The Organisational Culture that Underpins my Practice

Wilson defines the school culture "as the beliefs and priorities that drive thoughts and actions of people at school". He states that "the principal is the keeper of the thoughts and beliefs and says what they are and shows what they are.... Eventually you hear the echoes in the hall and see people carrying out the thoughts and actions and then you know you have built a culture". (Wilson, 2013, June 21).

I am lucky enough to work in an environment where the principal sets the tone for the values and how people treat each other. In the words of Dunkenblau, "she steers the ship and we all get on board." (Academy for SeLinSchools, 2015, April 28). The principal and the teachers make a conscious effort to create a positive environment where everyone is valued. Using Hargreaves typology of schools, I would classify the culture at my school as a collaborative culture (as cited in Stoll, 1998, p.10). Ways in which I contribute to fostering a positive professional environment in my community of practice include: sharing resources, plans and ideas through OneNote; regularly observing and giving feedback to my peers; leading "techy time" once a week so that my colleagues and I can share new digital and collaborative ideas; celebrating our successes and also taking responsibility for our continual improvement.

The Current Issues in my Community of Practice
One of the challenges for our school is to maintain our collaborative culture as we continue to grow. We are currently advertising for a 6th teacher and we are talking about moving to 2 syndicates, so the challenge will be to not let our culture slip to one Hargreaves identified as Balkanisation, where smaller pockets of collaboration grow and we lose the overall collaboration (as cited by Stoll, 1998, p.10). Our community of practice will address this by continuing to recognise, as stated by Trusheim, that "a positive culture does not just happen but has to be worked at and that the teachers and staff are a consistent entity and can build the culture, whereas the students pass through." (Academy for SeLinSchools, 2015, April 28). It is important that we embrace new members of staff, support them and understand that they are unique and will bring different skill sets and ideas which the whole community can benefit from and move forward together.

Another issue in my community of practise is that part of who we our is based around the small rural community in which we are situated. Some of the students who attend the school are third generation farmers from the district and some of the families can be quite traditional in their thinking and a little resistant to change. Whilst the history of our local area and strong community connections are important, our school community is changing. We now welcome students and their whānau from Ashburton town, from Hākatere, a small river mouth settlement, and from the Filipino and Fiji communites. The way that my community of practice will continue to address this challenge is to make everyone of our students feel valued and to have connections with all our families and their culture and values, taking every opportunity to make sure that the identity of all our community is reflected in our school culture.



References

Academy for SeLinSchools (2015, Apr. 28) What is school culture and climate? [Video]. Retrieved      from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-_NvhlcusQ

Stoll, L., 1998. School Culture. School Improvement Network's Bulletin, No. 9, Autumn 

Institute of Education, University of London

Wilson, M., 2013. TEdEd (2013, Jun. 21). Building a culture of success- Mark Wilson. [Video].

 Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_8Bjz-OCD8