Culturas Colaborativas

Chapter 7
Collaborative
cultures
TOOLS
7.1 Culture is…
7.2 School culture survey
7.3 An audit of the culture starts with two handy tools
7.4 Positive or negative
7.5 Change agent
7.6 ‘Collaboration lite’ puts student achievement on a starvation diet
7.7 Community means more than teamwork
7.8 Trust is the on-ramp to building collaboration and collegiality
7.9 Culture shift doesn’t occur overnight — or without conflict
7.10 Student learning grows in professional cultures
7.11 Pull out negativity by its roots
7.12 A new role: Cultural architect
7.13 The on-ramp to building learning communities
7.14 Build the infrastructure first
Where Are We Now?

Time for teachers to talk about teaching is a major component of our school/district professional
development.
Strongly Agree Agree No Opinion Disagree Strongly Disagree
Attaining our students’ learning goals depends on staff’s ability to work together well as colleagues.
A high level of trust exists between teachers and administrators in our school and district.
A primary outcome of our professional development is to cultivate in-house expertise in
instruction, curriculum, and assessment.
Educators challenge each other to accept no excuses for low student achievement.
Collaborative cultures Chapter 7
For more than two decades, research has shown that teachers who experience
frequent, rich learning opportunities have in turn been helped to teach in more
ambitious and effective ways. Yet few teachers gain access to such intensive
professional learning opportunities. More typically, teachers experience professional
development as episodic, superficial, and disconnected from their own teaching
interests or recurring problems of practice. This prevailing pattern — a few rich
opportunities, many disappointing ones — speaks both to the promise and to the
limitations of professional development as it typically is organized. An important
part of this enduring story centers on the schools and districts where teachers work
and whether they are positioned well to foster professional learning opportunities
that enhance the quality of teaching and learning. (Little, 2006, p. 1)
T
he first chapter of this tool
The Standards
kit presents Arkansas’ and
NSDC’s standards for staff
PROCESS S
development. The 12 standards CONTENT
DATA-DRIVE
are grouped into three major
PROCESS the learning of
categories: context, process,
student data to
and content. Most people CONTEX T monitor progre
understand the need for both improvement.
content and process standards. EVALUATION
Some wonder about the CONTEXT STANDARDS improves the le
relationship between professional development to pursue common COMMUNITIES:
LEARNING purpose or as a centrifugal force
Staff develop- sources of infor
and context. The context standards signal that pushingment
teachers to pursue
that improves theindividual
learning of purpose”
all students demonstrate its
organizational culture, support, leadership, and organizes
(Rosenholtz, adults
1991, p. into
63).learning communities whose RESEARCH-B
goals are aligned with those of the school and improves the le
resources are essential in developing effective, job- Marzano’s meta-analysis of school factors that
district. educators to ap
embedded professional development within a school lead to high levels of student achievement and
or district. In other words, a strong collaborative learningLEADERSHIP:
describes the needStaff development that improves
for professionalism DESIGN: Staf
the learning of all students requires skillful school learning of all s
culture that values continuous improvement, honors and collegiality. School cultures characterized by
and district leaders who guide continuous instruc- appropriate to
the expertise of teachers and administrators, expects collegiality
tionaland professionalism promote teachers’
improvement.
ongoing learning about teaching, and invites faculty conversation about their work. Next to a highly LEARNING:
RESOURCES: Staff development that improves the learning of
innovation is also necessary — along with the use effective teacher, the second most powerful factor
the learning of all students requires resources to about human le
of new professional development strategies. School in increased
supportstudent achievement
adult learning is an effective
and collaboration.
and district cultures can either push people toward school culture that encourages, supports, and expects COLLABORA
collaboration or pull them away from working teachers to work together to improve their own improves the le
educators with
together. “Schools’ organizational conditions practice, as well as student learning. Marzano (2003) collaborate.
function either as a centripetal force pulling teachers notes that this kind of school culture is still rare.
Moving NSDC's Staff Development S

A Tool Kit for Quality Professional Development in Arkansas 361
An example may help What is school culture? It’s more than climate or morale. School
distinguish between a collegial culture has been “defined as ‘the underground flow of feelings and
culture and a congenial one. folkways wending its way within schools’ in the form of vision and
Thousands of teachers from 134 values, beliefs and assumptions, rituals and ceremonies, history and
randomly selected schools were stories, and physical symbols” (Jerald, 2006, p. 2). It involves common
asked to describe their school practices, expectations, and norms of practice.
culture. The results were sorted Stoll’s indicators of school culture include (cited in Killion, 2006,
according to whether schools p. 64):
were considered high- or low-
performing. The results indicate
Aspects of school culture Visible evidence
(Jerald, 2006):
Celebrations How staff and student successes and
achievements are recognized and celebrated.
High-performing schools valued:
• Hunger for improvement; Stories How the school talks about itself — its
• Raising capability — helping history and myths; whose stories are told
people learn; and whose are overlooked; stories told by the
• Focusing on the value-added; community and the school about the school.
• Promoting excellence — Shared sayings The language the school uses to talk about
pushing the boundaries of itself, e.g. “We’re a community school.”
achievement Taboos What is not allowed within the school,
• Making sacrifices to put explicitly and implicitly, from types of
behavior to how certain groups or people
pupils first.
are treated.
Ways of rewarding Intrinsic or extrinsic rewards to staff and
Low-performing schools valued: students; acknowledgements.
• Warmth, humor, repartee,
Rituals How common events are run and what
feet-on-the-ground is emphasized at them, for example
• Recognizing personal athletic achievement, discipline, academic
circumstances — making achievement, community contributions.
allowances — tolerance — Communications How messages, positive and negative,
it’s the effort that counts; are delivered to the school or wider
• Creating a pleasant community; the channels, levels of, and
and congenial working path for communication within the school.
environment. Behaviors How students and staff treat each other; the
level of respect, trust, collaboration, and
sharing evidence, how guests are treated.
School culture
Rites of exit and entry How new staff members are inducted;
The importance of a school’s how farewells for staff and students are
culture was recognized as early as conducted; how new students and new
the 1930s (Jerald, 2006). But the parents are welcomed.
link between school culture and Events The focus of significant annual events
like awards, school plays, field day,
educational outcomes was not homecoming, prom, etc.
forged until the 1970s.

These cultural patterns are powerful. They shape • “Teachers engage in frequent, continuous,
and mold the way people think, act, feel, and, more and increasingly concrete and precise talk
importantly, they impact individual performance of about teaching practice.” These conversations
those who work within the culture. Studies of school result in a shared language among teachers. A
culture have found that positive school culture shared language enables teachers to go beyond
was a “prime contributor” to students’ academic the surface and explore the complexities of
success, could determine whether improvement high-quality instruction. “The concreteness,
efforts withered or succeeded, and cultivated school precision, and coherence of the shared language”
effectiveness and productivity (Deal & Peterson, leads to high-quality experimentation with
1999). new instructional practices and more rigorous
The first step in developing a school culture that collegial interaction.
supports continuous, job-embedded professional • “Teachers and administrators frequently
development is to assess the current culture. Tool observe each other teaching and provide each
7.1, Culture is…, describes a conversation about other with useful … evaluations of their
the elements of culture that helps explain how staff teaching.” There is, for most people, a gap
members view the organization’s culture. Tool 7.2, between knowing and doing. The best feedback
School culture survey, is an alternative means for is based on actual observation of classroom
assessing school culture based on the 12 norms of practice that focuses on common terminology
a healthy school identified by Saphier and King and critical attributes of practice. This is where
(1985). Tool 7.3, An audit of the culture starts the rubber meets the road. While this kind of
with two handy tools, is a more extensive approach collegial interaction can be a little close to the
to assessing current culture. bone, it remains a powerful strategy for building
collaboration skills.
Elements of a Collaborative Culture • “Teachers and administrators plan, design,
A collaborative culture needs to be distinguished research, evaluate, and prepare teaching
from a congenial environment. Most schools provide materials together.” Before new practices
comfort and caring to their members. School staffs or materials are used in the classroom, most
seem to have incredible capacity to attend to personal teachers need time to prepare. When teachers
events or challenges: the birth of a baby, a wedding, and administrators prepare together, their
or the need for sick days because of catastrophic collaboration reinforces the idea that joint work
illness. Yet the capacity of a school to focus on takes less time, builds a common understanding
learning, high-quality teaching, student success, and of the new approach, and supports each person
overcoming barriers is what distinguishes a good in being able to attain high-quality use of new
school from a great one. practices.
Early work, conducted by listening to • “Teachers and administrators teach each other
conversations in the teachers’ lounge, identified the practice of teaching.” This norm goes
four norms that supported changes in classroom beyond creating formal mentor or lead teacher
instruction (Little, 1981, p. 9-10): positions. It allows opportunities for each teacher

to share with other teachers those practices that Trust

have been successful in helping student learning. The existence of trust among members of a school
Teaching each other is the essence of job- community can make or break efforts at reforming
embedded professional development; the practice classroom practices, implementing curriculum, or
occurs in the context of small learning teams improving student performance (Bryk & Schneider,
working on developing new practices, while 2003). This finding suggests that the level of trust,
reviewing student work, and in solving problems. respect, and collegial interaction among school staff
More research into this area continues to may be more critical than the structural changes that
elaborate on the definition of a collaborative, are typically the focus of reform efforts.
professional culture. Other elements of a positive One reason trust is so crucial is that many
professional culture include: change efforts inherently involve risk. “When school
1. Clear, shared purpose for all students’ learning professionals trust one another and sense support
that is supported by teachers’ collaboration from parents, they feel safe to experiment with
(Lieberman, 1999); new practices” (Bryk & Schneider, 2003, p.43).
2. Professional learning characterized by collective The principal plays a critical role in developing
participation, active learning, coherence, and and sustaining trust within the building. Tool 7.8,
sustained duration (Little, 2006); Trust is the on-ramp to building collaboration
3. Reinforcement and alignment of every activity and collegiality, addresses this issue and describes
with the vision of high levels of learning for all additional strategies for the principal.
students through use of rituals, hero making,
storytelling, symbolic display, and rules (Jerald, Shaping Culture
2006); Which came first — teacher collaboration that
4. Development of collaborative teacher teams that forges a collegial culture or a positive, professional
work interdependently to achieve common goals culture that inspires, promotes, and sustains teachers’
focused on student learning (DuFour, DuFour, collaborative interactions and learning? This
Lopez, & Muhammad, 2006); chicken-or-egg question has no definitive answer.
5. Promotion of shared and distributed leadership; But clearly initial steps toward collaboration can
school members involved in making school quickly be subdued by a school culture that does not
decisions (Hord, 2007). value collegiality. Cultural forces are powerful and
Tool 7.4, Positive or negative, examines subtly determine what is done — or not done —
the characteristics of positive and negative school within the environment.
culture, describing methods for assessing current The first step in shaping the culture is to read
culture. Tool 7.5, Change agent, describes the and assess the current culture. The next step is
importance of a positive school culture for student to transform the culture by “reinforcing positive
achievement. Tool 7.6, Collaboration lite, aspects and working to transform negative aspects”
defines the elements of high-powered, high-quality (Peterson, 2002, p. 14). That is why reading and
professional collaboration. Tool 7.7, Community assessing the culture is the first step; school leaders
means more than teamwork, details the essential — both administrators and teachers — must know
characteristics of a school that learns together to what behaviors and values to reinforce and which
attain high levels of learning for all students. to transform. In their work on school culture, Deal

and Peterson suggest the following strategies for conduct classroom walkthroughs that reinforce
overcoming a negative culture: collaboration, transform staff meetings into time
1. Confront the negativity head on; give people a for collegial interaction, and provide time for
chance to vent in a public forum. teachers to work together.
2. Shield and support positive cultural elements 3. Sanctioning the announced and modeled
and staff. behavior. Sanction means to endorse or approve
3. Focus energy on recruiting, selecting, and collaboration and collegiality. Although
retaining effective, positive staff. principals typically don’t have cash on hand
4. Emphatically celebrate the positive and the to provide incentives, there are other tools at
possible. their disposal, such as by providing: “released
5. Consciously and directly focus on eradicating time, by visible and public praise for collegial
the negative and rebuilding around positive or experimental efforts, by tolerating and
norms and beliefs. absorbing inevitable failures encountered in
6. Develop new stories of success, renewal, and experimentation” (Little, 1981, p. 13).
accomplishment. 4. Defending the norms. Although collegial norms
7. Help those who might succeed and thrive in are positive and powerful, some push-back is
a new district make the move to a new school inevitable from the established school culture
(Deal & Peterson, 1999, p. 127-128). as well as from outside constraints — parents,
Similarly, four actions that a principal can take the district, and others. The courage of the
to develop collaborative norms and practices within principal’s convictions is required to stand up
a school include: to these counter-movements. One strategy for
1. Announcing and describing those norms the principal to resolve some of these competing
and practices. State the intention to build forces is to identify common interests rather than
collaboration among faculty and take any focusing on opposing positions (Little, 1981).
opportunity to discuss, focus, and reinforce the Tool 7.9, Culture shift doesn’t occur overnight
importance of these practices. Occasions that — or without conflict, focuses on the need to
hold meaning for staff, such as the first staff develop a collective commitment to student learning
meeting of the year, are appropriate opportunities and strategies principals can use to develop that
to reinforce new norms. These messages need commitment. Tool 7.10, Student learning grows in
to occur frequently and in a variety of situations professional cultures, provides a variety of resources
“to confirm and specify the desired interactions and tools designed to assess and shape a school culture
among teachers” (Little, 1981, p. 13). These that focuses on improved student learning. Tool
messages are intended to provide staff with a clear 7.11, Pull out negativity by its roots, identifies
signal about the importance of collegial practice values that offset countervailing attitudes and beliefs
to the school’s core work. common in some schools. Tool 7.12, A new role:
2. Modeling or enacting the desired behavior. Cultural architect, proposes ways to involve teachers
The principal as well as other staff members can in developing a positive culture within a school. Tool
model desired behaviors. The principal should 7.13, Build the infrastructure first, describes actions
demonstrate his or her own collaborative skills, the principal can take to ensure that teachers know

how to collaborate and focus on student learning.

Finally, while the focus has been on the school, district
Reflections
office staff play a role in developing trust. Tool 7.14,
Developing and sustaining strong
The on-ramp to building learning communities,
trust among members of the school
suggests ways the central office can help teachers and
community has been found to be a more
administrators build collaboration skills.
powerful reform tool than structural
changes in improving student learning.
References
Which groups in your system should read
Bryk, A. & Schneider, B. (2003, March).
and reflect on the issue of trust. Why do
Trust in schools: A core resource for school reform.
you think that?
Educational Leadership, 60(6), 40-45.
This chapter argues that there is a
Deal, T. & Peterson, K. (1999). Shaping school
relationship between school culture and
culture: The heart of leadership. San Francisco, CA:
productivity. Namely, a positive and
Jossey-Bass.
collegial culture leads to higher levels of
DuFour, R., DuFour, B., Lopez, D., &
student achievement while supporting
Muhammad, A. (2006, Summer). Promises kept.
educators in reaching high learning
JSD, 27(3), 53-56.
standards. Do you have examples from
Hord, S. (2007, Summer). Learn in
your experience that illustrate the truth
community with others. JSD, 28(3), 39-40.
of this assertion? That argue against it?
Jerald, C. (2006, December). School
One of the underlying assumptions
culture: “The hidden curriculum.” The Center for
in this chapter is that school culture can
Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement.
be shaped. Do you believe that premise?
Retrieved from www.centerforcsri.org.
Why or why not?
Killion, J. (2006). Collaborative professional
Deal and Peterson propose that
learning in school and beyond: A tool kit for New Jersey
school leaders (both principals and
educators. National Staff Development Council and
teacher leaders) attack negativity within
New Jersey Department of Education.
the culture. How should the system
Lieberman, A. (1999, Spring). Community
support these courageous acts?
means more than teamwork. Journal of Staff
Development, 20(2), 46-48.
Little, J.W. (2006, December). Professional
community and professional development in the Peterson, K.D. (2002, Summer). Positive or
learning-centered school. Washington, DC: NEA. negative. Journal of Staff Development, 23(3), 10-15.
Little, J.W. (1981, January). School success and Rosenholtz, S. (1991). Teachers’ workplace: The
staff development: The role of staff development in social organization of schools. NY: Teachers College
urban desegregated schools. Boulder, CO: Center for Press.
Action Research. Saphier, J. & King, M. (1985, March).
Marzano, R. (2003). What works in schools: Good seeds grow in strong cultures. Educational
Translating research into action. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Leadership, 42(6), 67-74.

Tool 7.1 Culture Is...
Purpose: To identify the elements of culture that currently exist within the school
Group Size: 4-5 people
Time: 10-15 minutes per item
Materials: Culture is… cut into slips and placed in a box
Directions:
1. Form small groups that cross grade levels or content areas within the school. Include those who are new to
the school along with those who are veteran to the school.
2. Draw one of the elements of culture from the box; that item becomes the focus of the group conversation.
3. Have each person reflect and write his or her own experience with this aspect of school culture. For
example: The kind of humor I experience in this school would be described as…
4. Ask each person to read his or her reflections to the other subgroup members. The group then discusses
patterns or trends they find among these reflections. Subgroup members write a summary statement for
their subgroup and share the summary with the whole group.
5. When a number of items have been discussed and examined, school faculty and the principal discuss this
question: “Is this what we want our school culture to be?”
6. The principal or school improvement committee could decide to have these conversations at the
beginning of each faculty meeting over the course of a year.
Culture is…
How we meet Metaphors we use about the school

Our symbols Our humor
Our stories Our rituals
Our use of space Our rewards
How we greet strangers How we communicate
Our sacred cows Time issues
How mistakes are dealt with Our celebrations
Our heroes and heroines How we learn
How we view hurdles and challenges Our tribal rules
How we deal with deviance from common practice How we approach new problems
How we deal with angry parents How leaders lead
How we get better at what we do How we induct new people
Our status symbols Our taboos
Source: Champion, R. (1993). Tools for change workshops. Oxford, OH: National Staff Development Council.

Tool 7.2 School culture survey 
Tools For Schools

School culture survey
The professional staff in this school use their talents and knowledge to help each other
 with challenges and needs.
 Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree

This school encourages and supports experimentation with new ideas and techniques.

 Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree

 This school has high expectations for teachers and administrators.
 Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree


Staff and students in this school trust and have confidence in each other.

Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree

 Time and resources are available to support teachers to do their best work.
 Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree

Teachers and leaders in this school reach out to a knowledge base to inform their work

with students and with each other.

 Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree

 Good teaching is recognized and appreciated by the school and community.
 Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree


This school culture values caring, celebration, and humor.



 School leaders consistently involve staff in discussing and making decisions about most
 school issues.
 Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree


School administrators keep meetings and paperwork to a minimum in order to protect

teachers’ instructional and planning time.
The school has traditions in both curriculum and recurrent events that are significant
and known by all.
Honest, open communications exist among staff members.

April/May 2001


Tool 5.2 Audit of the culture starts with two handy tools CHAPTER 5
Tool 7.3 An audit of the culture starts with two handy tools
Collaborative professional learning in school and beyond: A tool kit for New Jersey educators 69
A Tool Kit forprofessional

Collaborative Quality Professional
learning inDevelopment in Arkansas
school and beyond: A tool kit for New Jersey educators 70 370
JSD Summer 2002 National Staff Development Council 44

Note: To gain the most complete view of your school’s culture, this assessment is best taken by all
members of the school staff.
Note: To gain the most complete view of your school’s culture, this assessment is best taken by all
members of the school staff.


* Note: Informal observations are not formal supervisory observations.



Tool 7.4 Positive or negative

a t i s s u e
C U L T U R E
POSITIVE
A school’s culture is always at work, either helping
or hindering adult learning. Here’s how to see it,
assess it, and change it for the better
B y K E N T D . P E T E R S O N
E
© Kent D. Peterson. All rights reserved.
very organization has a culture, that history and underlying set

of unwritten expectations that shape everything about the
school. A school culture influences the ways people think, feel,
and act. Being able to understand and shape the culture is key
to a school’s success in promoting staff and student learning. As
Fullan (2001) recently noted,“Reculturing is the name of the game.”
When a school has a positive, professional culture, one finds meaningful staff devel-
opment, successful curricular reform, and the effective use of student performance data.
In these cultures, staff and student learning thrive. In contrast, a school with a negative or
toxic culture that does not value professional learning, resists change, or devalues staff
development hinders success. School culture will have either a positive or a detrimental
impact on the quality and success of staff development.
WHAT IS SCHOOL CULTURE?
School culture is the set of norms, values and beliefs, rituals and ceremonies,
symbols and stories that make up the “persona” of the school. These unwritten expecta-
tions build up over time as teachers, administrators, parents, and students work together,
Collaborative and collegial solve problems, deal with challenges and, at times, cope with failures. For example, every
relationships are part of the school has a set of expectations about what can be discussed at staff meetings, what
culture of a professional
learning community. ■
Kent D. Peterson is a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. You can contact him at 1025 W.
Johnson St., Madison,WI 53706, (608) 263-2720, fax (608) 265-3135, e-mail: kpeterson@education.wisc.edu.
10 National Staff Development Council JSD Summer 2002

or NEGATIVE
constitutes good teaching techniques, how bility for the learning of all students;
willing the staff is to change, and the ● Collaborative, collegial relationships;
importance of staff development (Deal & and
Peterson, 1999). ● Opportunities for staff reflection,
Schools also have rituals and cere- collective inquiry, and sharing personal
monies — communal events to celebrate practice.
success, to provide closure during collec- (Stein, 1998; Lambert, 1998; Fullan,
tive transitions, and to recognize people’s 2001; DuFour & Eaker, 1998; Hord,
contributions to the school. School 1998).
cultures also include symbols and stories In addition, these schools often have
that communicate core values, reinforce a common professional language,
the mission, and build a shared sense of communal stories of success, extensive
commitment. Symbols are an outward opportunities for quality professional
sign of inward values. Stories are g roup development, and ceremonies that cele-
representations of history and meaning. In brate improvement, collaboration, and
positive cultures, these features reinforce learning (Peterson & Deal, 2002). All of
learning, commitment, and motivation, these elements build commitment, forge
and they are consistent with the school’s motivation, and foster learning for staff
vision. and students.
POSITIVE VS. TOXIC CULTURES Some schools have the opposite —
While there is no one best culture, negative subcultures with “toxic” norms
recent research and knowledge of and values that hinder growth and
successful schools identify common learning. Schools with toxic cultures lack
features in professional learning commu- a clear sense of purpose, have norms that
nities. In these cultures, staff, students, reinforce inertia, blame students for lack
and administrators value learning, work to of progress, discourage collaboration, and
enhance curriculum and instruction, and often have actively hostile relations
focus on students. In schools with profes- among staff. These schools are not
sional learning communities, the culture healthy for staff or students.
possesses: By actively addressing the negativity
● A widely shared sense of purpose and and working to shape more positive
values; cultures, staff and principals can turn A negative culture can include
● Norms of continuous learning and around many of these schools. Principals hostile relationships among staff.
improvement; are key in addressing negativity and
● A commitment to and sense of responsi- hostile relations.
JSD Spring 2002 National Staff Development Council 11

a t i s s u e
C U L T U R E
STAFF DEVELOPMENT believe they have anything new to learn,

School culture enhances or hinders or they believe the only source for new
GANADO PRIMARY SCHOOL professional learning. Culture enhances ideas is trial-and-error in one’s own class-
Ganado Unified School District #20
Ganado, Ariz. professional learning when teachers room. Anyone who shares a new idea
believe professional development is from a book, workshop, or article is
Grades: K-2
Enrollment: 405
important, valued, and “the way we do laughed at.
Staff: 29 teachers things around here.” Professional develop- In these schools, positive views of
Racial/ethnic mix: ment is nurtured when the school’s professional learning are countercultural.
White: 1% history and stories include examples of Those who value learning are criticized.
Black: 0%
Hispanic: 0%
meaningful professional learning and a The positive individuals may either leave
Asian/Pacific Islander: 0% group commitment to improvement. the school (reinforcing the culture) or
Native American: 99% Staff learning is reinforced when become outcasts, seeking support with
Other: 0% sharing ideas, working collaboratively to like-minded staff.
Limited English proficient: 75%
Languages spoken: Navajo and English
learn, and using newly learned skills are POSITIVE PORTRAIT
Free/reduced lunch: 92% recognized symbolically and orally in Ganado Primary School
Special education: 6.9% faculty meetings and other school cer e- One of the best examples of a school
Contact: Sigmund A. Boloz, principal monies. For example, in one school, staff
Ganado Primary School culture that supports professional develop-
P.O. Box 1757
meetings begin with the story of a posi- ment is Ganado Primary School in
Ganado,AZ 86505 tive action a teacher took to help a student Ganado, Ariz. Located in one of the
Phone: (928) 755-1020 — a ceremonial school coffee cup is poorest counties in America in the Four
Fax: (928) 755-1085 presented to the teacher and a round of
E-mail: Corners area of the Southwest, Ganado
sigmund.boloz@ganado.k12.az.us
applause follows. did not always have a strong professional
The most positive cultures value community. Over time, Sigmund Boloz,
staff members who help lead their own the principal, and his staff developed a
development, create well-defined strong, professional culture that supports
improvement plans, organize study staff and student learning.
groups, and learn in a variety of ways.
WISCONSIN HILLS MIDDLE SCHOOL Cultures that celebrate, recognize, and
School District of Elmbrook support staff learning bolster professional
Brookfield, Wisc.
community.
Grades: 6-8 Negative cultures can seriously
Enrollment: 930
impair staff development. Negative norms
Staff: 80 teachers
Racial/ethnic mix: and values, hostile relations, and
White: 88% pessimistic stories deplete the culture. In
Black: 4% one school, for example, the only stories
Hispanic: 1%
of staff development depict boring,
Asian/Pacific Islander: 7%
Native American: 0% ill-defined failures. Positive experi-
Other: 0% ences are attacked — they don’t
Limited English proficient: 1% fit the cultural norms. In another
Languages spoken: English
school, teachers are socially ostra-
Free/reduced lunch: 6%
Special education: 12% cized for sharing their positive
Contact: Shelby Cosner, (former prin- experiences at workshops or
cipal), coordinator for K-12 Continuous training programs. At this school’s
Improvement for Student Learning
faculty meetings, no one is
School District of Elmbrook Central
Administration Office allowed to share interesting or
13780 Hope St. useful ideas learned in a workshop.
P.O. Box 1830 Positive news about staff development
Brookfield, WI 53008-1830
opportunities goes underground for In some schools,
Phone: (262) 781-3030 ext. 1114
Fax: (262) 783-0983 those who still value personal learning teachers do not believe
E-mail: cosners@elmbrook.k12.wi.us (Deal & Peterson, 1999). they have anything new to learn.
In some schools, professional devel-
opment is not valued, teachers do not

a t i s s u e
C U L T U R E
Everyone in the school is viewed as

a learner: staff, students, principal,
community members. Opportunities for
learning abound. For example, all
teachers have support to be trained in a
reading intervention program called CLIP
(Collaborative Literacy Intervention
Project). Teachers are invited to regular
“curriculum conversations” to discuss
new ideas and share experiences.
The presence of a staff professional
library symbolically communicates the
importance of learning. The school has
amassed 4,000 professional books and
400 videotapes on effective teaching and
other professional issues. The community
has an academy for parents every year to
help improve parenting skills. New
learning is encouraged and supported.
Staff members feel responsible for
improving their own skills and knowledge
to help students learn. They regularly
recount stories of successfully using new Principals can learn the history of the school
ideas. The staff expects and encourages by talking to the school’s storytellers —
collaboration and sharing. In short, they are the staff who enjoy recounting history.
professional learning is valued in the
culture (Deal & Peterson, 1999).
Wisconsin Hills Middle School regular “D” Days (staff development the “Grapevine.” These rituals brought
Shelby Cosner, the first principal of days) every other Thursday. They always them together around humor and stories.
Wisconsin Hills Middle School in shared food during meetings, a communal Study groups also helped extend the
Brookfield, Wisc., hoped to build a school symbol of collegiality and a bond for the culture as teams investigated new
culture that valued and sustained profes- group as it studied new approaches to approaches to their craft. The deep discus-
sional learning. It did not occur differentiating instruction and integrating sions that transpired drew people together
immediately. Initial hiring brought in a technology. Sharing food became a school around shared ideas.
strong staff, but from many different ritual. A new department provided the Beginning- and end-of-school tradi-
schools. food each meeting. One team brought tions reinforced the culture. Staff planted
Over time, she and the staff devel- different ice cream treats to symbolize seeds one spring to symbolize the
oped a culture that nurtured and valued their learning to differentiate their “planting and growing” that was occur-
professional learning. She and her staff teaching to address varied students’needs ring through their investment in
envisioned a culture where staff members and interests. professional development. In June, a
were interested in job-embedded learning, Each “D” Day meeting began with documentary video that showcased the
passionate about professional develop- professional or personal stories of cele- year’s accomplishments and milestones
ment, and committed to collaborative bration. Staff shared stories about what a was shared. In all these activities, staff
dialogue about teaching. She sought student had accomplished or a personal shaped, nurtured, and reinforced the
teachers who were likely to share these story about themselves or their families. culture. Eventually, a deep commitment to
values, but the culture was actively Humor and joking became measures of collaborative, job-embedded staff devel-
nurtured through symbols, stories, and connectedness. Eventually, teachers made opment became “the way we do things
traditions as well as quality professional storytelling into a contest, with the staff around here.”
learning. voting for the best funny classroom or LEARNING COMMUNITIES
For example, the staff discussed and school story and the winner receiving a Principals and other school leader s
developed a set of core themes and values “Fabulous Prize.” Stories were then can and should shape school culture. They
that guided learning. They scheduled shared in the regular school newsletter, do this through three key processes. First,

a t i s s u e
C U L T U R E
they read the culture, understanding the ASSESS THE CULTURE

culture’s historical source as well as Staff and administrators should then
analyzing current norms and values. look at what they have learned about the
Second, they assess the culture, deter- culture and ask two central questions:
mining which elements of the culture ● What aspects of the culture are positive
support the school’s core purposes and the and should be reinforced?
mission, and which hinder achieving ● What aspects of the culture are negative
valued ends. Finally, they actively shape and harmful and should be changed?
the culture by reinforcing positive aspects The staff can also ask: What norms
and working to transform negative aspects and values support learning? Which
of the culture (Peterson & Deal, 2002). depress or hinder the growth of energy,
READ THE CULTURE motivation, and commitment? What
Principals can learn the history of symbols or ceremonies are dead and
the school by talking to the school’s dying and need to be buried — or need to
storytellers (they are the staff who enjoy be resuscitated?
recounting history), looking through prior There are other approaches as well.
school improvement plans for signals One way to assess the culture is to use the
about what is really important, not just School Culture Survey (Tools for Schools,
what is required, or using a faculty 2001) to examine core norms and values.
meeting to discuss what the school has Collect the survey results to see how
experienced, especially in staff develop- strongly held different norms or values
ment, over the past two decades. It is are, then determine whether they fit the
important to examine contemporary culture the school wants.
aspects of the culture — a series of exer- SHAPE THE CULTURE
cises can determine the core norms and There are many ways to reinforce
values, rituals, and ceremonies of the the positive aspects of the culture.
school, and their meanings. For example, Staff leaders and principals can:
asking each staff member to list six adjec- ● Celebrate successes in staff meetings
tives to describe the school, asking staff to and ceremonies;
tell a story that characterizes what the ● Tell stories of accomplishment and
school is about, or having staff write collaboration whenever they have the
metaphors describing the school can opportunity; and
reveal aspects of the school culture. ● Use clear, shared language created
Fill in the culture picture by
One approach asks staff to complete developing a timeline of rituals
during professional development to foster
the following metaphor: “If my school a commitment to staff and student
and ceremonies for the year —
were an animal it would be a learning.
asking when they occur, what
____________, because___________.” Leaders also can reinforce norms
symbols and values are important
The principal then looks for themes and and values in their daily work, their
in each, and what the ceremonies
patterns. Are the animals strong, words, and their interactions. They can
communicate about the school
nurturing, hostile, loners, or herd establish rituals and traditions that make
and its commitment to profes-
animals? Are the animals stable or staff development an opportunity for
changeable? These metaphors can suggest sional learning. culture building as well as learning. As
deeper perceptions of the culture. we saw at Wisconsin Hills Middle School,
Finally, developing a timeline of all workshops began with sharing food
rituals and ceremonies for the year — and stories of success with students. At
asking when they occur, what symbols Is it joyful, sorrowful, congenial, or stand- other times, leaders can reinforce quality
and values are important in each, and offish? What are the rites and rituals of professional learning by providing addi-
what the ceremonies communicate about the gathering? What traditions keep going tional resources to implement new ideas,
the school and its commitment to profes- year-to-year, and what do they represent? by recognizing those committed to
sional learning — can fill in the culture Is the last gathering of the year a time for learning their craft, and by continuously
picture. For example, what does the end- closure, goodbyes, and a sharing of hopes supporting quality opportunities for
of-the year staff gathering communicate? for the future? informal staff learning and collaboration.

a t i s s u e
C U L T U R E
Staff and administrators may also

need to change negative and harmful
aspects of the culture. This is not easy. It
is done by addressing the negative
directly, finding examples of success to
counteract stories of failure, impeding
those who try to sabotage or criticize staff
learning, and replacing negative stories of
professional development with concrete
positive results.
CONCLUSION
Today, shaping culture is even more
important because of the national focus
on higher curriculum standards, assess-
ments, and accountability.
Standards-based reform efforts
attempt to align content, teaching, and
assessment. But without a culture that
supports and values these structural
changes, these reforms can fail.
Schools need both clear structures
and strong, professional cultures to foster
teacher learning. Carefully designed
curriculum and assessments are keys to
RESOURCES
successful reform, along with teacher
professional development. The school’s
● Shaping School Culture Fieldbook, by Terrence Deal and Kent Peterson.
culture either supports or sabotages
(Jossey-Bass, 2002).
quality professional learning. Developing
This new book describes ways to shape school cultur e. It includes
and sustaining a positive, professional
concrete tactics, reflective questions, and group activities that can be used with
culture that nurtures staff learning is the
school staffs to read, assess, and transform their cultures.
task of everyone in the school. With a
strong, positive culture that supports ● “Shared Culture:A Consensus of Individual Values,” by Joan Richardson.
professional development and student Results. May 2001.
learning, schools can become places This article describes a school that has developed a deep professional
where every teacher makes a difference culture. Excellent concrete examples are provided of how one school shaped its
and every child learns. culture.
REFERENCES
Deal, T.E. & Peterson, K.D. (1999). Shaping ● “School Culture Survey.” Tools For Schools, April/May 2001.
school culture: The heart of leadership. San This survey can be used with school staffs to assess underlying norms and
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
DuFour, R. & Eaker, R. (1998). Professional
values. The survey provides an excellent tool for assessing the culture.
learning communities at work: Best practices for
enhancing student achievement. Bloomington, ● “Norms Put the Golden Rule Into Practice for Groups,” by Joan Richardson.
Ind.:National Educational Service. Tools For Schools, August/September 1999.
Fullan, M. (2001). Leading in a culture of change.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
This article discusses the importance of positive norms and ways to build
Hord, S. (1998). Creating a professional learning these group norms with a school team. A wealth of suggestions can be used to
community: Cottonwood Creek School. build positive group norms.
Washington,DC: Office of Educational Research
and Improvement. (ERIC Document Reproduction
No. ED424685).
Lambert, L. (1998). Building leadership capacity Stein, M. (1998). High performance learning com- and Improvement. (ERIC Document Reproduction
in schools. Alexandria, VA:ASCD. munities District 2: Report on Year One implemen- No. ED429263).
Peterson, K.D. & Deal, T.E. (2002). Shaping tation of school learning communities. High per-
school culture fieldbook. San Francisco: Jossey- formance training communities project. Richardson, J. (2001, April/May). School culture
Bass. Washington,DC: Office of Educational Research survey. Tools For Schools, 3. ■

Tool 7.5 Change agent
interview / MICHAEL FULLAN
Change agent
‘We’re talking about a change in the culture
of schools and a change in the culture of teaching’
work together and focus on student knowledge, a powerful way to

learning. But they must be infused improve the quality of teaching in
with high-quality curriculum materi- schools, it seems to me, is to spread
als and assessment information about the practices of these “positive deviant
student learning. David Cohen and teachers” throughout the school.
Heather Hill, for instance, describe Fullan: The effective schools
three policy levers — assessment, cur- research found that classroom-to-
riculum, and teacher learning. They classroom differences in effectiveness
say if those levers aren’t pulled togeth- within schools is greater than school-
Michael Fullan
er, schools can’t get very far. Milbrey to-school varia- “We need far more intensive
McLaughlin and Joan Talbert found tion. Professional
two types of learning communities. In learning commu- professional learning within a
BY DE NN IS SPA R K S one of them, teachers work together nities internal to culture of continuous
J
to innovate to improve their teaching a school should
SD: When I first intervie wed practices. In the second type, teachers reduce the varia- deliberation.”
you 10 years ago for an NSDC interacted around their traditional tion across classrooms with more and
publication, you said, “We teaching practices, which simply rein- more teachers gravitating toward the
know that the best way for forced those things that weren’t work- best practices.
people to learn about new ing in the first place. Positive deviant teachers can be
policies and innovations is through This research tells us two things. used within and across schools. They
interaction with other people.” Some First, we need far more intensive pro- have to get outside their classrooms,
types of interaction are more helpful fessional learning within a culture of though, both within their schools and
than others, though, and I’d like to continuous deliberation. Second, it to link to what’s going on in other
hear your views on the kinds of rela- has to be continually tested by exter- schools — to learn from other teach-
tionships that are most powerful in nal ideas or standards about best prac- ers as well as contribute to them.
promoting innovations in teaching tices. Outside curriculum ideas and
and leadership for the benefit of stu- student assessment information help CULTURE IS KEY
dents. ensure that the process isn’t too insu- JSD: In the May 2002 issue of
Fullan: It has become increasingly lar. Educational Leadership, you wrote an
clear from various sources that we article about leadership for cultural
need professional learning communi- SPREAD POSITIVE DEVIANCE change. Before we turn to what you
ties in which teachers and leaders JSD: Virtually all schools have said, I’d like you to respond to some-
some teachers who produce high lev- thing Roland Barth said in that same
DENNIS SPARKS is executive director of the els of learning for students. In addi- issue: “Probably the most important
National Staff Development Council. tion to drawing on outside sources of — and the most difficult — job of an
NATIONAL STAFF DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL (800) 727-7288 VOL. 24, NO. 1 WINTER 2003 JSD 55

instructional leader is to change the action. When you cross these dimen- MICHAEL FULLAN
prevailing culture of a school. ... A sions you get a very revealing look at
POSITION: Michael Fullan is dean of
school’s culture has far more influence the last four decades of reform. the Ontario Institute for Studies in
on life and learning in the school- In the 1970s, “uninformed profes- Education of the University of Toronto.
house than the president of the coun- sional judgment” guided teaching. In He also is a researcher, consultant, train-
er, and policy adviser on a wide range of
try, the state department of education, the 1980s, “uninformed prescriptions” educational change projects with school
the superintendent, the school board, provided through the accountability systems, teachers federations, research
or even the principal, teachers, and movement were a driving force. In the and development institutes, and govern-
ment agencies in Canada and interna-
parents can ever have.” Of course, 1990s, England had what it called
tionally. He has published widely on the
while the principal, teachers, and par- “informed prescription” because the topic of educational change.
ents can have a large effect on a prescription was based on sound EDUCATION: Fullan has bachelor’s,
school’s culture, Barth is writing knowledge and curriculum. master’s, and doctorate degrees in sociol-
about the power of a school ’s culture “Informed professional judgment” ogy from the University of Toronto.
to shape professional learning and stu- is now the goal in England. We are PROFESSIONAL HISTORY: He has
served as policy implementation adviser
dent achievement. talking with English policy makers to the Minister of Education and
Fullan: Barth’s observation is about the kinds of strategies that are Training (Ontario) on the Report of the
right on. The question for me, necessary to go from the informed Royal Commission on Learning, was
dean of the faculty of education at the
though, is how prescriptions that have helped them University of Toronto, and assistant aca-
“The two themes we’ve been we get high-qual- make progress in literacy and numera- demic director and professor of sociolo-
ity cultures in cy to informed professional judgment gy at the Ontario Institute for Studies in
interested in since 1990 have Education (OISE). He has also served as
schools on a large that would actually change the cul-
chairperson and professor in the OISE
been large-scale reform and scale. The two tures of schools. These policies would Department of Sociology.
themes we’ve reduce the unnecessary workload of BOOKS: His most recent books are
sustainability.”
been interested in teachers, create more contact time Leading in a Culture of Change (Jossey-
since 1990 have been large-scale among teachers to improve what they Bass, 2001), for which he received the
National Staff Development Council’s
reform and sustainability. are doing, and develop more effective Book of the Year Award for 2002, and
For the past four years, we have leadership at all levels. The New Meaning of Educational
been working in England evaluating Change, 3rd Edition (Teachers College
Press, 2001). He has also published
that country’s literacy and numeracy INVEST IN LEADERS Change Forces: The Sequel (Falmer Press,
strategies. Test scores in these areas JSD: In your article in that same 1999), Change Forces: Probing the Depths
have significantly increased from issue of Educational Leadership, you of Educational Reform (Falmer Press,
1993), and the What’s Worth Fighting
1996 to 2002. While we’ve acknowl- said that “Cultural change principals
For series (Teachers College Press).
edged their success, we’ve said that display palpable energy, enthusiasm,
ACCOMPLISHMENTS: An innovator
this is just a baby step in terms of and hope.” It’s my sense that many and leader in teacher education, Fullan
deeper changes that are necessar y. principals today feel more resigned has developed a number of partnerships
These deeper changes involve closing than hopeful because they often feel designed to bring about major school
improvement and educational reform.
the achievement gap between high caught between very difficult prob- He is currently leading the evaluation
and low performers, developing stu - lems that require resolution and other team conducting a four-year assessment
dents’ thinking and problem-solving people’s prescriptions for how they of the National Literacy and Numeracy
Strategy in England. He is also conduct-
skills, attending to students’ social and should be solved. ing with colleagues training, research
emotional development, and funda- Fullan: Investment in leadership and evaluation of literacy initiatives in
mentally changing the culture of development is important. Getting several school districts, including the
Toronto School District Board, York
schools. beyond resignation and the passive
Region, Peel and Edmonton Catholic
English policy makers have dependency that has been created by School District.
devised an interesting formulation. the prescriptions of the past 10 years TO CONTINUE THIS CONVERSATION
Imagine a four-part table. One requires a different kind of socializa- with Michael Fullan, contact him at the
dimension contrasts teachers who are tion for principals. In England, they Ontario Institute for Studies in
Education, University of Toronto, 252
knowledge-poor with those who are have created the National College of Bloor St. W., 12th Floor, Toronto,
knowledge-rich, which can be termed School Leadership to develop leaders Ontario, Canada M5S IV6, (416) 923-
uninformed or informed. The other on a much larger scale. In District 2 6641, ext. 3223, fax (416) 971-2293, e-
mail: mfullan@oise.utoronto.ca.
dimension contrasts prescription and in New York City, they deliberately
professional judgment as sources of built the capacity of principals
56 JSD WINTER 2003 VOL. 24, NO. 1 WWW.NSDC.ORG NATIONAL STAFF DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL

through various processes such as “Ultimately, no amount of outside The cognitive sciences teach us
intervisitations during which princi- intervention can produce the motiva- that if information is to become
pals developed deeper understanding tion and specificity of best solutions knowledge, a social process is
not only of their own schools, but for every setting.” Many teachers and required. This makes great pedagogi-
other schools as well. principals don’t see their work as cal sense. Information stays as infor-
knowledge generation and dissemina- mation until people work through it
IMPROVE RELATIONSHIPS tion and often, for a number of rea- together in solving problems and
JSD: In your article, you also sons, feel very dependent on external achieving goals. This is why assess-
wrote, “The single factor common to innovations and experts. Yet you are ment literacy, when teachers collec-
successful change is that relationships saying that it may be a mistake to tively focus on student performance
improve. If relationships improve, seek external innovation. and develop action plans to improve
schools get better. If relationships Fullan: People in schools should it, is so powerful. Changing the cul-
remain the same or get worse, ground not take shortcuts in their search for ture is even more important because it
is lost.” I’m curious about what you’ve clarity and solutions. They need to establishes norms of continuous inter-
learned about affecting the quality of engage with all kinds of ideas to action. So, information becomes
relationships in schools among teach- improve what they are doing, but not knowledge through a social process,
ers and between teachers and princi- adopt external programs that foster and knowledge becomes wisdom
pals. dependency. I want schools to con- through sustained interaction.
Fullan: Through our districtwide stantly sift and integrate the best ideas
training of school teams, we’ve from the field, not adopt external pro- BUILD TEACHER DEPTH
learned that structural barriers make it grams. JSD: What have the cognitive sci-
difficult for people to have time to get Whole-school reform models ences taught us about helping educa-
together and that cultural barriers make the mistake of thinking that a tors develop deep understanding of
cause teachers to resist interacting comprehensive external reform model innovations as opposed to skimming
with each other in new ways. will solve the coherence problem their surface features?
To address these problems, we within schools. It doesn’t work Fullan: If you don’t have a strate-
offer seven or eight days of training a because it feeds into the dependency gy conducive to teacher understand-
year for teams that include the princi- of teachers and principals. In other ing, you can’t get to student under-
pal and two teacher leaders. We pro- words, when schools or districts adopt standing. Part of the problem is that
vide evidence of the connection external models, which in itself is not the culture of schools is amenable to
between well-executed professional always a bad thing, they fail to focus superficial rather “The culture of schools is
learning communities and student on changing the culture of the school, than deep solu-
amenable to superficial rather
learning. We also provide skills in and consequently the models fail to tions. As David
areas such as dealing with resistance. become embedded. Cohen, Richard than deep solutions.”
We teach about assessment, and In my view, teaching is an intel- Elmore, and oth-
teachers look at student work. As a lectual and scientific profession, as ers have argued, teachers need daily,
result, student learning improves and well as a moral profession. That in-depth opportunities to build up
teachers become ambassadors to means that schools have to constantly the knowledge and capacity to carry
teachers in other schools. process knowledge about what works out the deeper reforms envisaged in
and that teachers have to see them- the best curriculum frameworks. This
LIMIT EXTERNAL SOLUTIONS selves as scientists who continuously requires a radical change in the norms
JSD: In your Educational develop their intellectual and inves - and working conditions of teachers
Leadership article, you wrote, tigative effectiveness. and administrators and, in fact, the
“Creating and sharing knowledge is When I look at cases of successful teaching profession as a whole.
central to effective leadership,” and businesses, I see explicit discussion
“Principals not attuned to leading in a about knowledge development and ASSUMPTIONS SHAPE PRACTICE
culture of change make the mistake of knowledge sharing. Collaboration as JSD: You’ve written about the
seeking external innovations and tak- an end in itself was not the goal; what relationship between educators’ beliefs
ing on too many projects.” And in the these businesses cared about was and their practices. In The New
third edition of The New Meaning of whether people in the organization Meaning of Educational Change, you
Educational Change (Teachers College added knowledge and contributed to wrote, “The assumptions we make
Press, 2001), you observed, other people’s knowledge development. about change are powerful and fre-
NATIONAL STAFF DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL (800) 727-7288 VOL. 24, NO. 1 WINTER 2003 JSD 57

quently subconscious sources of checklist, always complexity. There is the social and moral environment.
action.” The same might be said no step-by-step shortcut to transfor- Moral purpose is more than passion-
about educators’ assumptions about mation; it involves the hard, day-to- ate teachers trying to make a differ-
learning, teaching, and leadership. day work of reculturing.” ence in their classrooms. It’s also the
Fullan: Leaders who are effective Fullan: We’re talking about a context of the school and district in
operate from powerful conceptions, change in the culture of schools and which they work. That means princi-
not from a set of techniques. The key, a change in the culture of teaching. pals have to be almost as concerned
then, is to build up leaders’ concep- We know that when we think about about the success of other schools in
tions of what it means to be a leader. change we have to get ownership, the district as they are about their
I’ve identified five conceptions — participation, and a own schools.
Moral purpose is more than
moral purpose, relationship building, sense of meaning The strategies that
knowledge generation, understanding on the part of the passionate teachers trying t o have provided some
the change process, and coherence vast majority of initial success in areas
make a difference in their
building. These conceptions can be teachers. You can’t such as literacy and
fostered, but they must be fostered get ownership classrooms. It’s also the numeracy are not the
through a socialization process that through technical strategies, though, that
develops leaders as reflective practi- means; you have to context of the school and will take us to a deeper
tioners. If leaders are taught tech- get it through district in which they work. transformation that
niques without conceptions, the tech- interaction, will enact the cogni-
niques will fail. Techniques are tools through developing people, through tive science agenda of problem solving
that must serve a set of conceptual attention to what students are learn- and thinking skills, reculture schools,
understandings. When conceptions ing. and close the gap between high- and
and techniques go hand-in-hand, we Reculturing is the main work of low-performing students.
create breakthroughs. leadership, and it requires an underly- To achieve these ends, we must
ing conceptualization of the key ele- tap the energy that comes from moral
LEADERS MUST RECULTURE ments that feed it. One of the con- purpose. We are now just at the very
JSD: You’ve written, “Educational ceptualizations I mentioned a early stages of a qualitative transfor-
change is technically simple and moment ago is moral purpose. mation that is a revolution in the
socially complex,” and “Never a Sustainability is based on changes in teaching profession. ■
58 JSD WINTER 2003 VOL. 24, NO. 1 WWW.NSDC.ORG NATIONAL STAFF DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL

Tool 7.6 ‘Collaboration lite’ puts student achievement on a starvation diet

leading edge / RICK DuFOUR
‘Collaboration lite’ such as tardiness, students failing to complete homework,

the supervision rotation for recess, whether the school per-
puts student achievement mits classroom parties, and so on.
on a starvation diet Some leaders cite teachers’ willingness to work togeth-
er to create schoolwide programs and events as evidence of
a collaborative culture. They contend, correctly, that staff
I
n my previous column, I argued that 1) a professional must demonstrate high levels of cooperation to plan and
is obligated to seek and apply best practice when serv- execute the annual school picnic, science fair, or career
ing clients; 2) it is evident that the best practice for day. Elementary principals may point to how well their
meeting the needs of students and improving professional teachers work together to build a schedule that allows stu-
practice in schools is to build a collaborative culture; and dents to move from one classroom to another for instruc-
3) educational leaders should, therefore, focus their tion in specific content. Many leaders organize the staff
improvement efforts on building a collaborative culture in into committees to oversee school operations — discipline,
their districts and schools. technology, social, community involvement, etc.
Calls for a collaborative culture come from leading All the initiatives and projects described have, at one
educational researchers who use unusually emphatic lan- time or another, been offered as examples of a
guage. Milbrey McLaughlin and Joan Talbert (2001) school’s commitment to collaboration. All of
found that effective high schools and effective departments the activities can be worthwhile. Although
within high schools were characterized by powerful profes- there is little evidence that teacher congeniality
sional collaboration. Kenneth Eastwood and Karen and social interactions impact student achieve-
Seashore Louis (1992) concluded that creating a collabora- ment (Marzano, 2003), life is certainly more
tive environment featuring cooperative problem solving pleasant if we enjoy the company of those with
was the single most important factor in successful school whom we work. Including the staff in deci-
restructuring. Fred Newmann and Gary Wehlage (1995) sions about school procedures is generally
found that nurturing a professional collaborative culture preferable to unilateral decrees from the princi-
was one of the most significant factors in successful school pal. Special schoolwide events can enrich stu-
improvement efforts. Judith Warren Little (1990) advised dents’ experience. Coordinated teacher schedules In each issue of JSD, Rick
that effective collaboration between teachers was linked to can allow teachers to capitalize on individual DuFour writes about
effective leadership. His
gains in student achievement, higher quality solutions to strengths in meeting students’ needs. Schoolwide
columns can be found at
problems, increased self-efficacy among all staff, more sys- committees can encourage all staff to take an www.nsdc.org/library/
tematic assistance to beginning teachers, and an expanded interest in the school beyond their classrooms dufour.html.
pool of ideas, methods, and materials that benefited all and expand leadership opportunities. I am not
teachers. criticizing any of these practices. However, none of these
But what is collaboration? Although school and dis- can transform a school.
trict leaders acknowledge the benefits of a collaborative Leaders determined to impact student achievement
culture, they often have different ideas about what consti- must not settle for congeniality, coordination, delegating
tutes collaboration. Many equate collaboration with con- responsibilities, or any form of “collaboration lite.” They
geniality. They point to the camaraderie of the group — must promote a collaborative culture by defining collabo-
the secret Santa exchanges, recognition of birthdays, ration in narrow terms: the systematic process in which we
Friday afternoon social gatherings — as evidence of a col- work together to analyze and impact professional practice
laborative culture. in order to improve our individual and collective results.
Other leaders believe they are building a collaborative The first key term in this definition is systematic.
culture when they engage staff in developing consistent Teachers are not invited or encouraged to collaborate.
operational guidelines and procedures. They attempt to Collaboration is embedded in the routine practices of the
build consensus on how teachers respond to routine issues school. Teachers are organized into teams and provided
time to meet during the school day. They are provided
RICK DuFOUR is an educational consultant. You can contact him at
465 Island Pointe Lane, Moneta, VA 24121, (540) 721-4662, fax specific guidelines and asked to engage in specific activities
(540) 721-0382, e-mail: rdufour@district125.k12.il.us. that help them focus on student achievement. Teams
NATIONAL STAFF DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL (800) 727-7288 VOL. 24, NO. 4 FALL 2003 JSD 63

center dialogue around three critical questions: individual instruction.

• What is it we want our students to learn? There is a big push for schools to be more data-driven
• How will we know when each student has learned it? these days, but simply providing data to schools and
• How can we improve on current levels of student teachers does not translate into improved practice. Even
achievement? teachers who work in isolation can bury themselves in
None of this happens by chance. School leaders devel- data. For every assessment a teacher administers, he or she
op procedures to ensure all staff work together to focus can establish the mean, median, mode, range, percentage
constantly on those key questions. of As, percentage of Fs, standard deviations, and a host of
Second, the process is designed to impact professional other statistical facts for the test in general and for specific
practice. Staff members do more than analyze, reflect, dis- skills within the test. But unless teachers have a valid basis
cuss, or debate. They use collaboration as a catalyst to for comparison, they are denied insight into what they
change their practices. They continuously look for more have done well and what areas are most in need of
effective ways to help all students learn. improvement.
Third, the effectiveness of the collaborative process is Teachers who have the benefit of this useful informa-
assessed on results rather than perceptions, projects, or tion on a frequent, timely basis, along with support from a
positive intentions. Teams identify and pursue collaborative team, describe the process as energizing. But
True collaboration specific, measurable, results-oriented goals and true collaboration does not happen by chance or by invita-
look for evidence of student achievement as the tion. It happens only when leaders commit to creating the
does not happen by
barometer of their success. They shift the focus systems that embed collaboration in the routine practices
chance or by from teacher inputs (for example, whether of the school and when they provide teachers and teams
teachers accomplished their goal of creating a with the information and support essential to improve
invitation. It happens
new unit or implementing a new strategy) to practice.
only when leaders student outcomes — evidence that students are Effective school leaders will not settle for what is now
learning at higher levels. passing for collaboration in many schools. They will,
commit to creating
Leaders foster powerful professional collabo- instead, work with staff to create a systematic process in
the systems that ration when they engage teams of teachers in 1) which teachers work together to analyze and impact pro-
clarifying the essential knowledge and skills of a fessional practice to improve their individual and collective
embed collaboration particular grade level, course, or unit of instruc- results.
in the routine tion; 2) developing common assessments of stu-
dent learning; 3) analyzing results to identify REFERENCES
practices of the areas of strength and weakness for both individ- Eastwood, K. & Louis, K.S. (1992). Restructuring
school and when they ual teachers and the team; and 4) establishing that lasts: Managing the performance dip. Journal of
specific goals and action plans to improve stu- School Leadership, 2(2), 213-224.
provide teachers and dent achievement. Little, J.W. (1990). The persistence of privacy:
Schools cannot achieve the systematic, Autonomy and initiative in teachers’ professional relations.
teams with the
results-oriented collaboration that impacts Teachers College Record, 91(4), 509-536.
information and teacher practice unless teachers have both com- Marzano, R. (2003). What works in schools:
parative student achievement data and collegial Translating research into action. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
support essential to
support. McLaughlin, M.W. & Talbert, J.E. (2001).
improve practice. Teachers may work together to identify Professional communities and the work of high school teach-
common outcomes and develop common ing. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
assessments. If, however, each teacher has access only to Newmann, F.M. & Wehlage, G.G. (1995). Successful
the results of his or her students, without any comparison school restructuring: A report to the public and educators.
to other students in the school, team members will not be Madison, WI: Center on Organization and Restructuring
able to ascertain the strengths and weaknesses of their of Schools. ■
AN ENLIGHTENING P LACE T O VISIT: w w w. n s d c . o r g
64 JSD FALL 2003 VOL. 24, NO. 4 WWW.NSDC.ORG NATIONAL STAFF DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL

Tool 7.7 Community means more than teamwork
Community means more than teamwork

By Ann Lieberman
T
he concept of “professional inventing new ways of working with students were
community” is one of the most also developing a positive learning community with
powerful ideas affecting research their peers and creating new norms of colleagueship
and practice in staff development and openness. In this respect, they were also building
in the last decade. While the idea a counterforce to those teachers who blamed
that teachers need a professional community, that students for their lack of success, rather than looking
teachers who are supported by their colleagues are to the school, the department, and their own ways of
more likely to support students in their work, seems working as needing change and improvement.
obvious, “it ain’t necessarily so.” Subsequently, Newmann and Wehlage found
A community can also support traditional norms that a self-conscious professional community was
of practice, blaming students’ family conditions, a characteristic of schools that were deliberately
ethnicity, and lack of competence, instead of taking “restructuring’’ and were most successful with
responsibility for rethinking their own pedagogy and students. Professional community was made up of
practice. McLaughlin and Talbert, (1993) in their three salient features:
now well-known study of a number of secondary  Teachers pursued a clear, shared purpose for all
schools, first called our attention to the fact that students’ learning;
teachers’ professional communities can enable or  Teachers engaged in collaborative activity to
constrain teacher learning. They found that schools achieve their purposes; and
differed significantly when their professional  Teachers took collective responsibility for
communities were measured by (a) collegiality, (b) student learning.
support for learning, (c) faculty innovativeness, and Through this national sample of K-12 schools,
(d) professional commitment. the concept of professional community was now
During their five-year study, they observed further defined as an innovative school context
that teachers who took risks and were continually within which teachers learn new ways to work
Journal of Staff Development, Spring 1999 (Vol. 20, No. 2)

with students, build organizational supports that respect necessary to inquire into one’s own practice
encourage teachers to collaborate, and engage as well as the practice of others.
students in more active forms of authentic learning.
Understanding “inquiry” as a centerpiece of
External learning communities community
Many teachers still feel isolated from their peers But what are the conditions under which teachers
and go outside their school to find community for feel comfortable inquiring into their own practice?
their own growth, development, and support in Cochran-Smith and Lytle (in press) describe three
reform networks, school-university partnerships, and different conceptions of teacher learning and the
a variety of consortia and coalitions. While networks assumptions underlying each conception. They
are a powerful force, they’re also quite fragile. describe:
(Lieberman & Grolnick, 1997).  Knowledge for practice — research knowledge
Networks are powerful because teachers learn in to be applied by teachers;
a supportive environment, feel supported in taking  Knowledge in practice — knowledge that
risks, and find colleagues who openly talked about teachers gain through experience; and
shared concerns — qualities missing in their home  Knowledge of practice — knowledge that treats
schools. teaching and learning as problematic.
The fragility of the networks is manifested in Each of these conceptions interprets teacher
the organizational tensions that networks must learning differently. However, only when teachers see
embrace: negotiating between larger purposes their own practice as problematic and adopt inquiry
and the dailiness of activities that constitute a do they become involved in “challenging their own
network’s “work;” finding a balance between “inside- assumptions; identifying issues of practice; studying
knowledge” of practitioners and “outside knowledge” their own students and classrooms” (p.43). Seeing
of reformers and researchers; building collaborative knowledge in this way encourages teachers to use
governance structures neither too centralized nor too their own experience, and the research and practice
decentralized; being informal and flexible rather than of others, as they seek to improve. Central to this
rigidly holding on to forms and activities that no kind of inquiry is a professional community where
longer work; and deciding how inclusive or exclusive teachers help each other frame and name, not only
membership should be. the problems of practice, but also the problems of
Teachers are ambivalent about sharing what the larger context of which the school is a part.
they have developed over the years or accepting And, inevitably as teachers become more
research knowledge of scholars and reformers. conscious of their position in the school, they
Networks embrace this tension when they become more aware of their position in the world.
recognize teachers’ knowledge as legitimate and
important. When this happens, teachers become Ann Lieberman is a Senior Scholar at the Carnegie
more open to the outside — to their own peers as Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and
well as to other scholars and researchers. This aspect Professor at Stanford University, 995 Wing Pl.,
of community is critical — it builds commitment Stanford, CA 94305, (650) 494-8085, fax (650)
to lifelong learning and the confidence and self- 494-7912 or e-mail annl1@leland.stanford.edu.

References Stanford, CA: Center for Research on the Context of

Cochran-Smith, M. & Lytle, S.J. (in press). Secondary School Teaching. March.
Teacher learning in communities. Review of Research Newmann, F.M. & Wehlage, G. (1995).
in Education, Vol. 24. Ashgar Iran-Nejad and C.D. Successful school restructuring. Madison, WI: Center
Pearson (Eds.). Washington, DC: AERA. on Restructuring Schools.
Lieberman, A. & Grolnick, M. (1997, Fall). Parker, A. (1977). Networks for innovation
Networks and reform in American education. and problem solving and their use for improving
Teachers College Record, 98(1), 7-45. education: A comparative overview (unpublished
Little, J.W. (1993, Summer). Teachers’ manuscript).
professional development in a climate of reform. Runkel, P.J. (1978). Transforming the School’s
Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. Capacity for Problem Solving. Eugene, OR: Center
McLaughlin, M.W. & Talbert, J. (1993). for Educational Policy and Management, College of
Contexts that matter for teaching and learning. Education, University of Oregon.

Tool 7.8 Trust is the on-ramp to building collaboration and collegiality

FOCUS ON
NSDC’S
STANDARDS
Trust is the on-ramp to building

collaboration and collegiality
I
recently listened to teachers who The principal also needs to keep his or her
concluded that new forms of job- word. When principals do what they say and
embedded professional development follow-up with promised actions, staff members Pat Roy is co-author
could not be successful without trust. can believe their words. Principals also need to of Moving NSDC’s
Staff Development
Trust, it seemed, needed to be developed believe in teacher ability and willingness to Standards Into
between and among staff members as well as fulfill their responsibilities effectively. Trust is Practice: Innovation
between the principal and staff in order for built on a foundation of respect; a component of Configurations
teachers to embark on new and seemingly risky social respect is competence. Principals need to (NSDC, 2003).
form of professional development. show that they believe in teacher competence
Bryk and Schneider’s (2003) longitudinal and believe that educators operate with the best REFERENCES
study of 400 Chicago elementary interest of students in mind. Yet Bryk, A. &
schools reached the same conclu- trust can be undermined when Schneider, B. (2003,
Collaboration:
sion: “Recent research shows that incompetence is allowed to persist. March). Trust in
Staff development
social trust among teachers, As a result, the principal also needs schools: A core
that improves the
parents, and school leaders to address incompetence fairly and resource for school
learning of all
improves much of the routine work firmly. Bryk and Schneider’s study reform. Educational
students provides
of schools and is a key resource showed that trust within a school Leadership, 60(6), 40-
educators with the
for reform” (p. 40). They con- eroded quickly when the principal 45.
knowledge and skills
cluded that relational trust is did not tackle personnel issues
to collaborate. Rotter, J. (1980,
central to building effective related to incompetence.
October). Trust and
educational communities. Principals demonstrated
gullibility.
Trust, according to the authors, is elusive, competence by communicating a strong vision
Psychology Today,
engaging, and essential to meaningful school for the school and clearly defining expectations
14(5), 35-42, 102.
improvement. Trust is the expectation that that are upheld for all faculty members. These
another’s word, promise, or statement can be relied administrator skills allowed the school staff to Roy, P. & Hord, S.
upon (Rotter, 1980). Relational trust involves more accomplish common goals and maintain a (2003). Moving
than creating high morale; it is developed through cohesive professional community characterized NSDC’s staff
ongoing interaction each day as people work by collective responsibility for student learning. development
together on improving student learning. This cohesive community is lubricated by standards into
To encourage and build teacher collabora- respectful interaction and courtesy among practice: Innovation
tion and use job-embedded professional devel- administration and staff members. configurations.
opment strategies, principals need to build a Trust and respect is the on-ramp to building Oxford, OH:
school culture that is characterized by trust collaboration and collegiality. Trust is the National Staff
(Roy & Hord, 2003). Trust, in a school setting, “connective tissue that binds individuals Development
involves making educational decisions that put together to advance the education and welfare Council.
the interests of students above personal and of students” (Bryk & Schneider, 2003, p. 45).
political interests. Trust is built when teachers This means principals need to spend time Learn more about
believe student welfare and high levels of considering how interpersonal interactions build NSDC’s standards,
learning are the foundation of school decisions. trust and respect among staff. The principal www.nsdc.org/
When decisions seem to be based on personal or needs to monitor his or her actions and those of standards/
political factors, trust erodes. the staff to build and sustain trust. index.cfm
FEBRUARY 2007 I The Learning Principal National Staff Development Council I 800-727-7288 I www.nsdc.org 3

Tool 7.9 Culture shift doesn’t occur overnight — or without conflict

Culture shift doesn’t dissimilar in terms of size, geographic location, accessibility

to resources, and the students and the communities they
occur overnight — serve. Yet these schools share common themes.
One of the most evident commonalities is that the
or without conflict staff in each school is emphatic about and fixated on the
fundamental purpose of the school — high levels of learn-
S
taff members of every school face an inevitable ques- ing for all students. There is no ambiguity and no hedging
tion each year: What happens in our school when, about their goal. No one suggests that all kids will learn if
despite our best efforts in the classroom, a student they are conscientious, responsible, attentive, developmen-
does not learn? tally ready, fluent in English, and come from homes with
In traditional schools, the answer is left to the discre- concerned parents who take an interest in their education.
tion of the individual classroom teacher, who is free to There is no hint that staff members believe they can help
respond in different ways. The support a student will (or all kids learn if class sizes are reduced, more resources are
will not) receive depends on his or her teacher’s practices, made available, new textbooks are purchased, or more sup-
rather than a collective effort and a coordinated response. port staff are hired. In these four schools, staff
In truth, most schools play a form of educational lottery members embraced the premise that the very
with children. reason their schools exist is to help all their
In professional learning communities, however, schools students — every one of the flawed, imperfect
create a systematic response — processes to monitor each boys and girls who come to them each day —
student’s learning and to ensure that a student who strug- acquire essential knowledge and skills using
gles is provided additional time and support for learning the resources available to the school.
according to a schoolwide plan. Furthermore, the response The collective commitment to high levels
is timely. Students are identified as soon as they experience of learning for every student led these schools
difficulty, allowing the school to focus on intervention to assess the impact of their efforts and deci-
rather than remediation. The response is directive. sions based on tangible results. When teachers
Students are not invited to seek extra help; they are in a school are truly focused on student learning In each issue of JSD, Rick
required to receive the additional assistance and devote the as their primary mission, they inevitably seek DuFour writes about
effective leadership. His
extra time necessary to master the learning. valid methods to assess the extent and depth of
columns can be found at
This coordinated system of support for students never that learning. The teachers in these four schools www.nsdc.org/library/
occurs by chance. It can only occur when school leaders all found that frequent common assessments, authors/dufour.cfm
work with staff to develop a plan of intervention, carefully developed collaboratively and scored by every
monitor the implementation of that plan, and confront teacher of a grade level or course, were a vital resource in
those who disregard it. Furthermore, an effective system of their efforts to monitor student learning. Doug Reeves
intervention is not merely an add-on to existing school (2004, p. 114-115) describes this process as “the gold stan-
structures and assumptions, but represents a natural out- dard in educational accountability” because these assess-
growth of strong school cultures dominated by certain uni- ments are used to “improve teaching and learning, not
fying concepts. merely to evaluate students and schools.”
Boones Mill Elementary School in Franklin County, The teachers in the four schools embrace data and
Va.; Los Penasquitos Elementary School in Rancho information from their common assessments because the
Penasquitos, Calif.; Freeport Intermediate School in assessments provide timely and powerful insights into their
Freeport, Texas, and Adlai Stevenson High School in students’ learning. They do not denigrate data that suggest
Lincolnshire, Ill., illustrate this systematic approach to all is not well, nor do they blindly worship means, modes,
responding when students do not learn (DuFour, DuFour, and medians. They have a healthy respect for the results of
Eaker, & Karhanek, 2004). The schools could not be more their common assessments because those assessments help
them monitor the effectiveness of their teaching and iden-
RICK DuFOUR is an educational consultant. You can contact him at
465 Island Pointe Lane, Moneta, VA 24121, (540) 721-4662, fax tify individual students who are experiencing difficulty.
(540) 721-0382, e-mail: rdufour@district125.k12.il.us. Once those students are identified, the schoolwide system
NATIONAL STAFF DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL (800) 727-7288 VOL. 25, NO. 4 FALL 2004 JSD 63


of intervention ensures that the students immediately go through this process?,” but rather, “How will we react
receive additional time and support for learning. when we are immersed in the conflict that accompanies
significant change?” In Crucial Conversations (Patterson,
HOW LEADERS CREATE A CULTURE Grenny, McMillan, & Switzler, 2002), the authors con-
COMMITTED TO LEARNING trast how teams respond when faced with conflict.
A critical element in creating these powerful school cul- Ineffective teams will ignore the problem, letting it fester
tures is the principal’s leadership. Each is clearly committed and build until resentment and frustration lead to an
to empowering staff, delegating authority, and developing explosion of accusations and recrimination. Good teams
collaborative decision-making processes, but none is will take the matter to the boss and ask that he or she deal
unwilling to confront a staff member who violates the fun- with the problem and find a satisfactory solution. Great
damental concepts of the school’s culture. Leadership is teams will deal with the issue themselves, engaging in
widely distributed in each school, with clearly delineated open dialogue and applying positive peer pressure to bring
guiding coalitions overseeing the improvement process. The about the desired change.
collaborative team structures in place in each school also The problem in schools is that teams almost never
encourage fluid situational leadership throughout the start out as great teams. Before they get to the point where
school. When a team discovers that one of its members has team members can work together to resolve the matter,
special expertise in a particular content area, in teaching a they likely will need the principal to help remedy the situ-
concept, in developing effective assessments, or in meeting ation. A critical factor in creating the learning-centered
the needs of a particular kind of learner, that member natu- culture of these four schools was the principal’s willingness
rally assumes temporary leadership based on that expertise to confront obvious violations of the concepts upon which
when the team focuses on that topic. The principals dele- those cultures were built.
gate authority and serve as leaders of leaders rather than the Culture has been defined as “the way we do things
central problem solver of the school. around here.” Leaders shape the norms of behavior (and
Nevertheless, in the early stages of implementing the thus the culture) of their organizations in a number of
changes that helped the school become a professional ways. When principals work with staff to build processes
learning community, each principal faced challenges from to monitor each student’s learning and to develop systems
one or more staff members who either aggressively or pas- of intervention that give students additional time and sup-
sively resisted the school’s new direction. The consistent port when they experience difficulty, they create the struc-
way the principals dealt with staff challenges offers impor- tures that support the concept of learning for all. When
tant insights into leading the professional learning com- they give staff clear parameters to guide their work but
The principals munity process. In every case, the principal met with considerable autonomy in implementation, they increase
the teacher privately, stated concerns very directly, the likelihood that staff members will embrace that con-
delegate and identified the specific steps the teacher needed cept. But when principals are unwilling to tolerate actions
authority and to take to remedy the situation. Finally, the principal that violate the underlying values of the culture, they use a
asked how he or she might help the teacher make powerful strategy for shaping the norms of behavior with-
serve as leaders the necessary changes. in their school.
of leaders rather
The teachers did not always respond positively
to these discussions. Some became quite emotional REFERENCES
than the central and defensive. The principals, however, did not DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., & Karhanek,
hedge. They made it clear that the teacher’s behavior G. (2004). Whatever it takes: How a professional learning
problem solver of
was unacceptable and that the need for change was community responds when kids don’t learn. Bloomington,
the school. imperative. They did so without rancor, but they left IN: National Education Service.
no doubt about their expectations. Reeves, D. (2004). Accountability for learning: How
Perhaps there are schools that have made the transition teachers and school leaders can take charge. Alexandria, VA:
to a professional learning community without conflict or ASCD.
anxiety, but I am unaware of any. Disagreements and ten- Patterson, K., Grenny, J., McMillan, R., & Switzler,
sion are to be expected. The question schools must face is A. (2002). Crucial conversations: Tools for talking when
not, “How can we eliminate all potential for conflict as we stakes are high. New York: McGraw-Hill. �
w w w . n s d c . o r g 2004 APEX award winner for web and intranet site design
64 JSD FALL 2004 VOL. 25, NO. 4 WWW.NSDC.ORG NATIONAL STAFF DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL

Tool 7.10 Student learning grows in professional cultures

 
TM
 Doing a history of your
Tools For Schools 


school’s culture
 Strategies for strengthening
culture
 Developing cultural action
plans
 Evaluating your school’s
culture
 Resources
 Ask Dr. Developer
Student learning grows

in professional cultures
By Joan Richardson
A
n article in a professional publication de- time as people work together, solve problems, and
scribes how a variety of schools have confront challenges.”
used study groups to explore topics of Every church, business, community, even every
interest to teachers. Two teachers read- block in your neighborhood has its own culture.
ing the article react quite differently. Schools are no different. A school’s culture may sup-
One says, “Great idea. The teachers in my port teachers who try to improve their teaching or it
school would love to try that. How would we get may ridicule anyone who tries to stand out from the
started?” crowd. It might encourage teachers
Another groans. “That might Students, teachers, and parents to work on projects together or it
work in your school but it would might punish anyone who seeks
never work in my school.” may not be able to define a such collegial support. The culture
Each teacher has just identi- may encourage teachers to set high
fied an element of the culture in
school’s culture, but they know standards for students or it may send
her school. what is important and what is a message that “these kids can’t be
Culture is, simply, the way we expected to do much better.”
do things around here. No teacher expected in that school. Why does culture matter? For
needs a handbook to know “what’s that, Kent Peterson has a very
right and what’s rude” in the school in which she simple answer. “In study after study, where cul-
works. Students, teachers, and parents may not be ture did not support and encourage reform, it did
able to define a school’s culture, but they know what not happen. It is almost impossible to overstate the
A bi-monthly
is important and what is expected in that school. importance of culture and its relationship to im-
publication In their upcoming book, Shaping Culture: The proved student learning. You have to have the struc-

School Leader’s Role, Terrence Deal and Kent tures, a curriculum, appropriate assessments – all
supporting student
Peterson describe culture this way: “Culture is the of that. But if you don’t have a strong and healthy
and staff learning underground stream of norms, values, beliefs, tra- school culture, none of the rest will matter,” he said.
ditions, and rituals that have been built up over In their 1985 article, Jon Saphier and Matthew
through school Continued on Page 2
improvement


Tools For Schools
School’s culture shapes student learning

Continued from Page One about. Nothing was going to change in that
  King identified 12 norms which they said

affected school improvement. (See column
school until that changed,” she said.
At Ganado, the process began by hav-
 at left.) ing grade level teams talk about their frus-
“If certain norms of school culture are trations over lunch once a week, a step
 strong, improvements in instruction will that Peterson endorses. “People need a
 be significant, continuous, and wide-

spread; if these norms are weak, improve-
ments will be, at best, infrequent, random,
chance to believe things can get better,
they need a positive path, and they need
hope,” Peterson said.
and slow,” they said. “These conversations were basically
Peterson believes schools must begin about everything that was wrong. There
  by identifying the norms and beliefs in was real unhappiness. They needed some
the school. He suggests answering these time to vent,” Stropko said.
  questions: Stropko joined in those conversa-
What are the rituals, traditions, and tions. “I did not go off on my own. I sat
  ceremonies in your school? there and I listened. I was trying to estab-
Who are the heroes in your school? lish my own credibility as a listener and
 
What stories do you tell about your as an administrator who would value what
  school? I heard and would work to get teachers
What symbols, slogans, and images what they said they needed.”
  represent your school? These staff conversations continued
How do you recognize student until the Christmas break. “It was only
 achievement? after all of that that we could talk about
How do you recognize staff growth? the strengths and weaknesses of the
  Next, identify norms and beliefs that school,” she said.
the staff wants to reinforce or change. “Their own changes were harder to
  Again, Peterson poses a series of talk about than the changes they wanted
questions to help a staff: me to make. Once they laid out what they

Do the daily actions of teachers and wanted to achieve, then we found out what
  principals support your underlying core we wanted to learn in order to do that,”
values? she said.
 Do the history and stories that are told Peterson said a school needs to iden-
about your school support your core values? tify its own culture and say openly that
  What rituals and ceremonies would not everyone will like working in this
reinforce the key values in your school? school. “If you’ve been going along for
 years with established structures and an
 established culture, it’s very hard to re-
  Each of this year’s winners of the U.S. examine what you’re about. There is pain
Department of Education Model Profes- in giving up things that are fun and being
  sional Development Awards can point to able to complain without responsibility is
a time when the school’s culture began to part of the fun for some people,” he said.
shift. (See the fall issue of the JSD to learn “There are people who don’t want to

more about these winning schools and improve their practice. They just don’t

 districts.) Like other USDOE winners, want to be helped all the time,” Peterson
Ganado (Arizona) Intermediate School said.

principal Susan Stropko said she focused Schools that gain the reputation as a
on cultural issues before trying to address “work hard, play hard” school soon will
issues of student learning. “I went in be less attractive to staffers who don’t
knowing the culture had to be changed. share that attitude and, eventually, he said,
August/September 1998 They were not feeling very heard or cared the new culture will perpetuate itself.
 


Tools For Schools
Doing a history
of your school’s culture
U
This activity will help a school staff understand its
present culture and how that culture evolved. It can be used with a school that is
Understand the culture
examining its culture for the first time or a school that needs to update its understand-
ing of the culture.
 Two hours. of the school before
 Chart paper, markers, masking tape. Optional: yearbooks, copies of school
newsletters or annual reports, newspaper clippings about the school, etc. trying to change it.
— Michael Fullan and

Directions
Andy Hargreaves,
1. Ask each member of the group to identify the decade in which they began working
at the school: 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, etc.
“What’s Worth Fighting For?
2. Divide the group according to the decades they identify. (Try to have at least three
persons per decade. Put two decades together if necessary.) Working Together for
3. Give each group at least one sheet of chart paper and ask members to identify the Your School”
key elements of the decade. Suggest these questions for them to consider: Who
were the school leaders – both formal and informal – during that decade? What
were the crises and the challenges of the decade? What were the school’s suc-
cesses? What were the prevailing ideologies? What were the main curriculum fea-
tures at that time? How was the school schedule organized? What clothing, music,
and hairstyles were popular at the time?
Give each group 20 to 30 minutes to reminisce and jot down the key events.
4. Ask each group to post its decade’s history on the wall. Arrange the decades in
chronological order along the wall.
5. Ask the group to reflect aloud about the themes and patterns they see in these lists.
Record these on a separate chart. Time: 60-90 minutes.
August/September 1998



Tools For Schools
Strategies for
strengthening culture
w What is culture?
An informal
understanding of the way

    This process can be done as a follow-up to the
activity on Page 3 or it can be done separately. This activity will help your staff deter-
mine its priorities and sharpen its focus on school culture this year.
90 minutes.
 Chart paper, markers, masking tape.
 Provide each staff member with a copy of the article, “Good Seeds
Grow in Strong Cultures’’ by Jon Saphier and Matthew King (Educational Leader-
ship, March 1985). The article identifies the 12 norms of a healthy school culture. Ask
we do things around them to read it and reflect upon it before your scheduled meeting.
On the day of the meeting, post 12 sheets of chart paper around the room. Label
each sheet of paper with one of the 12 norms.
here, i.e. what keeps the
Directions
herd moving in roughly
1. Divide the faculty into 12 groups and assign one norm per group. (See Page 2 for the
list of norms.) Ask them to share their ideas about this norm. Time: 5 minutes.
the right direction.
2. While still in the subgroup, have the members list as many suggestions as possible
for strengthening that norm in the school. Time: 10 minutes.
— Terrence Deal
3. Ask each group to explain the assigned norm to the entire faculty and provide an
example of how it operates in the school today. Ask each group to limit its presen-
tation to two minutes.
4. Then, ask the same group to post its suggestions for strengthening the norm in the
school. Solicit suggestions from other group members. Post those as well. Time: 30
minutes.
5. When all norms have been explained and suggestions posted, distribute five stickers
to each staff member. Using the stickers, ask staff members to vote for the norms
they believe need the greatest attention during the upcoming school year.
6. Tally the number of “votes” given to each norm. Post the votes for staff members to see.
7. Type up the staff suggestions and share them with the school improvement team or
other appropriate committee.
8. Set aside time at a school improvement team meeting to discuss each norm and
select one or two suggestions for focused attention during the school year.



Tools For Schools
Developing cultural
action plans
T
 This activity should be done by the staff group at your
school that would consider cultural issues, such as a school improvement team, leadership
team, or climate committee. At the conclusion of this activity, the group should have an
The only thing
action plan for every norm that your school has agreed to address this year.
 90 minutes. of real importance

that leaders do is
Directions
create and manage
1. Before the meeting, use a sheet of chart paper to create one form for each norm your
school has agreed to address this year. Post those sheets on the walls of the meeting
room. Example: culture.
 
— Edgar Schein,
             “Organizational Culture

            
and Leadership”
  
          
           
     
2. Provide the group with the suggestions resulting from the activity on Page 4. Time:
10 minutes.
3. Ask each group to discuss the suggestions and select the ideas that they believe will
do the most to improve that norm in the school. Time: 30 minutes.
4. Fill out each action plan. Time: 30 minutes.
5. Share the completed action plans with the staff and with the school’s parents’ orga-
nization.
6. Implement and monitor progress on the plan throughout the year.

 


Tools For Schools
Evaluating your
school’s culture
C
 This activity will help a staff assess its impact on
the school’s culture. Although this tool is presented here as an end-of-the-year evalu-
Culture building ation tool, it could be easily modified and used as a beginning-of-the-year evaluation.
 Two hours.

requires that school
leaders give attention to

Directions
the informal, subtle, and 1. Using a sheet of chart paper, create one panel like the following for each of the 12
norms on Page 2.
symbolic aspects of This is a strong and healthy norm at our school.
COLLEGIALITY
school life which shape
Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree
the beliefs and actions 2. Post the 12 panels around the meeting room.
3. Give each staff member 12 stickers and ask them to identify their beliefs about each
norm by placing the stickers in the appropriate location on the chart paper. Direct
of each employee within
them to use only one sticker per norm.
4.Whenallthestickershavebeenplaced,dividethegroupinto12smallergroups(one
the system. foreachnorm)todiscusstheresultsandpresentthemtotheentirestaff.
— William Cunningham Ifthisactivityisbeingdoneatthebeginningoftheyear,askthegrouptofocuson

answering this question: What actions do we need to take to improve this norm in
our school?
and Don Gresso
Ifthisactivityisbeingdoneattheendoftheyear,askthegrouptoanswerthis
question: What evidence do we have to demonstrate the results we’ve achieved?
5. Reassemble the larger group. Ask one representative from each of the 12 smaller
groupstopresenttheirideas.Afterthepresentation,allowtimeforadditionalcom-
ments from others who were not in that group. Time: 60 minutes.
6.Suggestions from this activity should be shared with the school improvement team
astheydeveloptheiractionplansfortheyear.
 


Tools For Schools


school culture
 





Stimulate your thinking about your school’s culture  

by reading some of these books and articles 


 Assessing School and Classroom Cli-  The Principal’s Role in Shaping 

mate by Judith Arter. A consumer School Culture, by Terrence Deal and 
guide that offers educators help in Kent Peterson. Washington, D.C.: 
choosing the best instruments for as- Office of Educational Research and

sessing school culture. Order docu- Improvement, 1990. Examines the  
ment # ED 295 301 from ERIC Docu- crucial role that principals play in 
ment Reproduction Services, (800) developing and maintaining healthy 

443-3742 or (703) 440-1400, fax school cultures. Order document #ED
(703) 440-1408. Price: $16.84. 325914. from ERIC Document Re-

production Services, (800) 443-
 “Building Professional Community in 3742 or (703) 440-1400, fax (703) 
Schools,” Sharon Kruse, Karen Sea- 440-1408. Price: $25.95.  
shore Louis, and Anthony Bryk, Is- 

sues in Restructuring Schools, Cen-  Shaping School Culture: The School 
ter on Organization and Restructur- Leader’s Role by Terrence Deal and 
ing of Schools, Issue No. 6, Spring Kent Peterson. San Francisco: Jossey- 

1994. Reviews critical elements of a Bass, 1998. Provides an in-depth look

healthy school culture. at the ways that real schools shape 
their culture. Includes many ex- 
A copy of the report is available online amples. Available November 1998. 

at www.wcer.wisc.edu/completed/ Order by calling (800) 274-4434 or 
cors/issues_in_restructuring_schools/ fax (800) 569-0443. Price $33.95. 
ISSUES_NO_6_SPRING_1994.pdf 

 Transforming School Culture: Stories, 
 Educational Leadership and School Symbols, Values & The Leader’s Role 
Culture, edited by Marshall Sashkin by Stephen Stolp and Stuart Smith, 
and Herbert Walberg. Berkley, Calif.: ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational
McCutchan Publishing, 1993. Exam- Management, University of Oregon, 
ines the research on the nature of edu- 1995. Synopsizes research while of-
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cational leadership and school culture fering numerous examples of schools’ 
and how they are related. Order by experiences with culture changes. Or-
calling (800) 227-1540. Price: der by calling (800) 438-8841 or fax 
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$33.75. (541) 346-2334. Price: $16.50.
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
 “Good Seeds Grow in Strong Cul- 
Visit the Library at the NSDC web
tures,” Jon Saphier and Matthew
site at www.nsdc.org for more ar- 
King, Educational Leadership, 
ticles and references on this and
March 1985. Identifies the 12 norms 
other subjects of interest to staff 
of a healthy school culture. Check
developers.
your local library for a copy.
 


Tools For Schools

Principals essential in
shaping school culture
Q
Ask I’m a principal but, some-
times, I feel as if the teachers
3) Resolving conflicts, disputes, and prob-
lems directly as a way of shaping values;
Dr. are steering the ship at my

school. What is my role in
shaping the culture of the
4) Communicating values and beliefs
in daily routines and behaviors;
5) Identifying and articulating stories
Developer school? that communicate shared values; and
A
6) Nurturing the traditions, ceremo-
Teachers must play a crucial nies, rituals, and symbols that communi-
role in helping a school fulfill cate and reinforce the school culture.
 the vision of what a school Since leaders must be models of the
wants to be, but the principal is changes they seek, take time to reflect
 an essential part of any change. about your own attitudes and actions. Do
 Principals set the tone for their school every you have a personal vision of what the
day, every week, and every year – from ac- school should be? Have you communi-
 tivities as small as picking up gum wrap- cated that vision to your staff? How have
pers on the school grounds and their prompt- you done that? What stories and anecdotes

ness in returning telephone calls to issues as about the school do you share with your
 large as sharing decision making and pur- staff, with others in the school district, with
suing their own professional development. your friends, and with parents?
In their book, The Principal’s Role in Network with other principals. Read
Shaping School Culture, (see Page 7 for the stories of other principals who have
details), Terrence Deal and Kent Peterson struggled to reshape their schools. Their
identify six major ways that principals shape stories will provide you with guidance —
the culture, both formally and informally: and perhaps inspire you to continue the hard
1) Developing a sense of what the work that you’re doing.
school should be and could be; Send your questions to Dr. Devel-
2) Recruiting and selecting staff oper, 1128 Nottingham Road, Grosse
whose values fit with the school’s; Pointe Park, MI 48230.













Tool 7.11 Pull out negativity by its roots

a t i s s u e
C U L T U R E
Pull out negativity

by its roots
Those who grow healthy school cultures
must root out weeds of bad culture
B y R I C K D u F O U R a n d B E C K Y B U R N E T T E
T
he question facing educational leaders is not “Will our school have a
culture?” but “Will we make a conscious effort to shape our culture?”
The culture of a school — the assumptions, habits, expectations, and
beliefs of the school’s staff — exists as clearly as the school building itself.
But, while principals are routinely culture is organic rather than static.
advised to “build” a strong culture, The more accurate metaphor for the
cultures cannot be built. Architects and process of shaping culture is not building
engineers construct a building using a a building but cultivating a garden. A
linear, sequential model. Phase one must garden is nonlinear, with some elements
be addressed before moving to phase two. dying out as others are being born. A
The building process is both visible and garden is influenced both by internal and
time-bound. Eventually building ends, external factors. Its most vital elements
and maintenance begins. The building is occur underground and are not readily
relatively permanent, specifically visible. Most importantly, a garden is
constructed to resist external pressures fragile and very high maintenance. Even
such as weather. Finally, a building is not the most flourishing garden will eventu-
constructed by accident. Unless there is a ally become overgrown if it is not
decision to erect the structure and nurtured. Flowers left unattended eventu-
purposeful steps taken to carry out that ally yield to weeds. The same can be said
decision, the building will not exist. of school cultures. Unless educators care-
None of this is true with culture. fully tend to their schools’ cultures by ■
Tending to culture is nonlinear and shaping the assumptions, expectations, Rick DuFour is superintendent of Adlai Stevenson
High School District 125. You can contact him a t
requires rapid responses to unanticipated habits, and beliefs that constitute the Two Stevenson Drive, Lincolnshire, IL 60069,
problems as they arise. Cultural norms are norm within them, toxic weeds will even- (847) 634-4000 ext. 268, fax (847) 634-0239, e-
typically invisible, implicit, and often tually dominate. mail: rdufour@district125.k12.il.us.
unexamined, made up of scores of Those who hope to g row strong, Becky Burnette is principal of Boones Mill
subtleties in the day-to-day workings of healthy school cultures must remain vigi- Elementary School in the Franklin County Public
Schools in Franklin County, Va. You can contact
the school. Culture is ongoing. At no lant in rooting out the weeds of bad her at 265 Taylors Road, Boones Mill, VA 24065,
point can it be said that the culture is culture, including unwillingness to accept (540) 334-4000, fax (540) 334-4001,e-mail: bbur-
complete and permanent. In brief, school responsibility, working in isolation, turf nette@frco.k12.va.us.

a t i s s u e
C U L T U R E
wars, and confusing activity with effec- staff members are constantly reminded by
E
tiveness. ffective leaders plan for short- the students themselves of a teacher’s
WEED 1: ability to make a positive difference in
WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR term wins, they do not just students’lives. It would be virtually
STUDENT LEARNING. hope for them. impossible for Stevenson teachers to
Educators absolve themselves of operate on the assumption that teachers
responsibility for student learning in cannot impact students’ achievement
various ways. Do any of the following members to analyze and discuss, helping when they are constantly surrounded by
sound familiar? them rethink their assumptions about their such success stories.
“Learning is a function of (select students’ abilities. WEED 2:
one): innate ability, socioeconomic status, ● Create small victories. WE PREFER TO WORK BY OURSELVES.
genetics, home environment. We can’t A garden cannot be rushed. Certain Schools have traditionally allowed
control the variables responsible for elements in the growth cycle must be the weeds of professional isolation to run
learning.” addressed, and the process requires rampant. Teachers decide what to do
“We can’t be expected to get better patience. Leaders must demonstrate that based on their own knowledge of content,
results until (choose one) society makes patience and take the long view, but must instruction, assessment, and classroom
education a priority, class sizes are also recognize the importance of identi - management. Isolation is alive and well
reduced, we get a new textbook, we have fying, achieving, and celebrating evidence due to lack of time, incompatible sched-
more access to technology.” of growth along the way. Effective leaders ules, personal routines, and deeply rooted
“It’s our job to teach, but it’s the plan for short-term wins, they do not just traditions. Yet teachers cannot thrive
student’s job to learn. We can’t get better hope for them (Kotter, 1996). They estab- isolated from their colleagues and denied
results until they accept their responsi- lish a goal of particular interest to the access to fresh ideas and insights.
bility.” faculty, take the necessary steps to accom- A collaborative culture doesn’t result
The premise that the causes of plish that goal, and announce its from the principal’s hope or invitation. A
learning lie exclusively or predominantly achievement with fanfare. As a result, collaborative culture results from a
outside the sphere of influence of educa- wary staff members look more favorably systematic effort to engage staff in
tors diminishes our profession. More on the initiative and momentum begins to ongoing, daily, job-embedded profes-
importantly, this outlook breeds the cyni- build. sional growth in an environment designed
cism and pessimism that represent the ● Celebrate success. to ensure collaboration.
mortal enemies of any school improve- An organization’s culture can be Toward that end, schools can:
ment initiative. found in the stories it tells itself. For 17 ● Cultivate effective teams.
To improve self-efficacy, schools years, a part of every faculty meeting at Schools plant the seeds of a collabo-
can: Adlai Stevenson High School in rative culture when they develop the
● Create cognitive dissonance. Lincolnshire, Ill., has been devoted to capacity of teachers to work together in
School leaders can help staff sharing success stories. Individual teams. Every teacher should be assigned
members question their assumptions b y teachers are recognized for their students’ to a team that focuses on student learning.
presenting evidence contradicting those extraordinary accomplishments, teaching The team’s structure (course specific,
assumptions. Volumes of research studies teams are recognized for reaching student grade level, interdepartmental, vertical,
demonstrate that what happens in school achievement goals in their courses, and etc.) is less important than having all
makes a difference in student achieve- the entire faculty is recognized for teachers on a team with student learning
ment. Leaders should share those findings evidence of steadily improving student as the focus.
and talk with staff about the studies. performance on indicators the school ● Provide time for collaboration.
Internal and external benchmarking tracks. The principal typically tells the A school isn’t likely to have a
also creates dissonance. At one high stories, although sometimes teachers collaborative culture unless the principal
school, for example, data helped staff supply them. Often, the stories are creates a master schedule with a consis-
discover that student test scores had presented in the voices of the students tent time each week for teams to work
climbed in mathematics and writing, but themselves. Each year, every senior together during the school day. Principals
remained flat in reading. Data also completes a survey on the teacher who should protect the collaborative time for
revealed that reading scores in other has made the greatest impact on his or her teamwork just as teachers protect
similar area schools were significantly life. Excerpts from the responses are students’ instructional time.
higher and steadily improving. The princi- presented to the entire staff in an internal ● Ask each team to develop opera-
pals presented this information to staff memorandum every six weeks. Stevenson tional protocols.

a t i s s u e
C U L T U R E
Teachers unaccustomed to working taken at school and at home to provide

together benefit from establishing the additional time and support for students
norms or protocols that will guide the
behaviors of team members. Team proto-
cols should take the form of commitments
S chools that embrace every
educational fad sow frustration
and discontent.
who are struggling with the material.
3. Schools get better results when
teachers work collaboratively with each
members are prepared to make to one other and partner with parents.
another in carrying out their work as a ● Ask for commitments.
team. Examples might include: “We will Even if people rally around common
be on time for all team meetings; we will for significant gains in staff and student concepts they hope will shape the
come to meetings prepared with all neces- learning. school’s culture, they tend to focus on the
sary materials; we will be active listeners WEED 3: failure of other groups to act in accor-
and fully engaged at all our meetings.” WE MUST PROTECT OUR TERRITORY. dance with those concepts. Principals can
Insist that each team establishes and When the school’s culture empha- help groups shift their focus from the
pursues SMART goals, and provide each sizes staking out your plot and protecting deficiencies of others to their own sphere
team with relevant feedback regarding its your turf, when it focuses on what divides of influence by asking each group’s
progress. rather than what unites constituencies, the members to spell out what they are
Teachers begin to function as a team weeds of territorialism will eventually prepared to do to bring the critical
when members of the group work interde- overtake the school. The “us vs. them” concepts to life. A faculty that identifies
pendently to achieve a common goal. mentality can take many forms. Teachers specific actions and behaviors it expects
When principals insist that each team can view each other as competitors. of its members is more likely to grow a
identifies a SMART goal (Strategic and Administrators and staff can approach healthy culture than a faculty that focuses
specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results- each other as adversaries. Parents can be on others’ failures.
oriented, Time-bound), they increase the depicted as meddling nuisances. WEED 4:
likelihood that individual teachers will To resist turf wars, schools can: WE FOCUS ON ACTIVITY RATHER
begin to function as a team. When they ● Find common ground. THAN RESULTS.
also create systems to provide each team Any complex organization will Just as gardeners must know when
member with relevant information include those with contrasting opinions and how much fertilizer to apply to
regarding the extent to which it is making and unique perspectives. Leaders of a nourish, rather than burn out and destroy
progress toward its goals, they promote a learning community acknowledge differ- individual plants, leaders must carefully
focus on results. ences, but concentrate on identifying a concentrate and focus interventions and
● Monitor and celebrate the work of few “big ideas” for constituencies to rally initiatives to contribute to a strong culture.
teams. around. They establish these big ideas by Too many rob a staff of energy, kill
There is much wisdom in the helping everyone understand best prac- school improvement efforts, and lead to a
management adage, “What gets moni- tices and presenting information that culture that answers new calls for action
tored gets done.” Principals must do more enables the staff and community to assess with a “this-too-shall-pass” mentality.
than provide teachers with time to meet in how the school measures up to those Schools that embrace every educational
their teams and hope teams use the time practices. Guiding principles won’t free a fad sow frustration and discontent.
effectively. They must monitor the work school from problems or disagreements. Michael Fullan calls these schools
of teams by insisting they produce But commonly held big ideas can provide “Christmas tree schools.” Like Christmas
specific documents and artifacts that a lens through which to view the prob- tree ornaments, the changes in these
demonstrate the collective efforts of the lems and can help people treat each other schools are fragile, dangling precariously,
team. Examples might include written with a greater modicum of grace. unable to survive an ill wind. When
goals, common assessments, rubrics, For example, a school’s teachers, schools focus on the quality and depth of
analysis of student performance, specific administrators, and parents might agree to their improvement efforts, and when they
strategies to improve current results, etc. endorse these three big ideas: judge the impact of those efforts on
Principals must then provide feedback, 1. Because the school’s primary results rather than the number of activi-
encourage, redirect, and publicly celebrate purpose is to teach students, all proposals, ties, changes will become organic — “of
the collective efforts of teams. policies, and programs should be evalu- the tree” not “on the tree.”
Ridding the school culture of the ated on the degree to which they promote To build a culture that focuses on
weeds of isolation takes continuous effort student learning. results, schools can:
from school leaders — but the resulting 2. Each student’s learning should be ● Say no!
collaborative culture provides a fertile soil closely monitored, and steps should be Effective school leaders are a buffer

a t i s s u e
C U L T U R E
between staff and those well-intentioned CONCLUSION
F
souls (legislators, governors, reformers, lourishing cultures require Every school has a culture, whether
central office, parents, etc.) who want to or not the principal is mindful of shaping
press their agendas on the schools. They persistent cultivation and it. Weedy cultures are low maintenance.
recognize that the world’s capacity to constant care. Flourishing cultures require persistent
generate ideas to improve schools exceeds cultivation and constant care.
the staff’s capacity to implement mean- Principals are well-positioned to
ingful change. Thus, they work with staff ties rather than results. Leaders can help cultivate their schools’ cultures. Culti-
to clarify a shared vision of the school overcome this cultural predisposition by vating a professional learning culture
they are trying to create. They identify a 1) establishing schoolwide SMART goals takes ongoing, never-ending work.
few initiatives that offer the greatest that identify how the school will assess its Those who are able to sustain the
leverage for moving the school in that improvement initiatives and 2) asking effort will find that the fruits of their
direction. Most importantly, they focus each team of teachers to translate school- labors produce much more than a well-
collective efforts and energies on those wide goals into team goals. When schools tended garden. The seeds they sow will
few initiatives and resist the temptation to focus on a few critical goals and establish make a difference in the lives of both
pursue other worthwhile projects. benchmarks to monitor progress toward students and staff.
● Develop targets and timelines. these goals, they are less susceptible to REFERENCE
Schools have a cultural bias to focus being overrun by random acts of innova- Kotter, J. (1996). Leading change. Boston:
on the means rather than ends, on activi- tion. Harvard Business School. ■
By Your Own Design:

A TEACHER’S PROFESSIONAL
T
LEARNING GUIDE
he National Staff
Development Council and
the Eisenhower National
Clearinghouse for
Mathematics and Science
Education have created this
collection of resources to
assist teachers in creating,
implementing, and evaluating
professional learning plans.
Copies of the CD-ROM are available

through the NSDC Online Bookstore, —
www.nsdc.org/bookstore.htm — or by
calling the NSDC business office at
(800) 727-7288. Request item T1.
$10, NSDC MEMBERS $ 12 . 5 0 , N O N - M E M B E R S .

Tool 7.12 A new role: Cultural architect

FOCUS ON THE
NSDC
STANDARDS
A new role:
Cultural architect
S
ome people might expect an article support, and enables teams to meet during the
about the learning leader to focus on workday.
the skills and knowledge of a single The learning principal recognizes the value Pat Roy is co-author
individual, namely the principal. But, of team learning and improvement and of Moving NSDC’s
Staff Development
in the context of the NSDC Stan- discusses improvement activities in staff Standards Into
dards for Staff Development, a leader is some- meetings. While the learning team is fundamen- Practice: Innovation
one who promotes a school culture that tal to professional learning, the principal must Configurations
supports ongoing team learning and improve- also continue to bring the whole school together (NSDC, 2003)
ment. That means leadership influences educa- to focus on common goals. If this is not done,
tors to work toward a common goal of high small groups can become estranged from each
levels of student learning by other and competing for re- REFERENCES
developing a school culture that sources, recognition, and time Deal, T. & Peterson,
expects and supports profes- LEADERSHIP (Kruse & Louis, 1997). K. (1999). Shaping
sional learning. Staff development that The learning principal school culture: The
Historically, the individual improves the learning of recognizes and rewards the heart of leadership.
has been the focus of school all students requires accomplishments of teams and San Francisco:
improvement (DuFour, Eaker, & skillful school and district improvement efforts. Our Jossey-Bass.
DuFour, 2005). The thinking leaders who guide reward system needs to be
DuFour, R., Eaker
goes if we can only improve the continuous instructional amended so that team accom-
R., & DuFour, R.
content or instructional knowl- improvement. plishments receive praise,
(2005). On common
edge of the individual teacher, recognition, and reward.
ground: The power of
then the whole school will Finally, the learning principal
professional learning
benefit. Yet, for the past few decades, many conducts conversations, dialogues, and
communities.
researchers have investigated and calculated the discussions within the school community until
Bloomington, IN:
role of school’s structural and cultural impact on team learning and improvement become a
National
individual effectiveness. This powerful work has shared goal. A change of focus on team —
Educational Service.
revealed organizational norms, structures, and rather than individuals — will not be accepted
policies that lead to enhanced performance of readily by all educators. The principal will have Kruse, S.D. & Louis,
educators as well as their students. There is a to hold countless conversations with staff on the K.S. (1997). Teacher
growing consensus that how educators act and purpose, structures, and outcomes of learning teaming in middle
interact with each other impacts student learning. teams and their impact on student learning. schools: Dilemmas
The principal, then, becomes a cultural Effective learning teams cannot be mandated; for a school-wide
architect who cultivates an organization that team meaning and purpose must become a community.
focuses on and encourages learning in service to strongly held faculty belief if they are to truly Educational
students (Deal & Peterson, 1999). The learning improve student learning. Beliefs are difficult to Administration
principal builds a plan, with the faculty, to change. One way that beliefs change is through Quarterly, 33(3), 261-
support ongoing team learning and improve- continued examination of underlying assump- 289.
ment. The principal understands that learning tions. Dialogue is a powerful strategy for these More references
teams are the infrastructure for faculty learning. kinds of conversations about how the school for this column
The principal builds a clear set of expectations staff will move together to improve student appear in the
for learning teams, provides resources and learning. online version.
DECEMBER/JANUARY 2006 I The Learning Principal National Staff Development Council I (800) 727-7288 I www.nsdc.org 3

Tool 7.13 The on-ramp to building learning communities

FOCUS ON THE
NSDC
STANDARDS
The on-ramp to building

learning communities
M
any of the districts I have development, and using data in group decision
worked with consider making. Many groups will need a trained
finding time for professional facilitator in order to do their best work. These Pat Roy is co-author
learning teams as the biggest facilitators will know that groups move through of Moving NSDC’s
Staff Development
challenge to creating different stages in how well they work together Standards Into
professional learning communities. Developing and will understand how to focus on key issues Practice: Innovation
these daily or weekly schedules takes a lot of appropriate to the current stage. For example, Configurations
political capital as well as professional influence groups move into a normal stage of development (NSDC, 2003)
to convince upper administration, school board called “storming.” At this stage, the group
members, and the community that teachers need facilitator must understand and be able to help
time with their colleagues. More group members work through
than one district has been conflict and controversy. Without
surprised by the backlash, not a trained facilitator, groups can
from the community, but from Learning Communities get stuck at this stage and their
faculty members. They do not Staff development that productivity declines.
see the value in working with improves the learning of Central office staff should
colleagues and complain that all students organizes also schedule a skilled group
the time is wasted in ineffective adults into learning facilitator to coach team leaders REFERENCES
meetings and meaningless communities whose goals during learning team meetings. Easton, L. (2004).
conversations. I am beginning to are aligned with those of Just as with learning other new Powerful designs for
hear reports of districts losing the school and district. skills, on-site coaching has proven professional learning.
their professional development to be a powerful strategy for Oxford, OH: National
schedules because teachers implementation. This coaching Staff Development
complained to school board members about how allows the new facilitator to receive feedback on Council.
ineffectual the collegial meetings had become. their skills. The coach could help teams learn new
Lortie, D. (1975).
The central office on-ramp to building skills or strategies for working together. For
Schoolteacher.
learning communities is to prepare administra- example, when groups are ready to examine student
Chicago: University
tors and teachers to be skillful members of work, a skilled facilitator could teach them to use
of Chicago Press.
learning teams. Central office staff cannot the Tuning Protocol (Easton, 2004).
assume that once a new schedule is created that Lastly, central office staff can build the
both teachers and their administrators will system’s capacity to work effectively together by
instinctively know how to act within those teams developing a cadre of teachers and adminis-
to improve instruction. Years of research about trators who can work with learning teams
teaching have shown that discussing instruction, within the schools and district. One of the best
learning, and teaching with their colleagues is ways to grow the district’s capacity to improve Read more
not a typical activity for teachers (Lortie, 1975). teaching and learning is to ensure that every about the NSDC
In order to make learning teams effective, a district committee becomes a model of effective standards at
number of strategies can be used. First, central collaboration and collegiality. www.nsdc.org/
office staff can provide team leaders with If learning communities is the highway to standards/
ongoing experiences to learn about group high levels of student achievement, developing index.cfm.
process, group dynamics, the stages of group collaborative skills is one of the on-ramps.
APRIL 2006 I The Learning System National Staff Development Council I (800) 727-7288 I www.nsdc.org 3

Tool 7.14 Build the infrastructure first

FOCUS ON THE
NSDC
STANDARDS
Build the infrastructure first
I
still hear many principals voice surprise learn about collaboration as well as conflict
when hearing that learning communities resolution skills. While effective groups accom-
are not just one of the NSDC standards plish their goals, they also learn how to disagree Pat Roy is co-author
for staff development but the first one! with each other while maintaining working of Moving NSDC’s
Staff Development
Isn’t the goal of professional develop- relationships. Standards Into
ment to improve the skills and knowledge of Since most of this collegial work will occur in Practice: Innovation
individual teachers, they reason? What does the small groups, the principal provides training and Configurations
structure and inner workings of the school have support to develop faculty members to be skilled (NSDC, 2003)
to do with that goal, they ask? facilitators who provide support during whole
I recently heard Robert school and learning team
Marzano describe factors that meetings. The knowledge and
Learning Communities
influence student achievement. skills these facilitators develop
Staff development that
Schools, he said, need to include knowing about group
improves the learning of
develop a professional culture process, group dynamics, the
all students organizes
of collegiality and professional- stages of group development
adults into learning
ism that promotes teachers’ and group decision making.
communities whose
conversation about their work. Many times, adult groups need a
goals are aligned with
Next to a highly effective trained facilitator who helps them
those of the school and
teacher, the second most do their best work and also
district.
powerful factor in increased teaches them how to work
student achievement is an together effectively.
effective school. Secondly, the principal REFERENCES
Further, a culture of expertise evolves, ensures that the role of group facilitator
Lortie, D. (1975).
according to Marzano, when there is continuous becomes the responsibility of everyone and it
Schoolteacher.
and focused feedback on teaching. Yet, those rotates among members as the skill level of
Chicago: University
types of conversations are rare in most of the group members increases. The principal
of Chicago Press.
schools where he works. According to work increases the faculty’s capacity to understand
about school culture, talking about instruction is how to work as a group and develops shared Marzano, R. (2006).
a conversation that is close to the bone for most leadership capacities within the faculty by asking Research-based
teachers (Lortie, 1975). So, a principal must do everyone to serve as a group facilitator. This practices to improve
more than merely create the space for such shared leadership strategy also builds collabora- student achievement.
conversations among faculty; he or she must tive relationships because no group member Presentation at the
also build an infrastructure that will support seems to have more power or influence as a SMILE Conference,
these powerful professional conversations. result of being facilitator. Sierra Vista, Ariz.
The principal first needs to prepare teachers Building this infrastructure of collaborative January 27, 2006.
for skillful collaboration. Collaboration is still skills is the first step in supporting teaching and Marzano, R. (2003).
not a commonplace behavior among most learning. This background work creates a What works in
faculties. Many teachers continue to report that structure that supports professionalism and schools: Translating
their interactions with other faculty remain collaboration. research into action.
relegated to the lounge, by the mail boxes, and Learn more about the NSDC standards at Alexandria, VA:
near copying machines. Staff members need to www.nsdc.org/standards/index.cfm. ASCD.
APRIL 2006 I The Learning Principal National Staff Development Council I (800) 727-7288 I www.nsdc.org 3

Culturas Colaborativas

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Culturas Colaborativas

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Chapter 7

Where Are We Now?

Moving NSDC's Staff Development S

A Tool Kit for Quality Professional Development in Arkansas 362

A Tool Kit for Quality Professional Development in Arkansas 363

to share with other teachers those practices that Trust

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A Tool Kit for Quality Professional Development in Arkansas 365

how to collaborate and focus on student learning.

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Tool 7.1 Culture Is...

How we meet Metaphors we use about the school

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Tool 7.2 School culture survey 

Tools For Schools

Honest, open communications exist among staff members.

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A Tool Kit forprofessional

JSD Summer 2002 National Staff Development Council 44

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* Note: Informal observations are not formal supervisory observations.

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Tool 7.4 Positive or negative

very organization has a culture, that history and underlying set

10 National Staff Development Council JSD Summer 2002

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A Tool Kit for Quality Professional Development in Arkansas 382

STAFF DEVELOPMENT believe they have anything new to learn,

A Tool Kit for Quality Professional Development in Arkansas 383

Everyone in the school is viewed as

A Tool Kit for Quality Professional Development in Arkansas 384

they read the culture, understanding the ASSESS THE CULTURE

A Tool Kit for Quality Professional Development in Arkansas 385

Staff and administrators may also

JSD Summer 2002 National Staff Development Council 15

A Tool Kit for Quality Professional Development in Arkansas 386

Tool 7.5 Change agent

interview / MICHAEL FULLAN

work together and focus on student knowledge, a powerful way to

A Tool Kit for Quality Professional Development in Arkansas 387

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A Tool Kit for Quality Professional Development in Arkansas 390

Tool 7.6 ‘Collaboration lite’ puts student achievement on a starvation diet

‘Collaboration lite’ such as tardiness, students failing to complete homework,

A Tool Kit for Quality Professional Development in Arkansas 391