Catholic School Matters
November 13, 2016
Special Issue on School Culture
Peter Drucker famously said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” In schools, this means that all the best strategies for improvement (better instruction, for example) are dependent on school culture. They can’t go anywhere without a supportive school culture. So what is culture? The best definition is “the way we do things around here.” The norms of behavior, the social mores, the expectations for how things are done—these form the culture of a school.
Have you ever been in a school where the teachers and principal are in conflict? What about the teachers and parents? Or new teachers with veteran teachers? Or even a principal and board? These are all examples of unhealthy school cultures (possibly even toxic) that prevent any changes or improvements. Have you ever wondered how you turn around those toxic environments? Or how you go about setting up a more positive culture?
While I think most of us have been in schools with stagnant or toxic cultures at one point or another, the common experience is a school culture that’s a little out of alignment—perhaps too focused on putting the adults first. This issue presents the best articles I’ve found on school culture. The reason is threefold:
1. We need to examine our school cultures. Most of the time it takes a new employee with fresh eyes to recognize things we’ve been overlooking. These blind spots prevent us from seeing the whole picture.
2. We need to find ways to move our schools forward. Most of the time we don’t need to completely overhaul our cultures. We just need to find incremental improvements.
3. We might need to confront toxic areas of our school cultures. Our entire school culture might not be toxic but our treatment of staff might be, for example. If that is the case, we need to find ways to improve our culture in order to implement any strategies.
What is Culture?
· “Culture Eats Strategy” is a summary of Ken Iverson’s seminal work from Farnam Street
· “Leaders Can Shape Company Culture Through Their Behaviors” from the Harvard Business Review examines the roles that leaders play
· 5 Easy to Action Tips for Building a Culture-Led Organization from David Hasenbalg is a great blog post full of suggestions
· 100 Great Culture Posts is full of great quotes about the role of culture. This is a blog full of more links and is a great place to start
· “20 Great Organizational Culture Insights” by Tim Kuppler offers different insights into changing culture
· “The Relationship Between Corporate Culture and Performance” from the Wall Street Journal is a nice summary of the issues surrounding culture in the business world
What does a Positive School Culture Look Like?
· Building a Positive School Culture from WeAreTeachers is a great summary of the reasons for focusing on building a positive school culture
· “4 Ways to Build a Flourishing School Culture” by Craig Kemp is a great article
· Sir Ken Robinson’s “How to Create a Culture for Valuable Learning” is a great challenge to school leaders and teachers alike.
· Kerry Gallagher in “The Good, The Better, and The Best” writes about current issues in building positive school cultures and talks about invidualizing and differentiating instruction. This is after all what every Catholic school should pursue—the customization of each child’s experience.
· “What is Our Culture?” is one educator’s (Dr. Tony Sinaris) blog post about his own school’s culture
· “You Need an Elevator Pitch About School Culture and Climate” by Edutopia challenges leaders to examine how they talk about their school’s culture
· “10 Ways to Create an Amazing Classroom Culture This Year” by Connected Principals gives practical advice to teachers on creating a positive culture.
· “Because I Said I Would” is a one school leader’s (Eric Ewald) attempt to share his own school culture. This is a blog and is very practical advice.
· Find the Fireflies: Help Students to Succeed by Jennifer Gonzalez on Connected Principals explores ways to build a supportive school culture
· “How One School Changed Its Math Culture” on Mind/Shift explores who mindset work supported a positive instructional environment. What if our schools adopted the same approach toward other instructional areas (learning languages, for example, or Catholic identity)?
· “How To Weave Growth Mindset into School Culture” also by Mind/Shift examines how growth mindset can shape school culture
What does a Toxic School Culture Look Like?
· “Employees Say You Have a Toxic Culture? Here’s How to Fix It” from the Smart Brief on Leadership examines how to confront and turn around a toxic culture. Even small parts of our school cultures can become toxic and it’s worth examining how we can lead change in these areas.
· “Culture Killers: Staff or Leadership Issues” by Jimmy Casas examines the struggle every school leader encounters—staff behaviors which don’t support your vision.
· “Is Your School’s Culture Toxic or Positive?” offers advice on examining your school’s culture.
· “When a School Becomes Toxic—What We Can Do to Change School Culture” by Pernille Ripp examines ways to confront a toxic school culture.
· “Avoid a Toxic School By Being a Mythbuster” by Richard Bruford suggests ways to fight a toxic school culture
Other Miscellaneous Culture Articles
· “The Happiest Place in the NFL” examines Pete Carroll’s culture on the Seahawks. You might not like Coach Carroll (I didn’t either when he was at USC!) but you can’t deny his attempts to form a different kind of team. If you want to see it applied see “Lessons in Coaching” which examines Carroll’s response to his kicker’s missed kick in the game earlier this fall.
· “How to Develop a School Culture that Curbs Bullying” on Mind/Shift examines the role of culture and bullying at school
· “Combatting a Culture of Learned Helplessness” by Caitlin Tucker illustrates the damaging effects of learned helplessness on students, teachers, parents, and school leaders.
· 15 Questions to Replace “How Was School Today” on Edutopia gives parents tools to help support a positive school culture
Dr. Tim Uhl, Superintendent
"Catholic School Matters" Podcast
Tomorrow, Episode #10 will drop and will include an interview with Dr. Mary Chase of Creighton University. The director of enrollment management and the VP of Strategic Planning, Dr. Chase discusses the struggles and the role of Catholic universities. Last Monday, Episode #9 dropped and included an inteview with Fr. James Martin, SJ. Yes, the author of 8+ books, Editor at large of "America," blogger, Tweeter, and former chaplain of the Colbert Nation.
Here is the link to the podcast on iTunes. Please subscribe to the podcast so new episodes will automatically download. The show is also available on Stitcher and Google Play. If you don't have accounts with any of those content providers, here is the link to my basic page with the podcasts.
Selfie of the Week
Seminar Room
Maker space
The Week Ahead
Monday: Regional Leadership Meeting @ OLL (Great Falls) 10-2
Tuesday: Regional Leadership Meeting @ St. Charles (Pryor) 10-2
Wednesday: Regional Leadership Meeting @ Loyola Sacred Heart (Missoula) 10-2 & Butte Central Advisory Council Meeting (Butte)
Thursday: office (Helena)
Friday: office (Helena)
This week: 977 driving miles
Last week: 661 driving miles; 2,434 air miles
2016-17: 14,245 driving miles; 12,112 air miles
What I'm Reading 2016-17
- The Gift of Failure by Jessica Lahey
- Reading with the daughter: Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis. Finished:Prince Caspian; The Horse and His Boy; The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; The Magician's Nephew.
- Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen (finished)
- The Purple Goldfish by Stan Phelps (finished)
- The Song of the Dodo by David Quammen (finished)
- Learned Optimism by Martin Seligman. (finished)
- Reinvention: Accelerating Results in the Age of Disruption Cragun & Sweetman (finished)
- Cultures Built to Last: Systemic PLCs at Work by Fullan and DuFour (finished)
- Daring Greatly by Brene Brown (finished)
- Finding Our Way: Leadership for an Uncertain Time by Margaret J. Wheatley (finished)
- The Orange Frog by Shawn Achor (finished)
Montana Catholic Schools
Email: superintendent@montanacc.org
Website: www.montanacatholicschools.org
Location: PO Box 1708 Helena MT 59601
Phone: (406) 442-5761
Facebook: facebook.com/montanacatholicschools
Twitter: @mtcathschools
For Principals & Teachers
- For high school principals, I shared an upcoming E3 training webinar on November 17th from 10:30 am-1:30 pm.
- For those serving on upcoming E3 visiting teams, there is a virtual training at 9 am on Nov 22nd.
- Here is an update on the Great Falls Catholic School system.
- Here is the slideshow for the upcoming regional leadership meetings. I'll be updating the slides up until the day of the meeting.
- Please distribute the following survey to all staff members who attended the Professional Development Days. The survey is due November 22nd.
- This is the fourth call for nominations for Educator of the Week. Nominations must include a picture and a short reason for the nomination.
- Montana Catholic Schools now has a new Facebook page. Please like it so I can share marketing material there.
- On the Horizon:
- Fall Regional Leaderships meetings (10-2): Nov 14th OLL (Great Falls), Nov 15th St. Charles Mission School (Pryor), Nov 16th Loyola Sacred Heart HS (Missoula). For a virtual link to the Monday meeting, https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/169224477 You can also dial in using your phone (872) 240-3412 Access Code: 169-224-477. There is no link on Tuesday, for Wednesday's link: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/837580045 You can also dial in using your phone. (571) 317-3122 Access Code: 837-580-045
- E3 Team Training: Nov 22nd 9 am
Educator of The Week: Melissa Beitel
Mrs. Beitel has been selflessly serving as a Catholic educator for 20 years at St. Mary's School in LIvingston. She is always a team player and a great champion of what is best for students and fellow colleagues alike. She has a true vocation for Catholic education and always strives to bring the light of Christ into everything she does. It is a pleasure to get to work with her and have her on the school leadership team.
Past Issues of Catholic School Matters
November 6, 2016 "Diocesan Demographics"
October 30, 2016 "Catholic Leadership Summit"
October 23, 2016 "Classroom Management Issue"
October 16, 2016 "Professional Development Conferences"
October 9, 2016 "Daring Greatly"
October 2, 2016 "The New Podcast"
September 25, 2016 "The Productivity Issue"
September 18, 2016 "Measuring our Success"
September 11, 2016 "Courage and Grief"
August 28, 2016 "A Senior Moment"August 21, 2016 "Schools as Field Hospitals"