The Functions of Culture
- Culture fosters school effectiveness and productivity
- Culture improves collegiality, collaboration, communication, and problem-solving practices
- Culture promotes innovation and school improvement
- Culture builds commitment and kindles motivation
- Culture amplifies the energy and vitality of school staff, students, and community
- Culture focuses attention on what is important and valued
Building trust with parents is also important. Many times, educators assume that parents do not want to be involved in school activities because they are either too lazy, or apathetic about their children's education. This assumption is simply not the case. A parent-school relationship study was conducted by Claire Smrekar and she found the following:
- Parents valued education
- Parents wanted to help their children with school - most often, their job is getting the kids to school
- Parents wanted to assist in schools - mostly in the form of money
- Parents wanted to feel comfortable at school activities - make us feel like we're part of something
There is also a section in this book which provides guidelines on how to turn around a noxious culture. This was the most interesting part of the book for me. Chapter 10, p.160
The "gist" of this book can be summed up with the following quote:
"Culture is not part of the game, it is the game."Upon some reflection, I came to the conclusion that this book will be a valuable asset once I become an administrator. I'll put it on my top 10 list...for now.
