LESSON10

CREATI
NGAPOSI
TIVESCHOOLCULTURE

TOPI
CS1i
n
1.TheSchoolCul
tur
e
2.TheRoleofCul
tur
einLear
ning
3.Shar
edNorms

LEARNI
NGOUTCOMES
Attheendofthelesson,youshoul
dbeabletoexplai
nt hemeaning
ofschoolcul
tur
e,discusshowschoolcul
tur
eaffectslearni
ng,and
ci
teway sbywhichy oucancont r
ibut
etothebuildi
ngofposi ti
ve
cul
tur
e.

TOPI
C1.THESCHOOLCULTURE

Schoolscult
uremat ter
s.Thisinfl
uencestoagr eatextenthow wel
lstudent
perf
orm.Schoolcul tur
ei sacreationofallthepeopl
ei nschoolandint he
communi t
yespeci al
l
ythatoftheschoolheads.Itcanbepositi
veornegati
v e.
Itcan faci
li
tate oradv er
sel
yaf fectlear
ning.A schoolcommuni t
ymust
ther
eforest
rivetocreateaposit
ivecult
ure.

Her
earet
welvenor
msofschool
cul
turewherepeopl
eandpr ogramsi
mpr
ove.
St
udyt
hem.
1.Col
l
egial
i
ty 7.Appr
eciat
ion,
recogni
tion

2.Exper
iment
ati
on 8.Car
ing,
cel
ebr
ati
on,
humor

3.Hi
ghExpect
ati
ons 9.I
nvol
vementi
ndeci
sionmaki
ng

4.Tr
ustandconf
idence 10.Pr
otect
ionofwhati
simpor
tant

5.Tangi
blesuppor
t 11.Tr
adi
ti
ons

6.Reachi
ngoutt
otheknowl
edge 12.Honest
,opencommuni
cat
ion
base

Readt hef ollowingepi sodest henidentif

ywhi chnor m ofschoolcul tureis
i
l
lust
rated.
1.Whenhi ghschoolst udentar ri
vef orpr e– calculuscl ass,t heyknow
exactlywhatt oexpect .Pr
ojectedont hescr eenar eclearinstructi
onsf or
the day ’s Success St art
er.Ev eryone is expect ed to wor k on t hem
successf ull
y.
2.Youmi ghtnotr eachananswert oday.Youmi ghtnotr eachananswer
tomor r
ow.St ruggleisokay .”Studentsknowt hatbythet hir
dday ,t
heywi l
l
beexpect edt opresentt heirunderstandingandpr oblem-sol vingstrategy
tothecl ass.
3.‘Youhav eashor tmemor y ’
,sher epli
eswi t
haki ndsmi le.“Yousayt his
everyt i
mewet ackleapr obl
em.Remembert helastt i
mey oust ruggled
andt henov ercomey ourconf usi
on?Rememberournor mst hatwewr ote
toget
her ?Oneoft hem wasgr owthmi ndset.Andr ememberIam her efor
 you” .
4.Ihearsomest udent st al kingwhi l
esomeonei sr eci ting.Idon’ tt hinky ou
willliket hati fy ouar et heoner eciting.Canweagr eeonar ule?Gi v
emea
rule”.St udentsuggest s.Let ’skeepqui etandl i
st enwhensomeonei s
reciting.Rai sey ourhandi fyouwantt or ecite.”Teacherasks, canwekeep
thisr ule?
5.Todayy ouar egoi ngt ocomput ey ourscor esf orcl assst andi ng–wr i
tten
quizzes, seat wor k,per for mancet est ,homewor k.Thesewer eal lcorrect ed
andr etur nedt oy ou.Wheny ouar edone,compar ey ourt otalwi thmi ne.
Shoul dt her ebedi scr epancy ;ber eadyt oshowy ourcor rect edpaper s.
6.Dur ingt hef i
rstweekofschoolBar bt eacheraskshersi xthgr ader st wo
quest i
ons:“ Whatquest ionsdoy ouhav eaboutt hewor ld? ”t hest udent s
begi nenumer atingt heirquest i
ons,“ Cant heybeaboutsi lly,littlethings? ”
asksonest udent .“Ift hey ’rey ourquest ionst haty our eal l
ywantanswer ed,
they ’r
enei t
hersi l
lynorl ittl
e.”Repl iest het eacher .Af tert hest udent sl ist
theiri ndi vi
dualquest i
ons,t eacheror gani zes t he st udent si nto smal l
groupswher et heyshar el istsandsear chf orquest i
onst heyhav ei n
common.Af termuchdi scussi oneachgr oupcomesupwi thapr i
or i
tyl ist
ofquest ions,r ank–or der i
ngt hequest i
onsaboutt hemsel vesandt hose
aboutt hewor ld.Backt oget heri nawhol egr oupsessi on,t eachersol icits
the gr oups’pr iorities and wor ks t owar d consensus f ort he cl ass’ s
combi ned l ists ofquest i
ons.These quest i
ons become t he basi sf or
guidi ngt hecur r
icul um i ncl ass.Onequest ion,“ wi llIl i
vet obe100y ear s
old? ”spawnededucat i
onali nv estigat ionsi ntogenet ics,f ami lyandor al
histor y,act uar ialsci ence,st atisticsandpr obabi li
ty ,hear tdi sease,cancer ,
and hy per tensi on.The st udent s had t he oppor tunityt o seek out
i
nf ormat ionf rom f ami l
ymember s,f ri
ends,exper tsi nv ariousf i
elds,on–
l
inecomput erser vices,and books,aswel lasf rom t het eacher .She
descr i
beswhatt heyhadt odoasbecomi ngpar tofa“ learni ngcommuni ty.
”
Accor ding t eacher ,“ we deci de whatt he mostcompel ling i ntellect ual
i
ssuesar e,dev i
seway st oi nvest igat et hosei ssues.
7.Thesenseofcommuni tyi sst rong,ev enpal pabl e.Butt hi ssensedi dn’t
j
ustspr ingf ull–bl ownf rom bei ngagr oupofpeopl eoccupy ingt hesame
place att he same t ime.I twas bui ltupon manysmal land speci fic
moment sofl ear ningt hesamev er sest osongsandshar i
ngt radi t
ions,
memor iesoft imest oget herandst or iesof ten–t old…
Someofourt radi tionsar eonceay earev ents; somehappenev eryweekor
evenev er yday .Theygi v eusway stogr eeteachot her ,tol earnabouteach
other ,t osi ngandcel ebr ateandsaygoodby e.Theseev ent smar kour
comi ngsandourgoi ngsandaf firm ourcommoni nter estsi nt het imewe
spendt oget her .
8.Because t hey t reasur e,heal th,sani tation and sel f– di sci pli
ne,St .
Ber nadet teCat hol icSchool i
ncludest hef oll
owi ngi nt heircant eenpol i
ci es.
Foodst hatwi llnotbesol d:

 Ful
lfatpast
ryi
tems

 Chocol
ateconf
ect
ionar
y/l
oll
i
es/
pot
atochi
ps/cr
eam f
il
ledbun

 Sof
tdr
inks

 Hi
ghcaf
fei
nedr
inks–e.g.dr
inkscont
aini
ngguar
anaorcaf
fei
ne

 Deepf
ri
edf
oodofanydescr
ipt
ion
CLAYGO–“
Cleanasy
ougo”

9.Theteacherwrot
e,“Ni
cejob”onmysketchofanorange.Iknewverywel
l
thatmysmudgedmessofanor angewasn’
tanicej ob.Itwasn’
teven
decentrepr
esent
ati
onofanyfrui
tknowntoman.Iwouldhaveabenefi
ted
 byhert el
li
ngmeonet hingIcoulddot omakei tbett
er.May besomet hi ng
li
ke“ wear elear
ningaboutper spective.Tryaddingashadowbehi ndy our
sketch. Her“ nicejob“ tol
dmel i
tt
leabouthow t oimprov e.Knowi ngI
receivedundeser v
edpr aiselessenst hei mpactorpraisewheni tistruly
earned.
10.
TeacherPazr emark:“Ili
ketoat tendt hatCPDsemi nar.Il
iket ohonemy
teachingskill
sandupdat emyPCK( pedagogicalcont
entknowl edge)…
11.
Goodt eachi
ngishonoredi nthisschool .
12.
Myschoolheadpr ot
ectsmyacademi cst i
me.Shekeepsmeet i
ngt i
met o
themi nimum.

Analy
sis
1.Whi chofthet wel
veelement sofaposit
ivecult
urewereill
ust
rat
edbythe
givenepisodesv i
gnettes?Whi chelementwasi l
lust
rat
edbydescri
bingt
he
opposites?
2.Isthereanyel ementleftout?Ifther
eiscany ouasagr oupsuppl
yan
episodeorv ignet
te?Av ignettei
sashor tdescr
ipti
onofanepisodei
n
school l
ikethe9gi v
enabov e.

Eleven(11)vi
gnett
esi nt
hefir
stpar
tofthi
schapt
ergi
veaconcr
etepi
ctur
eofa
positi
veschoolcul
ture.
Vignett
e Nor m ofSchoolCul
tur
eIl
lust
rat
ed

1 Hi
ghexpect
ati
on

2 Honestandopencommuni
cat
ion

3 Tangi
blesuppor
t;car
ing,
cel
ebr
ati
on,
humor

4 I
nvol
vementi
tdeci
sionmaki
ng;
prot
ect
ionofwhati
simpor
tant

5 Tr
ustandconf
idencet
radi
ti
ons

6a Col
l
egi
ali
ty;
honest
,opencommuni
cat
ion

6b Coll
egial
it
y;experi
mentat
ion;
reachi
ngoutt
otheknowl
edgebases;
appreci
ati
on,recogni
ti
on.

7 Col
l
egi
ali
ty;
tradi
ti
ons

8 Tangi
blesuppor
t;pr
otect
ionofwhati
simpor
tantt
radi
ti
on

10 Reachi
ngoutt
otheknowl
edgebases

11 Appr
eci
ati
onandr
ecogni
ti
on

12 Pr
otect
ionofwhati
simpor
tant

It
em # 9 does notil
lustrat
e posit
ive cul
tur
e,specifi
cal
l
yhonestand open
communicat
ion.Aft
erhavingreadthev i
gnet
tes,bythi
stimeyouhaveanideaon
whatschool
cult
urei
s.Allofthevi
gnettesaremanifest
ati
onsofschoolcul
tur
e.

TheMeani ngofSchoolCultur
e
Schoolcultur
eisoneoft hemostcomplexandi mpor tantconceptsi neducati
on
(Schein,1985).Itgeneral
lyref
erstot he beli
efs,per cepti
ons,r elat
ionshi
ps,
atti
tudesandwr i
tt
enandunwr i
tt
enrul
est hatshapeandi nf
luenceev eryaspects
of how a schoolf uncti
ons (
htt
p://www.edglossar y
.org.
/school-cul
tur
e).
Howev er,
theterm al
soencompassesmor econcreteissuessuchast hephy si
cal
andemot i
onalsafet
yofst udent
s,t
heorderl
inessofcl assroomsandpubli
c
spacesordegreet o whi
ch aschoolembracesr aci
al,ethnic,l
i
ngui
sti
cand
cul
tural
div
ersi
ty.

Accor ding to Spacey( htt

p://simpli
cable//
new/ /
school/John.Nov .23,2017) ,
schoolcul tureconsi stsoft henor msandshar edexperiencest hatevolveov er
school’shistor y.I
nf act,Scot tandMar zano( 2014)statethat“ schoolcultur
ei s
rei
nforcedbynor ms,expect ationsandtradit
ions,i
ncludi
ngev erythi
ngf r
om dress
codest odi scipli
nesy stemst ocelebr
ati
onsofachi evement .Therefore,
itmaybe
describedast hechar acterofaschoolt hatgivesschoolqual i
ti
esbey ondi ts
str
uctures,r esources and pr acti
ces.They ar e“ buil
tt hrough t he every
day
businessofaschooll i
fe.Itist hewaybusi nessishandledt hatbot hformsand
ref
lectst hecul t
ure.”(Sophier,1985)

CultureasaSoci alConst r
uct
Culturei sasoci alconst r
uctnotagenet icconst ruct.Thi smeanst hatschool
cult
ur eis,t herefor e,somet hingt hatwedonoti nher itorpassont hrought he
genes.Rat her ,iti s somet hing t hatwe cr eat e and shape.I ti s shaped by
everythingt hatal lpeopl einschoolsee,hear ,f eelandi nteractwi th.I tisa
creationoft heschoolhead,t eachers,parent s,non- t
eachi ngst affst udent sand
communi ty.SeanSl ade( 2014)el aborates:
Wi thinacoupl eofmi nut esofwal kingi ntoaschooloracl assr oom, youcan
tel
l,def i
neal mostt ast ethecul turethatper meat est hatspace.I si tanopen,
sharingenv i
ronment ?Ori tisar i
gid,disci
pl i
ne–def i
nedpl ayi
ngf i
eld?I tissaf e
andwel comi ng,ori ntimidatingandconf r
ont ing?Doesi twelcomeal lv oices,or
doesi tmakey ouwantt oshr ink?I sitwaitingf ori nstructionandl eader shipori s
i
tsel f
-direct edwi thacommonpur pose?
SchoolCl imat eandSchoolCul t
ure
How doesschoolcl i
mat edi fferfrom culture?Theset ermsar ef requent lyused
i
nterchangeabl ebutschoolcl i
mat eismor er elational;iti si l
lustratedbyt he
atti
tudesandbehav i
orsoft heschoolst affandi sf ocusedont hest y l
eoft he
school ’
sor gani zationalsy stem.Schoolcl imat er ef erstot heschool ’
sef fectson
thest udent s,i ncludingt eachi ngpr acti
ces,di versityandt her elati
onshi psamong
admi nistrator s,teacher s,par ent sandt hest udent s.Schoolcl imat ei sdr ivenby
andr eflect edi ndai lyinteractionsofst aff,admi nistration,faculty,st udent sand
suppor tst affandt heout si
decommuni t
y.(https:// www/ sli
deshar e.net /
modul e)

Schoolcul t
urei sa deeperlevelofr ef
lecti
on ofshar ed val
ues,belief
sand
tradi
ti
onsbet weenstaffmember s.Schoolculturerefer
stothewayt eachersand
otherst af
f member s wor ktoget her and t he setof bel i
efs,values and
assumpt i
onst heyshare.(
www. ascd.or
g./research).Schoolcul
turei
saboar der
term andsoisi ncl
usi
veofschool cl
imate.

TOPI
C2.THEROLEOFCULTUREI
NLEARNI
NG

Schoolcul
tur
emat t
ers.Resear
chconf i
rmsthecentralr ol
eofcultureto
thesuccess.Schoolcult
urecanbepositi
veornegati
veortoxic.Aposit
iveschool
cult
ure foster
si mpr ovement,coll
aborati
ve deci
sion maki ng,professi
onal
developmentandstaffandt hestudentlearni
ng.anegati
vecul t
uref
ostersthe
opposite.

Element sofaPosi t
iveCul
ture
Asgi venintheacti
vit
yphaseoft hi
slessonaposi t
iveschoolcl
i
mat eis
characteri
zedbyt hefol
l
owing:
1.Col legi
ali
ty – The schoolatmospherei sf ri
endl
y.You wor kin an
atmospher ewhereresponsi
bil
it
yandaut hori
tyaresharedbyev er
yone.
Youcanbey our
sel
f.Youhav enottoputy ourbestforwardtoimpress
 other s.Theschoolheaddoesnott hr owhi s/ herwei ght .He/ shedoesnot
makehi s/ heraut hor ityf eltbyhi s/ hercol leagues.
2.Exper iment at i
on–Theat mospher eencour agesexper iment ationandso
wi l
lwel comemi stakesaspar toft hel ear ningpr ocess.Nost udent ,no
teacherget spuni shedf orami stake.Mi st akesar enoti ntended.Theygi ve
al otofl esson.Ref er ring t o hi s10, 000 f ailed at tempt st henhewas
exper iment i
ngi nt hel ightbul b.Edi sonsai d:“ Ihav enotf ailed.I ’vej ust
found10, 000way st hatwon’ twor k.”
3.Highexpect ations–I thasbeensai done’ sl ev elofachi ev ementi sal way s
lowert hanone’ sl ev elt hati saspi ration.Sosethi ghexpect ationsf orhi gh
achi ev ement .Twopr obl emsar iseher e.Rober tJ.Mar zanowar nsus:
First, expect at ionsar esubt leanddi fficul ttochange.Teacher smay
beunawar et hatt heyhav el ow expect at i
onsf orsomest udent s;
ev enwhent heybecomeawar e,t heymayhav edi fficultychangi ng
theirexpect ationsbecauset heirbel i
ef sandbi aseshav edev eloped
ov ert hey ear s.
Second,whatact ual lycommuni cat esexpect ationst ost udent si s
teacherbehav i
or .I ft eacher sconsci ousl ywor kt o changet heir
biasesbutdon’ tchanget hei rbehav i
ort owar dt hosest udent sf rom
whom t heyhav et endedt oexpectl ess,t heirchangeofat t i
tudewi l
l
hav el i
ttleef fectonst udentachi ev ement .
4.Trustandconf idence– St udent s,t eacher s,schoolheadsandpar ent s
relatewel landwor kwel lwhenr elationshi psar esol idlybui ltont rustand
conf idence.I nf act ,honestandopencommuni cat i
on( #12i nt hisl ist)i s
possi bleonl ywhent her ei st rustandconf idencei neachot heri nt he
schoolcommuni ty.Ican shar e my i nnert hought s onl y when Iam
conf identt hatIdonotgetost raci zed.WhenIdo.
5.Tangi blesuppor t– Ev eryonei nt heschoolcommuni tyget sconcr et e
suppor tf ort hegoodt hatt heydo.Suppor tcomesi nnotj usti nwor dsbut
in act i
on.Schoolhead sees t oi tt hatLCDs i nt he cl assr ooms ar e
funct ioning.
6.Reachi ngoutt heknowl edgebase–Teacher scar etogr owpr of essi onal ly
to updat et hemsel veson cont entknowl edge and pedagogy ,t he f irst
domai nint hePhi l
ippi nepr of essi onal st andar dsf ort eacher s.
7.Appr eciation and r ecogni tion – Cer tainl y wor ds ofappr eci ation and
recogni ti
on make cl assr oom cl imat e hi ghl yf avorabl e.A r emi ndert o
teacher s:“ Youar enotmadel esswheny oupr aiseot her s.I nst ead,y ou
becomemagnani mous.Sodon’ tbest ingywi t
hy oursi ncer epr aise.The
probl em somet imesi sourey esar esoqui ckt oseet henegat iveandso
wedespi set hem i mmedi at elybutourey esar ebl i
ndedt ot hegoodandso
weov erlookt hem andf ailtoappr eci ate.
8.Car ing,cel ebr ation,humor– Ki dsdon’ tcar ewhaty ouknow unt i
lt hey
knowt haty oucar e.Theydon’ tl istent ot eacherwhent eacherdoesn’ tcar e.
Itmaybegoodt or emi ndt eacher st hatmanyofst udent s, especi all
yt hose
who st ruggl e,don’ tr ecei v e near ly enough posi t
ivef eedback i nt he
classr oom ori nt heirper sonal lives.
“Whenki dsar et aughtwi thapr oact ive, pr aise–heav yappr oach, theyt end
todobet ter ,
”say sEr inGr eenofBoy sTown.Butbespeci fic.Gener i
c,
ov erlygener alized comment s such as “ Good Job! ”don’ tr eal lyhel p.
Compl ement ingaspeci ficbehav i
or( “Thanksf orshowi ngr espectt oour
visitingguest ”),ont heot herhand, reinfor cest hatpar ti
cul arbehav i
or .
9.Invol vementi ndeci sionmaki ng–I nv olvingot her swhoar econcer nedwi th
deci sion t o be made enhances sense ofowner shi p.They al so f eel
impor tant .
10.
Prot ectofwhati si mpor tant– Whatschool sconsi deri mpor tantmust
form par toft hei rtradi tionandsomustbepr otect edbyal lmeans.I nt he
act ivit
yabov e,ment ionwasmadeonschoolcant eenpol icest hati ncl ude
“no sof tdr inks,no chocol at e et c.”and CLAYGO because t he school
 considersnut
ri
ti
onandheal thandcl eanl i
nessasi mpor tant.
11.
Tradit
ions–aschoolmusthav eani ntentionalculture–basedpr ogram
on shared val
ues,beliefs,and behav iors.This st r
engt hens sense of
communi ty.Atrul
ypositi
v eschoolcul tureisnotchar acteri
zedsimplyby
theabsenceofgangs,v i
olenceordi scipli
nepr oblemsbutal sobyt he
presenceofasetofnor msandv al
uest hatfocusschoolcommuni t
y ’
s
attent
iononwhati smosti mpor tantandmot i
vatet hem t owor khar d
towardacommonpur pose.
12.
Honestandopencommuni cation–Nooneget sost r
acizedf orspeaking
uphi smi nd.Theat mospher eissucht hatev eryonei sencour agedt o
speakhi smindwi t
houtfearofbei ngost r
acized.Theagr eementatev ery
discussi
onis“agreetodisagr ee.

TOPI
C3.SHAREDNORMS:TEACHERSANDSTUDENT

Shar
ed normsf orbothteacher
sand st udentcontr
ibut
et o apositi
ve
schoolcult
ure.BossandLeaner( 2018)shareteachernorm andstudentnorms
tocontri
butetoafairandanengaginglear
ningenvironment
,acharacter
ist
icofa
posit
iveschoolcul
ture.Theycheckonthefol
lowingnormseachweek.

Tabl
e6.

TeacherNor
ms St
udentNor
ms

1.Teachi
ndi
ff
erentway
s. 1.Hav
eagr
owt
hmi
ndset
.
2.Cal
lst
udentbyt
hei
rnames. a.Bel
i
evey
oucani
mpr
ove.
3.Car
eaboutst
udent
s’f
eel
i
ngs. b.Fai
lfor
war
d.
a.Under
standi
ngt
hei
rsi
tuat
ion. c.Keept
ryi
ng.
4.Hav
eagoodat
ti
tude. d.Speakposi
ti
vel
yabouty
our
abi
li
ti
estol
earn.
a.St
aycal
m
2.Cal
lcl
assmat
esbyt
hei
rnames.
b.Usedki
ndwor
ds
3.Ber
esponsi
blef
ory
ourwor
k.
c.Hav
epat
ience
a.Hav
eamat
eri
alr
eady
.
d.Gr
eetst
udentandsaygood–
by
e b.Adv
ocat
efory
our
sel
f.
5.Hel
pst
udent
sunder
stand. c.Beapr
ofessi
onal
a.Workatar
easonabl
eat d.Meetdeadl
i
nes.
peace
e.Par
ti
cipat
e.
b.Expl
aincl
ear
ly
f
. Beont
imet
ocl
ass.
c.Supportdi
ff
erentl
ear
ning
4.Li
sten…
st
yles
a.Tot
het
eacher
.
d.Expectt
hebest
b.Toy
ourcl
assmat
e.
e.Re–expl
aini
fnecessar
y
c.Toguest
.
6.Att
endschool
themaj
ori
tyoft
he
ti
me. d.Tot
hedi
rect
ions.
7.Ber
espect
ful
. 5.Attendschool
themaj
ori
tyof
thetime.
a.Gi
veev
ery
onewhatt
heyneed
6.Beagoodt
eam pl
ayer
.
b.Usepr
operl
anguage.
a.Providegood,
hel
pful
c.Al
l
owspacei
fneeded.
feedback.
d.Usesupport
ivewor
dswhen
b.St
aycal
m.
expl
aini
ng.
c.Encour
ageot
her
s.
e.Cal
lbyy
ourname
d.St
ayont
opi
c.
8.Hav
eagr
owt
hmi
ndset
e.Beconsi
der
ate.
f
. Usepr
operl
anguage.
g.Communicat
eclear
lyt
o
st
udent
sandteacher(
s).