Chapter 5 - the survivors
Condition is real and survivors need help - they should not be demeaned
Video lessons are primary modes of instruction
A lot of "busy work" worksheets
Granting as free-time to reward good behavior
Fundamentalists -
protect the status quo - traditionalists
Pose biggest threat to change in progress
The loss of curricular autonomy is particularly painful
Also hate loss of evaluation autonomy. Students used to be assessed
by the teacher. Now assessment takes place externally and teachers are held accountable for student achievement or lack thereof
Old way: teachers work in isolation
New way: teachers work collaboratively
Fundamentalists are not ineffective teachers by virtue of their political stance but they will often refuse to work with other teachers or embrace any form of change
Often make emotionally charged arguments against change related to teacher comfort, convenience, and working conditions in order to protect the status quo
Need to respond to fundamentalists with a clear reason for the change supported by research based arguments and/or empirical evidence from multiple sources
Create opportunities for fundamentalists to voice viewpoints against change, but follow up by stating a better and more profound public case
Extend a public olive branch to opposing viewpoints by encouraging intellectual dialogue about organizational goals
Defamation, distraction, disruption
Defamation - rule by intimidation - all out personal assault on the change agent
Disruption - a barrage of what if scenarios to curb proposed change
-chapter 7 - drop your tools
Educational pathology - demands that a change agent carefully stufy the origin of a particular problem first to gain a clear understanding of its development. This concept assumes complete understanding of a problem will lead to focused and effective solutions.
Why do people resist change?
What conditions motivate people to change?
How can leaders create conditions that would motivate people to accept change?
Level 1 fundamentalists:
People persist when they are given no clear reasons for change
Simply because leaders understand the context and urgency of a situation does not mean their followers share the same perspective. Info must be shared on a regular basis and clearly comprehended by the follower before compliance can be expected.
Once their need for logical explanations are met, level 1 fundamentalists can become believers!
Solid objective case for change is made when:
Data or statistics are used in an inspirational way
Empirical research paints a clear picture that a technique or strategy is more effective than the one currently practiced
An organizational mission and vision that give a rationale for adapting a potentially more potent strategy
Level 2 fundamentalists
People persist when they don't trust the person who tells them the change
Must earn credibility and trust - establish ethos
Don't make promises that can't be kept
Back your people when it counts
Take responsibility and be publicly self-reflective when times are tough
Hold regular public celebrations of teachers and students
Stay away from the limelight - exhibit true humility
Do not violate rules you expect others to follow and for which you hold them accountable
Use the pronoun "we" when publicly discussing accomplishments or future plans
Do what you say you're going to do!
Don't ostracize fundamentalists for holding a different view
Level three fundamentalists
People may keep their familiar tools in a frightening situation because an unfamiliar alternative is even more frightening
Level III's are worried about change causing additional stress while still not achieving desired result
Chapter 8 - implications For practice
1. Developing a systematic & school wide focus on learning
Most effective leadership strategy - One or two universal academic goals -
Must demand that the organization as a whole focus on student learning
Highly effective schools accept student learning as the fundamental purpose for their schools. Leaders who are highly effective are skilled at
Focusing the entire school on this purpose.
Develop shared mission, vision, values, and goals ( like student connectedness, college readiness, efficacy)
Developing a collective purpose -
Staff uses common vocabulary when articulating matters of student expectation.
Staff engages in problem-solving conversations and universally shunns complaints.
Staff exhibits a high level of efficacy where the school mission and purpose is concerned.
Must clearly articulate goal and the research the supports it - model the way
Provide accurate profile of school's current performance (both educational and demographic data)
Provide discussion norms including the elimination of deficit language and subjective language. To make an argument for the direction of the school, you have to use objective data to support it - no "I think" "I feel" "I believe"
Staff clearly have to play a large and participatory role in improving school culture
Having culture changing conversations must be done formally to allow believers access to the data they need to support their position. Meetings must be structured or they wil be bogarted by fundamentalists
Recognition of achievement and celebration of goal attainment lead to a greater Increase in productivity than salary or opportunities for advancement
How we celebrate learning speaks to how much we value learning
Mobile awards - trophies symbolizing prowess in one of four areas: leadership, curriculum, child advocacy, and creativity. Principal started it but staff chose the next recipient based on observations. Staff showed genuine appreciation for one another in a public way that reinforced school goals and produced spirit of teamwork. Activity made looking for positive the norm
Schools that are comprehensive and thorough in the mentoring process are most effective at retaining and guiding new teachers.
Need a culture of collaboration
Should communicate to new staff - must be a learner as well as a teacher
candidates who are not perpetual learners are not considered for empoyment
Ch. 5 - leadership at every level
Transformational leaders actively use influences and resources to help people improve. They emphasize communication, positive relationships, support and accountability
Top-down authority bad. Cultivating a community of unified professionals who work interdependently toward common goals is a much better approach.
Support before accountability -
Clearly establish organizational vision and direction
Develop & nurture functional relationships w/ those they lead
Provide proper training and resources
Implement a system of accountability to monitor performance
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