If My School Culture Isn’t Negative, Does That Mean It’s Positive?

by Shelley Burgess

I have been thinking a lot about culture lately. People talk all the time about building relationships and creating a positive school culture as top priorities of their leadership, and I find myself wondering sometimes how each person who talks about a positive school culture would, in fact, define what it is. It got me thinking about a conversation I had with a principal I used to work with about six or seven months after I left my Assistant Superintendent job to work full time with DBC, Inc.

As is typical when you haven’t had a conversation with an old friend for awhile, we asked each other about work and how it was going, and there is something he said which has resonated with me ever since. When I asked him how things were going, he replied… “I’m not going to lie things are much easier now that you’re gone. People leave me alone, and I can pretty much do whatever I want to do. But… I really miss being pushed by you. You helped me learn. You helped me grow, and I was a better principal when you were here.”

When I think about what I mean when I talk about a positive school culture it has a lot to do with that.

I think of one where our primary mission is to ensure all students learn deeply, and we put systems in place to help make that happen. I think people are focused, deeply engaged in the work, and committed to common goals. I think people value each other and their contributions and are appreciated for the exceptional work they do. Individuals and teams push through discomfort and commit to high levels of their own learning and growth. They are hungry for feedback because they want to continue to do better. When faced with obstacles and challenges, they problem solve and are solution-oriented. They make mistakes, but they are given the space and support they need to learn from them. People take great pride in both their individual and collective work their work. There is a high degree of transparency, of trust, of respect.

That is the kind of positive culture where people thrive. That is the kind of positive culture that gets results.

I worry periodically that when some educators talk about wanting a positive school culture that what they mean is they don’t want to rock the boat or make waves. They want people to be comfortable, complacent, content.  They want to make things easy for people in order to avoid conflict, minimize frustration, ward off complaints.

I think sometimes what people mean when they say they want a positive school culture is that they simply don’t want the culture to be negative. I don’t think that’s enough.

We would love to hear your thoughts concerning school culture. Feel free to share using our hashtag #LeadLAP. Beth and I look forward to connecting! You can also join us each Saturday morning from 9:30-10 am CST on our weekly #LeadLAP Twitter chat!