¶ … School Cultural Theory
Any environments where human beings reside, there is an existing culture. The total time that the community members, teachers, and students spend in school environments develop cultural elements have a direct influence on how they act and function in their respective positions.
Developing a system of cultural awareness in schools is critical in activating teachers and school stakeholders to engage in growth promoting activities. Teachers in school settings make up the main components of a school organizational network. It is important noting that schools are forms of organizations that uphold a shared culture. Milner and Browitt (2013) in their study of organizational cultures argue that any organization strives to find a meaningful purpose together as a group that has a shared goal. They further discussed the organizational systems develop individual structures and behavioral patterns with actual means of accomplishing the processes. Organizations create the necessary tools for accomplishing objectives; agree on relationships and model behaviors that suit their missions. Systems that self-organize are cohesive, collective cultural units that support one another in creating environments that promote personal discovery and stability.
While studying cultural components of schools, their missions and self-awareness levels opens opportunities for innovative changes that start from the grass roots. While seeking to find a meaningful understanding of cultural perspectives of schools, studying culture from a wide range of fields is critical:...
Studying culture in schools is achievable through the examination of how culture may have different effects on an organization.
Schools have their unique cultures; empirically different as at no point in time have two schools had the same cultures. A school's cultural composition includes a combination of characteristics from the staff members, the student's organization and the leadership style of the principal. Experts from sociology, anthropology and education have for years studied culture, formulating different theories and perspectives that have similar values, rituals, and beliefs. However, anthropology is closely associated with cultural studies.
Recent research on school culture has focused on the relationship between school culture and change, particularly on their interdependence. With many school reform programs underway, scholars and researchers now understand that school reform success or failure are tied to the schools social norms. Engaging for meaningful school reforms without considering school culture is an exercise in futility. Agger (2014) asserts that education stakeholders must be directly involved in bringing change to their schools at the levels matching their strengths. Where a strong culture is in existence, they are in a better position to withstand and overcome hurdles and struggles that result from implementing new policies.
Studies reveal that completely stuck schools (schools with impoverished learning) always do not support change or reforms that…
