Top 6 Things Needed to Have a Positive School Culture
Steve Bollar, CSP?
K-12 Professional Speaker??, Author ??, TEDx Speaker, Trainer & Consultant at Stand Tall Enterprises
Show Respect:
Encourage everyone to be polite and kind to each other. The best way to do that is to do it yourself. Be the model of respect and politeness. Don't talk about the negative. It is easy to focus on the negative things that happen in school. It is our natural tendency to focus on negative things. After all, it is more entertaining. Don't do it! Focus on what is positive and talk about the positive all the time.
Show Trust:
Mean what you say and follow through with it. Your school environment can become toxic if people can not trust each other. When trust is not there it spreads like wildfire. Soon it will be the brand of the school throughout the community that you can not trust the staff. Make sure you mean what you say and follow through.
Be Courageous:
We willing to try new things. I once heard a quote..."Courage isn't the absence of fear, but going on in spite of fear..." Schools tend to not take chances because of fear that they would be scrutinized by the community. Thinking things through and taking a chance on something new is the way to improve your school. If the school leader is courageous, takes chances, and tries new things; guess what will happen? That's right, the staff will feel empowered to do the same, and the students, and the parents, and so on...
Be Strategic:
Having a common vision will make all decisions easier to make. Roy Disney stated, "...When vision is clear, decisions are easy..." He was so right. When you are trying to decide if something is the right thing to do always refer back to your vision. Does it fit? If it does, go forth and conquer. If it does not, toss it in the trash. Develop an action plan that is clear to understand and follow. Have a clear process of how the organization can get to where it needs to be. The question, "Where are we now?" should never be said. A strategic plan is clear to everyone and easy to follow.
Be Reflective:
Everyone owns the climate of a school. Make sure everyone is involved in the process of reflecting on what works and what does not work. Fix what doesn't work and celebrate what does. The practice of continually reflecting on your work needs to be a habit. Make it a part of your strategic plan. Don't move forward unless you look backwards.
Be Effective:
How are you spending your time? Are you maximizing the time you have? It may seem that you never have enough time to get everything done. What could you do differently? Make sure everything is working as effectively as possible. Talk with others. As for others opinion. Survey our work. You may be surprised how much time is floating around out there.
Assistant Professor at Higher Education Department
10 年Excellent, it means one himself must take a positive initiative first n let the others follow .By doing so a culture of mutual respect is created which is essential for the growth of cultural diversity n hence a benefit to the whole mankind.
Pre-K through 8
10 年Luckily at my KIPP campus, all of the above are the only accepted method. Classroom cultures that reflect Postiveness and Respect = Learning.
Deputy Head of School at Dowen College
10 年.There is also the need for consistency in dealing with issues among staff, not having sacred cows and sacrificial lambs so as to breed sound relationship leading to expected level of efficiency.
educator at WCED
10 年so true
Program Lead Adjunct at Saint Leo University
10 年Great reminder! I grew up and taught in the days of recess, art, music, Spanish and chorus (minus the pressure of high stakes testing). It is important to remember that most of my college students grew up in the FCAT environment. I make an effort to stay positive and not talk about the good old days.