My Professional Community: My School Culture. Week 26. Mind Lab.

1. What is the organisational culture (collective values/principles) that underpins your practice? How would you contribute to fostering a positive professional environment in your community of practice?

Stoll states that a school culture "defines reality for those within a social organisation, gives them support and identity and creates a framework for occupational learning. Each school has a different reality or mindset of school life, often captured in the simple phrase “the way we do things around here”. (Deal, & Kennedy, A. (1983)as cited in Stoll 1998). The context of my school is that it is a  new school that has been created out of the merger of two catholic schools, both of which have been in a state of uncertainty since the Christchurch earthquakes. For me, the establishment of a new culture has been the most important thing in the setting up process. 

Stoll also states that "School culture is one of the most complex and important concepts in education. In relation to school improvement, it has also been one of the most neglected. " This may be the case in a well established school, where as people join the staff, they are expected to adhere to the existing culture without any input themselves; they as quickly as possible learn the "way we do things around here" and work hard to join the sense of belonging that already exists. I have been in the position numerous times where I have had to learn the specific cultural language and ways of the school and adopt them as my own, letting go of, if necessary what I have brought with me. 

In my current situation "the way we do things around here" does not exist, we are in the exciting position as a whole staff of creating our own culture. This is the opportunity to challenge previous norms and expectations and create our own. 

We have as our underpinning value, our special character. This is our unifying essential element and it is through this lens that we will develop our vision and values for our school. We, as a staff who have been together for 15 weeks have, combined with our special character, our commitment to innovative learning practices and the best ways to foster and  deliver the best possible outcomes for our children. We have already worked on and continue to to work on our collective understandings around language, norms, respect for each other, shared responsibility for each other and our children and we recognise the need for humour in our lives.

2. What are the current issues in your community of practice? How would your community of practice address them?

The current issues that we face are inherent in the fact that we are a merger of two very different school cultures. Every thing that we do we look on as an opportunity to do it differently. In effect we are doing what  Stoll (1998) and Fullan (1996) term Reculturing, which is “the process of developing new values, beliefs and norms. For systematic reform it involves building new conceptions about instruction... and new forms of professionalism for teachers...” (Fullan as cited in Stoll 1998)

 This reculturing is important not only for the staff and children but also for the parent community, who seem to have  had more difficulty adapting to the change than those staff who came from both schools and the children from both schools. As a staff we have had to constantly reassure some parents that all will be well. One of the schools was much smaller than the other and the smaller school was moved to the site of the larger one. Added to the mix is the changing nature of the delivery of education that innovative practices bring and the very different face of the classrooms that have new flexible learning spaces. 

We have introduced Restorative Practices as a means of maintaining relationship balance in our school and this is helping to establish the kind of school culture that is important to us; one based on trust, honesty and mutual respect.  

This is an exciting time for our school.