The role of organizational climate and culture in the school  (Page 12/17)

Some school leaders have attempted to change their school’s culture and climate directly through staff development; this is unlikely to be successful other than for themost insignificant of changes. Over a long period of time, though, culture and climate may be shaped, as an indirect consequence ofstaff development. As teachers build the new skills to implement the planned improvements, they can gain the self-confidence andsuccess motivation to change the climate. As enough teachers have success with new behaviors, this may change related underlyingvalues, beliefs, and assumptions, i.e., the organizational culture.

The final step of the implementation phase is to move from conflict to consensus, generating widespread supportfor the change (Evans, 2001, p. 56). Again, this is shaping the culture of the organization. It is essential that most members ofthe organization not only accept and practice the new behaviors required by the school improvement, but also develop thecorresponding values, assumptions, and beliefs. The more deeply rooted and widespread the values, assumptions, and beliefs, themore resistant they are. In cases of significant changes, this process can easily take years, if it is successful at all. Thisprocess begins in the implementation phase of the school improvement process, but culminates in the institutionalizationphase.

Interactions in the Institutionalization Phase

Simply stated, it is in the institutionalization phase that the organization’s culture has transformed to incorporate the behaviors, values, assumptions, andbeliefs inherent in the planned school improvement(s). These now become the organization’s culture!

When stated so concisely, this may appear to be a far more simple process than it is. As French and Bell (1998)explicated, changes in one aspect of an organization can well necessitate modification of other aspects of the organizationbefore those changes can be institutionalized successfully. Such processes are often referred to as organizational development.Cultural changes may well require changes in the organizational structure, reward systems, technology, or tasks (see Datnow,Hubbard,&Mehan, 2002). Burke (1993), French, Bell, and Zawacki (1999), and Tichy (1983) offered good discussions of thesystemic nature of organizational development, whereas Fullan, Miles, and Taylor (1978) provided insight into how these processeswork in K-12 schools. The extent to which the culture of a school may be shaped to be compatible with the desired changes and theextent to which all sub-systems of the organization are brought into harmony with both the culture and the changes are essentialfactors in the institutionalization of those changes. The section that follows offers some insight into how the shaping oforganizational culture and climate has been accomplished successfully.

Shaping School Culture and Climate to Facilitate Improvement

Many school leaders have consciously recognized the need to change the climate and/or culture of theirschool and have set out to do so. In the private sector, some organizations have taken what may be the most direct approach–removing certain members of the organization and selecting and socializing new members of the organization who already have valuesand belief systems consonant with the desired culture. In schools, however, tenure or continuing contract laws, student and teacherrights, community pressure, and a host of other factors mitigate against this as a feasible approach (see, also, Maehr&Buck, 1993 and Sathe, 1985 for further discussions on the limitations ofthis approach). This approach to cultural change clearly falls into the trap identified by Wilkins and Patterson (1985), who sagelynoted that many approaches to cultural change are too simplistic and promise too much.