Creating School Cultures That Embrace Learning - Chapter 1

1
Creating
a New Focus
At its core, the culture of an organization is the behavior of its leader.

Leaders get the behaviors they exhibit and tolerate.
—Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan
◆ 1
Reproduced with permission from Thacker, Bell & Schargel, Creating School Cultures That Embrace Learning.
© 2009 by Eye On Education, Inc., Larchmont, NY. All rights reserved. www.eyeoneducation.com
Bertrand Russell once said, “The fundamental concept in social science is
power, in the same sense in which energy is the fundamental concept in
physics.” Changing a school’s culture, or reculturing, is the type of social sci-
ence endeavor that requires an enormous amount of power—the type of
power that is unlikely to ever be wielded by one man or woman. Reculturing
involves deep and profound changes that require commitment and internal-
ization by those responsible for the change. Leaders can inspire change by
providing compelling evidence for the effort, but reculturing cannot occur
from the top down. Reculturing is a product of collectively internalized ac-
ceptance that engenders a motivation for change. As such, it must occur from
the bottom up. Understanding this requires a bit of a change in perspective
for some leaders. However, that will be addressed later in the book. First it is
important to ensure that it is clear what is meant by school culture.
Origins of School Culture

A school culture doesn’t just appear—it starts slowly and evolves over
time. It is guided by leaders, adopted by staff, and influences the people who
work in schools every day. It is often an ongoing, collaborative effort that
ebbs and flows against the daily operation of a school or district. John
Siskind, Director of Alternative Education at Winston-Salem/Forsyth
County Schools, North Carolina stated:
1. Every school has a culture.
2. In every school/district, the leader sets the direction.
3. Principals/superintendents need to hire professional staff who
support the school culture they envision.
Accepting that every school has its own culture means that a school
across the street from a high-performing school with the same pool of par-
ents, students, and staff may not be high performing. Initially it is the role of
the school leader to determine the culture of the school and the way its work-
ers interact with parents, students, and the community. School values and
policies are established, most often informally, during the early life of the
school. The leader’s own approach and behavior are often reflected in the
general behavior of the school’s working staff. However, as the school ma-
tures, it becomes necessary to formally define and clearly communicate the
organization’s cultural values and the behavior expected from its employees.
The school principal’s leadership style is often based on previous educa-
tional and personal experiences. Some of the leader’s values and characteris-
tics become rules that are followed by the staff. These values form the basis of
the school’s culture and can become important factors that generate
Creating a New Focus ◆ 3
long-term performance of the school. The school’s performance is deter-
mined by its culture and all the topics concerning school improvement.
Defining School Culture

Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11th edition) defines culture as
“the integrated pattern of human behavior that includes thought, speech, ac-
tion, and artifacts and depends upon the capacity for learning and transmit-
ting knowledge to succeeding generations.” This definition of a societal cul-
ture contains important ideas that should be included in any clear definition
of school culture. Let’s spend a little time analyzing the meanings in this basic
definition of culture and apply them to the school setting.
1. Integrated pattern—The word integrated is important to the
understanding of the complexity of culture. Understanding that
to change one part of the culture is to impact many or all other
parts of the culture is critical if one is to successfully implement
change. The Law of Unintended Consequences states that any
purposeful action will produce some unintended consequences.
A classic example is a bypass—a road built to relieve traffic
congestion on a congested road—that attracts new development
and with it more traffic, resulting in two congested streets instead
of one. Changing one part of a school organization will impact
other parts of a school organization in unforeseen ways.
l Question: Describe a change process that you entered into as a
principal and were surprised to find that “push back” came
from an unexpected source. How did this unexpected “push
back” impact your plans for change? How did this experience
impact your approach to later change efforts?
l Question: How do you gather data on all of the integrated parts
of the culture that may be impacted by a change effort? Do you
gather this data every time you anticipate a change effort of
some size?
2. Human behavior—It is amazing how many times educators try to
change the school culture without realizing that they are really
trying to change human behavior. Patterns of human behavior
form the basis of all cultures and especially those in a school
setting. Human behavior, particularly when it has become part of
daily, monthly, and yearly ritual, is extremely difficult to change.
Schools are by and large a system of human behaviors that have
been set in stone by daily ritual and habit and that often span
years and even generations.
4 ◆ Creating School Cultures that Embrace Learning
lQuestion: Describe an example of human behavior that stood
in the way of a change effort in your school. How did you ap-
proach change in this case knowing that human behavior is
very difficulty to change?
l Question: Describe the normal approach you take to insure
that any major change effort in your school takes into account
that human behavior is the foundation of culture.
3. Thought, speech, action, and artifacts—The structure of a culture
is succinctly defined using these four words. Knowing that a
culture includes how people think, speak, and act, and also
includes those things they create as a result of their thoughts and
actions, is necessary to understanding culture. A school leader
must also understand that both failure and success in changing a
school culture lie in the effective understanding and use of these
very aspects. Understood in this definition is that thought,
speech, and action and even the creation of artifacts come from
individual and group beliefs.
l Question: Richard Elmore (2004) recently theorized that to
change a school culture, we must first change human behavior.
Dr. Elmore states that one cannot will, dictate, command, or
even cajole change, but that only by changing human behavior,
tasks, and ritual can we hope to impact change in the school cul-
ture. He says first change the faculty’s habits and gradually the
culture will change when the people see the benefits of the
change in their practice. Describe an incidence of change when
you proved in your school that this is true or not.
4. Depends upon the capacity for learning and transmitting
knowledge to succeeding generations—This part of the definition
speaks to the idea that cultures are dependent on man’s ability to
carry from one generation to the next the mores, actions, beliefs,
and artifacts created by earlier generations. If a culture is
dependent on this ability to create order and stability, then it
stands to reason that trying to change the culture goes against
man’s natural ability to sustain the very culture he helped to
build. Change is a threat to what has become the norm and by
human nature will be resisted. If the school experiences a great
deal of turnover, important elements of the culture may be lost. If
those who leave take negative elements of the culture with them,
then the leader is ahead in changing the culture for the better.
However, often leaders are perplexed to find that after massive
turnover, they are at square one with a change effort because
those who had embraced change are no longer in the culture.
We tried to make small changes to the culture, but it seemed that every
small change necessitated many others. We had to step back and de-
cide exactly where we needed to go. Then we had to decide how to get
there.
Huxford Elementary
Integrated Patterns of School Culture

There are three truths that we want to examine as we look at school cul-
ture as an integrated pattern.
n Schools, like all human endeavors, are complex systems in which
one part of the system is tied to another.
n Schools, like all systems, have structures that have been built by
scaffolding one structure onto another over time.
n Schools, unlike other systems, have more emotional strings at-
tached because the well-being of children is inextricably tied to the
success or failure of the systems.
The school principal who fails to understand these simple but potent
truths will fail in his attempts to alter the system to improve the culture. Prin-
cipals with good intentions have been surprised to find that one small change
can bring many concerns from multiple stakeholders. Often, those with con-
cerns were the last people the principal thought would be upset about the
change. Most often the reason for this concern is that educators understand
that one change begets many others because school systems are so linked. A
principal, who decides that because most core subjects are taught in the
morning, announcements should occur at the end of the day rather than at
the beginning, may have a concerned coach, music teacher, cafeteria man-
ager, parent, and librarian all at his office door.
This is a simple example, but if every change attempted by the leader is
met with challenges from multiple camps, much time will be lost, and little
change will occur. The effective leader understands that what appears to be a
simple change is always more complex. Because schools have systems that
are built by scaffolding one structure onto another over time, to impact one
part of the structure is to impact several parts. Planning, collaboration, and
dedication to the change are necessary for any real change to occur. One must
also be ready to deal with collateral damage that is not expected as a result of
the change. It will always happen and must always be expected.
Collateral Damage
It seemed that everyone at Columbus High School agreed that having
final semester exams before the winter holidays was a good decision. The stu-
dents could enjoy their break without having to study during holiday vaca-
tion. Teachers could use the holidays to finish grading and to prepare for the
end of the semester. Students would not forget things over the holidays.
After many meetings and much discussion, it was decided that moving
exams was a good decision. And so, in July, well before school began, Dr.
Jones, principal at Columbus High School announced the change. All was
well. Or so it seemed.
About a week into the new school session, Mr. Philpot, head of the guid-
ance department came in to remind Dr. Jones that as discussed in June, the ju-
nior college tour, which had traditionally taken place the second week of De-
cember needed to be rescheduled. Because Dr. Jones always went with the ju-
niors on the college tour, she asked Mr. Philpot to meet with her assistant and
arrange a new time for the tour.
The next morning, Mrs. Alexander, the choral director, stopped Dr. Jones
as she arrived at school. “I have a real problem!” Mrs. Alexander started.
“Mr. Philpot has scheduled the junior college tour the week of our holiday
concert. I already moved my concert from the usual time because of the new
exam schedule. How can I have a concert if my students are on a bus with you
and Mr. Philpot?” Calming Mrs. Alexander, Dr. Jones assured her that the
college tour could be rearranged again. Dr. Jones stopped by Mr. Philpot’s of-
fice to discuss the concert–college tour conflict. Mr. Philpot informed Dr.
Jones that the only week the colleges on the tour could schedule the tour was
the week of the holiday concert.
Later in the day, Coach Sims knocked on Dr. Jones’ office door. “Dr.
Jones,” he said, “The state athletic association has just sent us a memo that the
regional basketball playoffs will be December 5 through 10 this year. Because
some of the schools in our region are starting school earlier, the association
made the decision to move the district playoffs from the usual November
time to the new December dates. What are we going to do?” Dr. Jones as-
sured Coach Sims that there was a solution and that she would sit down with
him with the calendar and with faculty members who had conflicts and work
out the basketball schedule. Dr. Jones began to wonder if moving the exam
schedule was worth it.
As Coach Sims left the office, Dr. Jones’ phone rang. It was Rabbi Shwartz
from the local temple expressing his concerns that because the exam schedule
had been moved, the Jewish students at Columbus High would have to study
for exams during Channukah. Dr. Jones felt overwhelmed. How could so
many problems have been overlooked when considering the exam schedule
change? All concerns expressed to Dr. Jones about conflicts with the exam
schedule would certainly have been expressed with passion because stu-
dents were involved. Educators are passionate about adult decisions that im-
pact students. Schools, unlike other systems, have more emotional strings at-
tached because the well being of children is inextricably tied to the success or
failure of the systems.
Changing the exam schedule is a pretty big decision with many possible
consequences. However, Dr. Jones might have had similar kinds of collateral
damage if she had simply chosen to move the morning announcements to the
afternoon or had changed a couple of teacher’s assignments. The successful
leader understands the complexity of change in the school culture.
Russell Ackoff, one of the pioneers of systems management, has written
about the implications of changing culture. Dr. Ackoff has said, “Imagine
that there are 280 different car companies and that you put all of the different
cars into a huge garage. You assemble the world’s best engineers and have
them identify the best parts from each of the cars. You have the engineers re-
move the parts and reassemble them into one car. Will you have the best car if
you have the best parts from each of the cars? The answer is no, because it
isn’t the best parts that comprise the best car but the interaction of the parts
that produce the best system.”
The mantra of our faculty was “maintain the status quo. We’ve always
done it this way and I will protect my colleagues even if they are wrong.”
The resistance to change did not begin to lessen until I clearly communi-
cated expectations to every person in the school.
Lowell Elementary
Paradigm Shift and Resistance to Change

Any change can engender a reflexive resistance from those being asked to
change. That resistance, in part, is a product of trying to change paradigms.
Joel Barker describes paradigms as the lens through which we see things. In
other words, our personal histories and experiences color our view of reality
and help define what is seen as the right way to do things. Any attempted
changing of a paradigm is often seen as being antithetical to “the way we do
things.” The paradigms associated with public education are some of the
strongest in existence because they were formed, and continually reinforced,
during the formative years of youth. It should come as no surprise that such
paradigms are very hard to change. However, the paradigms surrounding
education are further strengthened by an unhealthy dose of nostalgia and the
belief that things were “so much better yesterday.” Leon Botstein (1997), in
his book Jefferson’s Children: Education and the Promise of America’s Culture, re-
futes the usefulness and accuracy of such nostalgia with the following
passage:
Adults make and buy the silly movies and vacuous journals and
television shows. Adults break the laws. Adults manufacture and
buy automatic weapons. Adults fail to compete in the new world-
wide economic system. And adults elect our leaders. Adults have
no one to blame but themselves. If there really had been such a
good school system in the past, the adult world would not leave so
much to be desired. (p. 52)
Clearly, in Botstein’s eyes, there is little reason to hold on to the unhealthy
practices of the past. That does not make changing a paradigm any easier. But
why does change cause so much distress? The following section, “Introduc-
ing Change to a Faculty,” may help to provide answers to that question.
Introducing Change to a Faculty

This activity is a simple one that can be completed in any faculty meeting
and can introduce the idea that it is human nature to resist change.
n Ask the faculty to pair with a colleague. Tell them to face each other
and to study the person opposite them for a minute. Memorize how
the person looks, what they are wearing, and so forth.
n Ask everyone to now turn their backs to their partner.
n With their backs turned, ask each person to physically change three
things about themselves. Note: It is important to use the word
change in these instructions. Simply repeat that each person is to
change three things about themselves while their back is to their
partner.
n When everyone has made their changes, ask the partners to turn
and again face one another.
n Ask each pair to guess what is different about their partner. Note:
This will be fun and will be loud. It is also a great way to break the
ice about change.
n Now ask how many of them got all three changes, then two
changes, then one change.
n Now ask how many of them removed one or more articles from
their person to make the changes (you should have many hands
raised).
n Explain that people will almost always remove things from their
person when asked to do this exercise because humans equate
change with loss. Even if Mardi Gras beads, or sunglasses, or cheap
pins are placed within their reach, the participants, in most in-
stances, will take something off before choosing to put something
on. People will automatically think about removing something be-
cause the instructions were to “change” three things.
n Finally ask how many of them undid the changes as soon as the ac-
tivity ended because of their desire to return things to “normal.”
Then ask them what this indicates.
n Now you are ready to have a discussion with the faculty about the
normal resistance to change.
Part of the discussion that follows this exercise should focus on the fact
that change is not only about losing something, change is also about letting
go of something of limited value and replacing it with something of much
greater value. Replacing is the most important word in the last sentence. It is
understood by scientists that nature abhors a vacuum and the laws of nature
work to eliminate them. Social science looks on vacuums with equal disdain.
Consequently, one cannot expect to just get rid of a paradigm: One paradigm
must be replaced with another.
If one subscribes to Botstein’s premise that the history of public education
is not as rosy as some portray, then it stands to reason that the paradigms that
drive school cultures, and by extension education as a whole, must change.
To determine to what degree paradigms must be shifted, it is important to
understand how they were developed in the first place.
Why Do We do Things This Way?

In most of today’s public schools, staff and administrative turnover is a
given. Statistics indicate that somewhere between 35 and 45 percent of all
teachers leave the profession within their first five years. The constant turn-
over, or churn, has resulted in schools where many students have been there
longer than most of their teachers. In such schools there is often little under-
standing of why things are done in a particular way. The Monkey Scenario that
follows can be found on numerous Web sites, including that of the U.S. Naval
Safety Center. The scenario provides an interesting insight into the danger of
accepting the premise “that’s how we do things around here.”
The Monkey Scenario

Start with a cage containing five monkeys. Inside the cage, hang a banana
on a string and place a set of stairs under it. Before long, a monkey will go to
the stairs and start climbing toward the banana. As soon as he touches the
stairs, spray all the other monkeys with cold water. After a while, another
monkey makes an attempt with the same result: All the other monkeys are
sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon, when another monkey tries to climb
the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.
Now, put away the cold water. Remove one monkey from the cage and
replace it with a new one. The new monkey sees the banana and wants to
climb the stairs. To his surprise and horror, all of the other monkeys attack
him. After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the
stairs, he will be assaulted.
Next, remove another of the original five monkeys and replace it with an-
other new one. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous
newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm! Likewise, replace a
third original monkey with a new one, then a fourth, then the fifth. Each time
the newest monkey takes to the stairs, he is attacked. Most of the monkeys
that are beating him have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the
stairs or why they are participating in beating the newest monkey.
After replacing all the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys
have ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again
approaches the stairs to try for the banana. Why not? Because as far as they
know that’s the way it’s always been done around here.
That’s the way it’s always been done around here. Unfortunately, that is
the only reason many can give to explain the hows and whys of their school’s
culture. In such instances, it is far more likely that the school’s culture is sim-
ply the product of decisions made because they were expeditious and not be-
cause they were appropriate. Both students and teachers deserve better.
Change in education requires risk taking, and many schools would rather
succeed in doing nothing than risk failure by doing something. Ed Bales for-
merly of Motorola describes risk taking in the following way:
First are the scouts. These are the people who so desire to make
change that they are willing to take high risks. But because they are
such high profile they are easy to pick off and are frequently sacri-
ficed.
Behind the scouts come the pioneers. They are also willing to take
risks but are not as outspoken or as high profile and therefore are
not likely to be sacrificed.
Behind the pioneers come the settlers. These are people who join
the change movement once it has been established. They are also
risk takers but less so than the scouts or pioneers. The bulk of the
populations are in this group.
Behind this group are the “cynics.” These are people so comfort-
able with the status quo that they ask, “Why give up on what we
know and are comfortable with for something which will probably
not work?” While they are not afraid of change per say, they are
frightened by what might happen if they were to change out of
their comfort zone.
The last groups are the “saboteurs.” These are people who are so
resistant to change that they will do whatever it takes to insure that
the change process fails. They conspire behind the scenes throwing
“monkey wrenches.” They spread rumors about the change
organizers.
It is important for school leaders to identify the scouts, pioneers, settlers,
cynics, and saboteurs. It is also very important to determine how to convince
these individuals/groups to support change.
Why do we do things this way? Regardless of the answer, “this way” is
usually seen as the proper way. Such beliefs are the primary reason that
reculturing a school is accepted as being extremely challenging. This may be
true, but it is also true that school cultures are continuously changing. For
school leaders the question then becomes, “Do you want to guide the change,
or be a slave to it?” Sometimes beginning the process of reculturing requires
only a small step.
I also wanted to eliminate some of their feeling of always being frustrated

in order for them to feel more positive about coming to school. I began
with eliminating 29 committees that they were required to serve on—2 to
3 committees per person—meeting each week throughout the school
year. I collapsed 29 into 5. They met once every nine weeks for one hour
on Mondays.
Oak Mountain Intermediate School
Changing the exam schedule or collapsing committees do not seem like

really important tasks, but they can have far reaching repercussions. As in
the Oak Mountain Intermediate quote, eliminating twenty-four committees
lent credence to the principal’s stated belief that the important functions of
the school occurred within the classroom and that is where teachers need to
be. The change also showed that the principal was willing to ensure that
teachers were taken out of their classrooms as little as possible. Each percep-
tual outcome was instrumental in accelerating the reculturing process of the
school.
Creating Visible Change

Too often leaders who are well intentioned begin changing the school
culture by approaching that which is most important but intangible. This ap-
proach seems to make sense because the most important elements to change
are very often those things that can’t be touched or seen. Really believing that
all children can learn, that the adults in the building need to be learners, and
that the parents want what is best for their children are all beliefs that must
exist in a positive school culture. Leaders will find that changing the unseen
is far more difficult than changing those things that are visible and concrete.
It was really important to me that things look different so they could be

different. I have had more stuff painted, updated, taken down, refreshed,
and generally cleaned in six weeks than I care to think about, and there is
so much more to do! If we believe that actions speak louder than words,
then I owed these folks some serious actions. It also sets the stage for
the next hill and/or mountain.
Alice Birney Middle School
As the quote above indicates, this leader chose to first improve the visible.
Letting everyone experience physical change in the building is a great way to
say “things are going to be different and better around here!” The wise leader
will get everyone’s attention by changing the visible and concrete while
working on the intangible. One must caution, however, that far too many
leaders spend much energy and effort in changing the concrete and never
move to the important changes needed in the intangible. Painting the build-
ing will not improve student achievement.
Chapter Summary
School culture is complicated. The school leader who overlooks the com-
plexity of culture when trying to implement change is certain to fail. The suc-
cessful leader understands that school culture is created by scaffolding pat-
terns over time. These patterns are tightly integrated and tied to human be-
havior including how people think, speak, and act. People create artifacts
which represent the culture. The culture continues as long as people continue
to transmit it from generation to generation. This very idea of transmission of
the culture makes it more difficult to change. This transmission may also lead
to people not understanding why certain things in the culture exist, but
simply to accept them as “the norm.”

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1

At its core, the culture of an organization is the behavior of its leader.

Origins of School Culture

Creating a New Focus ◆ 3

Defining School Culture

4 ◆ Creating School Cultures that Embrace Learning

Creating a New Focus ◆ 5

Integrated Patterns of School Culture

6 ◆ Creating School Cultures that Embrace Learning

Creating a New Focus ◆ 7

Paradigm Shift and Resistance to Change

8 ◆ Creating School Cultures that Embrace Learning

Introducing Change to a Faculty

Creating a New Focus ◆ 9

Why Do We do Things This Way?

10 ◆ Creating School Cultures that Embrace Learning

The Monkey Scenario

Creating a New Focus ◆ 11

I also wanted to eliminate some of their feeling of always being frustrated

Changing the exam schedule or collapsing committees do not seem like

12 ◆ Creating School Cultures that Embrace Learning

Creating Visible Change

It was really important to me that things look different so they could be

Creating a New Focus ◆ 13

14 ◆ Creating School Cultures that Embrace Learning

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