My Professional Community - School Culture

Before you proceed any further...

WARNING! This posting may not be as positive as one would expect!

Activity #2:

Our school has undergone a few changes in the past year and a half with a change in leadership and the conceptualization of our 'School Culture' has 'arisen like a spectre' (spectre has been used as is intended).  The climate of the school has altered and the future, like in many situations, is uncertain and dare I say it, 'balkanisation' is beginning to rear its head in a once 'almost-collegial-I-Care-tranquil school staff'.  

While no school culture is perfect, some are more preferred than others and I refer to the spirit of staff collegiality, staff input is valued (your wishes might not actually come into fruition but at least you got to let others know what your ideas/beliefs were without persecution) and staff are a community willing to go the 'mile' together, all in 'it' for the good of all...that kind of thing!  Furthermore, the culture of a school has embedded within its centre the unseen factors, the 'known' without having to be 'said' or 'how a school feels' and 'behaves' because these are the norms and quiet expectations..."the way we do things around here" (Stoll, 1998, p9).

All school cultures must evolve and move otherwise becoming stagnant but how the school works towards an evolution for improvement may be more difficult than assumed but change is never easy!  Well...in part.  I believe the process of change can be made easier if everyone is on 'the same page', information is transparent to all involved and staff are willing to 'roll up sleeves and pitch in' because 'that's what we do'.  Over this past year however, I feel the transparency of knowing information is disappearing because only 'those in the know, know'.  Our teaching and support staff are a good staff and don't mind the hard work and even though we do not need appreciation shown and said aloud, we do need to feel our worth is valued. 

What happens however, if the school culture evolves into two communities or multi-communities who are beginning to pull apart?  This isn't going to be a pretty picture as conflict and rifts are more than likely to appear despite staff appearances of trying to be civil and polite.  The doomed 'them' and 'us' parody (yes, intended) is appearing and what I marvel at, is the small amount of time our school culture went from 'almost ideal' to the 'them and us'.

Leadership will always play a great part and I don't mean the many facets of leadership occurring throughout staff.  I refer to the Leader at the top who is our role model, the inspirational person who is to guide and keep our staff together as we face the multitude of everyday challenges (Oh gosh, I just romanticized the notion of Leader).  As Schein (as cited in Stoll, 1998, p13) surmises, "The only thing of real importance that leaders do is to create and manage culture".

How is our Community of Practice (excluding Senior management) coping with or trying to address these issues? Sadly, they are starting to leave.  

How should a CoP address these issues?  

They would work towards supporting each other in positive and productive ways, look for advice from the wider community, be innovative and creative sparking inspiration amongst each other, openness to voice opinions professionally and respectfully and be responsible for our 'success', our team can improve even if the school as a whole might not be, rise above the 'crap' and believe in what is important...teaching our students who deserve the best, and if in the end no resolution is in sight (which is a real possibility), find another home.

If we cannot depend upon our Leader to manage this culture (OMG, please make the shift from Laissez-faire to transformational already), to hear and react upon issues raised by staff, to work towards mending the rifts which are beginning to appear and build better staff collegiality, then this culture is inhibited to evolve.  

References:

Stoll (1998). School Culture. School Improvement Network’s Bulletin 9. Institute of Education, University of London. Retrieved from http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Culture/Understanding-school-cultures/School-Culture

Images Used:

Image 1 - 'School Culture is'.  Retrieved from: https://www.google.com/search?safe=active&site=&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1920&bih=947&q=school+culture&oq=school+culture&gs_l=img.3...34.1411.0.1535.14.7.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0....0...1ac.1.64.img..14.0.0.a90AC1tutEI#imgdii=_km_1nl9gfK4EM%3A%3B_km_1nl9gfK4EM%3A%3BXfav8DkF4zYpNM%3A&imgrc=_km_1nl9gfK4EM%3A

Image 2 - 'They Build Culture by Example'.  Retrieved from:  https://www.google.com/search?safe=active&site=&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1920&bih=947&q=school+culture&oq=school+culture&gs_l=img.3...34.1411.0.1535.14.7.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0....0...1ac.1.64.img..14.0.0.a90AC1tutEI#imgrc=OZb8wvcaPAMPTM%3A

Image 3 - 'Why School Culture is Important?'  Retrieved from: https://www.google.com/search?safe=active&site=&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1920&bih=947&q=school+culture&oq=school+culture&gs_l=img.3...34.1411.0.1535.14.7.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0....0...1ac.1.64.img..14.0.0.a90AC1tutEI#imgrc=_km_1nl9gfK4EM%3A

My Community of Practice as...'Teacher'

"Participating in these 'communities of practice' is essential to our learning.  It is at the very core of what makes us human beings capable of meaningful knowing".

                                               Wenger, (2000)

Activity #1:
As humans, we are social beings, interacting with a multitude of different groups of people, creating networks for different reasons but always taking 'learning' from these connections whether intended or not.  Wenger (2000) surmises it is within these CoP where we will find 'meaningful knowing'.

We seek to find 'those' who are similar to us, the people we feel most akin to when forming our 'network of learning' and 'those' who will support us as we support them.  Within my school, I work within a recently formed vertical team/syndicate which is my immediate community of practice, but it is yet another community of practice I thrive in and not this one.


Who are my CoP?
These are the 'like-minded' people who set out to uplift their pedagogy to further improve teaching practices which in turn, best meets the needs of students and their learning.  These are the people who do not 'stand still' for long, they are reflective in their practices and are willing to improve, adapt or change for the betterment of their practices and students and enjoy the company of 'others' who mirror the core values of the community of 'like-minded-ness'.  They are willing to share what they know and willingly learn alongside others.  They look to further connect and interact with others forming new networks.  Within this CoP, dynamic relationships have formed not only between colleagues I work and have worked alongside but also from the connections formed through other mediums such as online groups (eg facebook, twitter) or learning groups (eg educamps).  These are my friends and colleagues I trust and respect.  These are teachers.

I have acquired a great deal from these colleagues over the years and I hope I have in return, done the same for them in terms of mutual sharing of resources (in its many forms) and knowledge.  Learning often brings viewing the world around us with new lenses or new eyes, putting things into different perspective.


What is my practice?
I have taught within the Primary School sector for more than 20 years now, with at least half of this time within the Junior end of the primary school, and over this time, I have seen how effective and essential a CoP can be but I have also seen how some within these communities have been toxic to the community of learning and practice.

Wenger talks about 'competence' developed through direct participation within the group and the norms and expectations formed through the engagement and interactions of its participants and here within lies the core values (for me) - where we are fueled by further learning, becoming more competent within our craft of teaching by evaluating and examining how we think, scrutinizing our teaching practices and questioning why we do what we do.  Critically looking at oneself is not always a comfortable experience, this act may be a little painful but this learning in itself allows choices and decisions to be made :)

Image retrieved from: http://www.slideshare.net/allisonpollard10?utm_campaign=profiletracking&utm_medium=sssite&utm_source=ssslideview

References:
Wenger, E. (2000). Communities of practice and social learning systems.  Organisation, 7(2), 225-246.  Retrieved from sagepub.com.