Why do school climate and culture matter?
As part of our rebrand, we will be introducing and explaining some of the concepts and constructs that we know are important in schools. This week, Lauren tackles the topics of school climate and culture.
As an educator, you’ve probably heard the terms school climate and school culture tossed around a lot. Depending on your school and context, you might have heard things like, “Well, if we just develop a culture of belonging, then students will want to come to school” or, “At the end of the day, school climate contributes more to student achievement than teachers do.” These terms have become so ubiquitous in schools that it may be hard to sort the myths from the reality—or the research. This week, we want to introduce some key definitions and offer some of the reasons we think these constructs are critical to our mission and to your school’s success.
What is school climate?
While school climate and school culture are often used interchangeably, they are different and those differences are important. We start here with climate. You might think about your own school. Is it perceived as a “good” school that makes students and faculty happy to be there and eager to learn? Some researchers have described climate as the “weather” of an organization and others have explained climate as “the composite of norms, expectations, and beliefs which characterize the school social system.” School climate might be thought of as the personality of the school—how it feels to be there, or the vibe of the school.
What is school culture?
School culture is a little bit more complex, primarily because the word culture is wrapped up in broad understandings of social interaction across many different fields of study. Most of the time, culture refers to the ways in which societies and systems function and convey meaning to their members. Culture typically includes both the goals of a social system and the values that underlie that goal. Think about a school’s mission statement. This likely includes specific goals (academic success, global citizenship, lifelong learning) as well as specific underlying values (engagement, community, success) and these are all representative of a school’s culture. School culture also comprises other traditions, rituals, practices, and beliefs that shape the function of an organization. In schools, you might think of dress codes, faculty meetings, lunchtime seating arrangements, or student government associations and how they embody the goals and values of an organization. Think about the parts of your organization that are explained by saying, ‘Well, that’s just how we do things here.’ That’s school culture at work.
Why do climate and culture matter?
As you probably guessed, culture and climate are closely related. The way we enact or ‘do’ culture is a part of the climate. Do students linger in hallways because they perceive classes to be boring and irrelevant? Those are transmitted beliefs (culture) that operate within an organizational climate. Does your school leader resist feedback from faculty? That is a pattern of enacted values (culture) that shapes climate.
The bottom line is that culture and climate matter for all kinds of positive outcomes in schools. Specifically, healthy climate and culture can transform schools into places where students, teachers, and leaders are eager to work, learn, and collaborate. Indicators of positive or healthy climate and culture include trusting relationships among adults, trusting relationships between adults and students, positive attitudes toward students’ families, strong feelings of fairness, and the priority placed on academic work. These indicators are almost always associated with positive outcomes that include things like higher levels of parent engagement, lower rates of student dropout, reduced student chronic absenteeism, longer teacher tenures, more fruitful professional collaborations, and—you guessed it—increased student achievement.
Sound like something your school needs? This is where we can help. We have prepared a collection of tools to assess your school’s culture and climate. Once those assessments are complete, we can work with you on an action plan to improve culture and climate to meet your specific goals. To learn more, click the link below. We’d love to connect with you and your school.