Cultural complexity offers only multiple complications in assessing fit, not safe generalized conclusions. International Studies in Educational Administration. . However culture is often defined in broad general terms as, for example, the way we do things around here (Deal & Kennedy, 1982), obscuring complex and contested conceptualizations. (2002). Walker, A. Collard (2006), for example, contends that much of the global level educational development through programs of agencies such as UNESCO and the World Bank is based on an import model which he portrays as a tidal wave of western values, sweeping away existing cultural environments. & , & Educational Administration Quarterly, 39(1), 6894. Wong, K. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, Cardno, C. School Culture. & If leaders believe that a dominant culture is identifiable or achievable, and that it is a single, stable and unifying phenomenon, then changing it becomes a matter of choice, but relatively straightforward and without any moral ramifications. While these are different aims, they both involve intercultural fluency. However, such a perspective ignores the ability of schools to select many of the cultural inputs. For example, North American and European development assert a cultural commitment to inclusion and equality for all. Leaders interact with culture at the organizational level both in terms of efforts to include the multiple cultures which may be present and also to sustain, adapt or change the dominant culture. Stoll & Fink (1996) created a typology of five types of school culture: moving (dynamic and successful determination to keep developing), cruising (rather complacent, often with privileged learners who achieve despite little school dynamism), strolling (neither particularly effective or ineffective, but long term not keeping pace with change . Effects of cultural diversity on in-class communication and student project team dynamics: Creating synergy in the diverse classroom. Such a perspective suggests that the dominant culture, were it to be discerned with any certainty, would be embedded, unexamined and therefore unchallenged, in preparation and development programs. , Following our examination of globalization and culture in the previous section, we consider here the picture of culture within educational leadership internationally. Ranade, M. In the absence of a similarly complex or authoritative study of the cultural factors in educational leadership, the design of much preparation and development seems to adhere to an assumed commonality and to avoid detailed engagement with the culturally contingent (Lumby et al., forthcoming), resulting in an international curriculum for school leadership preparation (Bush & Jackson, 2002, pp. Elmes Journal of Educational Administration, 334(5), 1231. In crafting school culture, school leaders (principals, teachers, and parents) act as models, potters, poets, actors, and healers. Bridges, E. Education researchers have also assumed such common attributes, for example, integrity (Begley, 2004; Bhindi & Duignan, 1997). From showcase to shadow: understanding dilemmas of managing workplace diversity. Stoll and Fink (1992) think that school effectiveness should have done more to make clear how schools can become effective. 420421). The third element of the system is the cultural output of the school. G, Crow Bottery asserts that there is a risk through this that there may be emerging a perspective that defines what looks increasingly like a global picture of management practice. While there may be commonalities within a whole school, in practice each of these levels will differ in the detail of its culture. The New Meaning of Educational Change (3rd ed.). Discernment of the publicly espoused culture, the culture implicit in practice and the desired culture will inevitably comprise a kaleidoscope of differing opinions and wishes reflecting the perspectives of the individuals responsible for the design and delivery of development. L. (2001). (2001, October). In Organisational Culture and Leadership. (2007). M. There is relatively little attention paid to middle leaders such as department heads and teacher leaders (Bush & Jackson, 2002). Trond International Journal for Leadership in Education, 4(4), 367381. In the period since the 1970s many commentators have created sometimes a single description of school culture, and sometimes typologies providing alternate descriptions. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 12(4), 385408. Instead there are history, context, process, interactivity, power relations and change. Sports. (1996). , School Improvement for Schools Facing Challenging Circumstances: A These elements are but the tangible appearance of the underpinning set of values and beliefs, which shape the intended outcomes of the educational enterprise within a school. Essentially it makes a questionable assumption. In fact, Hofstedes work shows very great variation within regions. But the real purpose of schools was, is, and always will be about learning. Processual competencies, comprising intrapersonal competencies and cognitive competencies (2003, p.84), are also needed. (Eds. The Culture of the School and the Problem of Change. Hoppe (2004) believes US leaders have little difficulty in receiving negative feedback. There is also a preference to face facts whether positive or negative. & Bjork, L. Thirdly, it offers an international perspective by looking at the micro relationship of culture to the multiple identities and cultures of individuals and organizations. P.J. As we shall demonstrate later in the chapter, it is getting to understand these values and beliefs that is a critical first step for educational leaders in developing the skills to manage, develop and evolve culture in their school. Despite some advances since that time, understanding of culture and its relationship to leadership and its development remains empirically underdeveloped. Educational Change: Easier Said than Done | SpringerLink Leaders navigate cultural choices which are always constrained. Cultural isolation is difficult, even in societies which seek strongly to conserve traditional cultural values within their educational systems. C+. Journal of School Leadership, Coleman, M. Leading and Managing Education: International Dimensions. Education. E. V. Velsor, E. V. We consider later in this chapter the implications of this for the professional development of lead-ers within educational institutions. Hanges House, R. Prosser, 1998). G. La Habra High School - La Habra, CA - nfhsnetwork.com . & PDF "Head, Heart and Hands Learning" - A challenge for - CORE Deciding which cultural assumptions to attempt to embed in the design and delivery of development, including the degree to which they will replicate or challenge dominant cultures; Deciding how best to equip leaders with intercultural competence, so that they in their turn can decide which cultural assumptions to attempt to embed in their school leadership, including the degree to which they will replicate or challenge dominant cultures. M. Educational Management & Administration, Billot, J. The Leadership Quarterly, 7(2), 163187. Ribbins Everyone expects superiors to enjoy privileges, and status symbols are very important. A more flexible and subtle shaping will be needed. Louque, A. The GLOBE project was undertaken in a business context. ), Managing the Organizational Melting Pot: Dilemmas of Workplace Diversity (pp. In others, variation is considerable and the primary drive to develop teaching and learning, attainment and achievement may be located elsewhere. Librarian resources (1998). Salaman Bush, T. Such a knowledge base would allow theory to be developed in a more culturally aware way. A. The Australian Principals Centre: A model for the accreditation and professional development of the principalship. The International Journal of Educational Management, 15(2), 6877. , (2003). Despite the difficulties of establishing the meaning of the concept of culture, it is used ubiquitously as a key variable, Janus-like, suggested both to influence and be influenced by a range of factors which impact on education. Understanding Schools as Organisations Bell Kachelhoffer, P. Cross-cultural issues in development of leaders. (1996). Such reculturing (Fullan, 2001) is perhaps the biggest challenge to school leaders, though, for it will certainly generate conflict, contradiction and destabilization as part of the process as DiPaola (2003, p. 153) has indicated: Stier, J. In The processes of globalization have been a significant feature of all dimensions of society and economy over the last three decades. The political perspective would see educational leaders as seeking to generate in their pupils and staff a critical view of society, to challenge existing orthodoxies and to become citizens able to participate in social and cultural change. This book assists people inside and outside schools to . & Leithwood It has 525 students in grades 9-12 with a student-teacher ratio of 13 to 1. (2002). & School administration in China: a look at the principals role. Sierra Vista Elementary 1800 E. Whittier Boulevard La Habra, CA 90631 Phone: 562-690-2359. The aim is to encourage leaders to address obliviousness to their own culture and challenge approaches which may inappropriately embed a single culture and/or a culture alien to some participants. , Throughout the world a great deal of effort and money has been expended in the name of educational change. ABSTRACT In 1986, the Halton Board of Education in Ontario, Canada initiated an Effective Schools Project. Gender and race in leadership preparation: a constrained discourse. (PDF) School culture - ResearchGate Adler, N. Organizational change, leadership and learning: culture as cognitive process. Many of our schools are good schools - if this were 1965. Nick Foskett, Print publication date: July 2008 (1985). & Consequently mid-forged manacles of Western generated categories hinder the development of leaders in Malaysia where Islam is deeply embedded in culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Deal, T. Lakomski, G. (2001). International Journal of Educational Management, 5(3), 45. ), Educational management: Redefining theory, policy and practice (pp. C. Ruiz-Quintanilla, A. All this is set within a strongly performative macro context in many countries. Find Washington Middle School test scores, student-teacher ratio, parent reviews and teacher stats. Hallinger, P. While awareness of and reflection on hegemonic theory may be of use, its global dominance in preparation and development seems inappropriate on a number of grounds. In. , There are no essential, innate and immutable characteristics of race, age, gender, disability or other demographic categories. Analysis of culture embedded in preparation and development programs will involve discriminating between what is rhetorical and what is evidenced. The first relates to the ways the day-to-day operations of the school interact with the outside world. (Hoppe, 2004, p. 333), a set of shared values and preferred actions among members of a society that largely determines among other things, the boundaries within which leader development is possible. Any research which attempts to map such differences in concept and practice will face severe methodological challenges. (1993). All leadership development has embedded cultural values. Coleman, C. , & ABSTRACT The relevance of the concept of culture to school effectiveness and school improvement is explored. (Eds. Lopez, G. R. It is also a response to the greater sensitivity brought about by the increasing diversity within many societies and the insistence that a perspective based on a single dominant culture risks sustaining a hegemonic, ineffective and excluding approach. & Bush In the education sector, the PLC provides a pathway to a learning organisation: one which comprises 'a group of people who take an active, re ective, collaborative, (2004). The result is that most preparation and development takes egalitarian participation and transformational leadership as key (Bush & Jackson, 2002). Changing the culture becomes merely a question of technical fit, of shaping leadership development to align it to local culture. Buckingham: Open University Press. The notions of cultural diffusion and cultural fit assume that programs designed to take account of the cultural expectations and preferences of participants are more likely to lead to effective learning and resulting practice. The former has received very little and the latter a good deal more attention (Gronn, 2001; Heck, 1996). Gronn, P. Two typologies are developed. His ideas were widely influential. Those undertaking preparation for development may have differing value priorities which are culturally shaped. Cultural influences on organizational leadership. Decisions to encourage acceptance or critique of the dominant culture and its effect lie at the moral heart of supporting the education of leaders. In many ways this is the summation of the school and reflects its overall purpose and aims, which have two distinct dimensions. (2007). , Bryant (1998) suggests that as a consequence school leadership as conceived in the US is unlikely to be appropriate to Native American educational leaders whose culture and consequent conception of leadership is very different. Fullan (2001) has suggested that recognizing the need for, and understanding the processes involved in, cultural change are essential tools of leadership development, for it is in establishing a culture of change in school that successful school development can occur. Cultural diversity and group work effectiveness. , Develops two "ideal culture" typologies (traditional and collegial) and discusses each for its heuristic, conceptual, methodological, and explanatory potential in school effectiveness and school . Subordinates expect superiors to act autocratically. Preliminary explorations of indigenous perspectives of educational management, Journal of Educational Administration, 34(5), 5073. As in the GLOBE project, subgroups within nations might be also identified for inclusion. Much leadership theory reflects Anglophone and particularly US culture which Hoppe (2004, p. 335) suggests is consistently described as being individualistic, egalitarian, performance derived, comfortable with change, and action-and-data-oriented. E. For example, culture is suggested to both shape and reflect values (Begley & Wong, 2001), philosophy (Ribbins & Zhang, 2004), gender (Celikten, 2005), religion (Sapre & Ranade, 2001), politics (Hwang, 2001), ethnicity (Bryant, 1998) and history (Wong, 2001). A preparation for school leadership: International perspectives. a set of shared values and preferred actions among members of a society that largely determines among other things, the boundaries within which leader development is possible. (1996). British Educational Research Journal, 32(3), 363386. Introduction. House, R. J. Litvin (1997) attacks such essentialism, ascribing the taxonomy of groups to a Western Platonic purportedly scientific paradigm. Panel 4 A Typology of School Cultures. & In an increasingly complex, diverse and unpredictable world, it is necessary for schools and those working with them . Corporate rituals: The rites and fituals of corporate life. Fernandez It may be limiting, ineffective and ethically dubious, particularly in those countries with a history of previous colonization and suppression of indigenous cultures. Its view of human nature is there a belief that people are essentially good, neutral or evil? Bottery, M. ), Leading Schools in a Global Era: A Cultural Perspective, Peabody Journal of Education, Litvin, D. R. & ISBN: 9781135277017. Panel 3. Preparing head teachers to respond to these challenges will be a significant challenge, therefore, and this is a focus later in the chapter. Revisiting the Culture of the School and the Problem of Change. Hallinger (2001) also points to the ubiquitous use of theories such as Learning Organization and School Based Management, which are firmly embedded in similar cultural norms. . These are the cultural, verbal, visual and behavioral components of the school in action through which a wide range of cultural messages and aims will be delivered. Rowney, J. (1998). None is universally applicable nor comprehensive in its utility, yet they provide a range of perspectives to assist in clarifying this miasmic concept. Prosser (1998) has shown how culture is expressed at different levels within an organization, ranging from the individual classroom, to teams of teachers, to the whole school. Wong, K-C. The Shopping Mall High School: Winners and Losers in the Educational Marketplace; National Association of Secondary School Principals (U.S.); National Association of Independent Schools. Bryant, M. & (1997).Organizational behaviour (3rd ed.). Everyone expects superiors to enjoy privileges, and status symbols are very important. Begley, P. In another region of China, Hong Kong, teacher contact hours are considerably higher and leadership is more firmly placed with the principal. Such an approach to cultural change is, of course, a key component of western approaches to educational leadership, and has been criticized for representing a fundamental misunderstanding of what culture is and can be. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 8(3), 207221. PDF Didactic Culture of School and Students' Emotional Responses (Related Secondly, investigations of the cultural fit of transmission and process models of learning would support those responsible for design in making more appropriate choices. Heck, R. (forthcoming). However, over a decade ago, Heck (1996) suggested that advances in statistical methods held some hope of achieving conceptual and metric equivalence in investigating theoretical models across nations and within organizations. School values were assessed by aggregating the scores of 862 students, (ages 15-19) in 32 Jewish and Arab Israeli schools (Study 1), and 1,541 students (ages 11-21) from 8 European schools and 163 teachers from 6 of these schools (Study 2), using Schwartz's Portrait Values Questionnaire. A major international study, The Global Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness (GLOBE) project, aimed to establish which leadership behavior was universally viewed as contributing to leadership effectiveness (House, Paul, Hanges, Ruiz-Quintanilla, Dorfman & Mansour 2004, p. 3). Published 1996. Hiltrop, J. Dorfman and House (2004) suggest three competing propositions: that cultural congruence in development and leadership is more effective; that cultural difference can be stimulating and bring about positive change; that leadership is universal activity. The School Culture Typology is a self-reflective tool and related activity designed to identify a school-wide perspective of the "type" of culture that exists in a school. We have looked at three theoretical aspects of culture here. P. J. Ogawa Rather, in leadership every person has a role to play (Bryant, 1998, p. 12) undertaking a leadership act as need and personal understanding or skill require. Commentary. School culture, therefore, is most clearly seen in the ways people relate to and work together; the management of the school's structures, systems, and physical environment; and the extent to which there is a learning focus for both pupils and adults, including the nature of that focus (Stoll & Fink, 1998) or simply the distinctive identity of . Secondly, it considers the important issue of the macro relationship of culture and globalization. Accultured, automatic, emotional responses preclude awareness of internalized culture. (1998). They may also tackle the issue of how culture can be managed. Hallinger, P. & | Terms & conditions. Ultimately, it is the cultural product/output of the school by which it will be judged, for it will be benchmarked against the cultural expectations that government, society and community have for their schools. The first is that culture is neither unitary nor static (Collard & Wang, 2005), and while change may be evolutionary rather than revolutionary, trends and developments in internal and external influences will move the culture forward. We are using cookies to provide statistics that help us give you the best experience of our site. The typology tool was first developed in 1997 as a hands-on, practical method of defining for discussion purposes a school's stage or type of culture. 330). The cacophony of objections highlights the failure of development programs to accommodate the diversity of culture within one geographic area as much as across widely distant locations. (Eds. The mechanics of diffusion and the appropriateness of the results have been subject to unequal research interest. In this line, a study . A key influence on culture within and beyond schools has been globalization. Sapre and Ranade (2001, p. 379) deplore the fact that there is very little in modern Indian education that is truly rooted in the culture, tradition and genius of its people. Culture can take different forms. At the exogenous level, there appears to be widespread cultural homogeneity implicit in leadership development; that is, whether explicitly acknowledged or not, development is underpinned by some degree of belief in leadership as an invariable activity (Walker & Walker, 1998; Bhindi & Duignan, 1997): this despite recognition that even the word leader has very different connotations in different cultures (House, 2004). Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology. London: McGraw-Hill. The first approach led to selection of 25 most frequently found publications on the school as learning organisation and/or learning school. ), The University Council for Educational Administration: Handbook of Research on the Education of School Leaders, Lumby, J. Such simple categorizations provide briefly interesting analytical tools to assist school leaders in gaining an initial understanding of their school culture, but are of limited wider utility. Sapre, P. In Hanges, S. However, these may be taken-for-granted, and only apparent to those designing and delivering development when a lack of fit is pointed out by specific groups. Tin, L. A number of research areas seem indicated as urgently required. However, the findings which result from research in one location may lead to indiscriminate transfer of assumptions, such as the primary location of leadership in the principal. Leadership for a new century; authenticity, intentionality, spirituality and sensibility. ), Effective educational leadership (pp. International Journal for Leadership in Education, 4(4), 321332. The second is that cultural plurality is the norm in many educational systems and within most individual schools and colleges. every organization must have a person in charge, acute awareness of the expenditure of time, an obligation to accommodate others right to participate. The dynamic culture of Diversity and the demands of leadership. K. Foskett, N. ), Strategic Human Resource Management (pp. Fink, D. Bennett Two distinctive views of this connection can be identified (Collard, 2006). Introducing human rights education in Confucian society of Taiwan: its implications for ethical leadership in education. Schools with strong, positive cultures feature service-oriented staffs, a collegial ambience, celebratory rituals, supportive social networks, and humor. & J. I am a member of the publication's editorial board and strongly support the publication, Authored by: The implications of these strategies for leadership training and development have been analyzed by DiPaola (2003) who outlines a number of key components of principal preparation programs. No one theory of leadership is implied. Unproductive, toxic schools have fragmented staffs, eroding goals, and negative, hopeless atmospheres. . V. Hallinger For the purposes of this chapter, these two snapshots highlight issues that result from consideration of culture, such as who are the primary leaders and how might the leadership theory used in their development be shaped in response to differing ontological, epistemological and axiological assumptions? It would appear that teachers have one view, government another, and various segments of the community still another. Much of it has been misdirected and some of it wasteful. Al-Meer, A. ), Culture, Leadership, and Organizations: the GLOBE study of 62 Societies (pp. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. (1997). Bjerke, B. Skip to page content. Professing educational leadership: conceptions of power. Gupta We would also suggest that pupils, although seldom asked, would hold . , & 331360). R. Bajunid, I. Its view of the nature of human activity does it believe that people behave in a dominant/proactive mode or a passive/fatalistic mode? School Culture, School Effectiveness and School Improvement House, R. J. Systems theory enables us to conceptualize every school and educational organization as being characterized 1) by a range of inputs, 2) by the processes in operation within the school, and 3) by a set of outputs and in each of these three elements of the system we can identify culture as a key component. After graduation, 76% of students from this school go on to attend a 4-year college. , Cultures consequences: management in Saudi Arabia. Complex and important concept School culture is one of the most complex and important concepts in education. Downloaded by [Teldan Inc] at 05:45 14 September 2015 . Waters (1995) has identified three interwoven strands to globalization political globalization, economic globalization and cultural globalization. J. A Typology of School Culture Stoll& Fink (1996) Improving Declining Lumby, J. Research has shown the principal to be a significant factor in school effectiveness (Hallinger & Heck, 1999).