The culture within a school plays a vital role in shaping students’ educational experiences and outcomes. Often overlooked, school culture profoundly impacts everything from student achievement and teacher retention rates to a school’s sense of community. At North American International School (NAIS), we recognize that nurturing a positive school culture is as important as the curriculum.
This blog post will explore why learning culture in schools matters. We’ll also look at the critical elements of a healthy culture and how to create an environment that brings out the best in students and teachers. When students feel safe, valued, and invested in their school community, it unlocks their potential inside and outside the classroom.
Defining School Culture
School culture refers to the beliefs, perceptions, relationships, attitudes, and written and unwritten rules that shape and influence every aspect of a school’s functions. It also encompasses more concrete issues such as the physical and emotional safety of students, the orderliness of classrooms, and the degree to which a school embraces and celebrates racial, ethnic, linguistic, and cultural diversity.
School culture is often described as the character of a school. It’s the intangible “feel” when you walk through the doors, the impact of which is highly tangible. While every school has a culture, that culture can be intentionally shaped to facilitate high levels of learning.
The Importance of School Culture
School culture profoundly influences students’ motivation to learn, teacher retention, educator collaboration, and almost every learning experience aspect. Some key reasons why school culture has such a significant impact include:
- Sense of Belonging: When students feel welcomed, accepted, included, and supported, they are more likely to be engaged and take academic risks in the classroom. Positive relationships and belonging help meet students’ fundamental needs.
- Safety & Trust: Physical and emotional safety are foundational learning needs. Bullying, discrimination, or a chaotic school environment inhibit learning. Trust between teachers, students, and families enables open communication, which supports students.
- Collaborative Spirit: Schools where teachers, administrators, and families work together as a team are likely to have a unified school culture focused on student-centered outcomes.
- Diversity: Embracing and celebrating cultural diversity in schools fosters students’ abilities to collaborate across differences and prepares them to live and work in a multicultural world.
- Growth Mindset: Students are motivated to persevere through challenges when the culture emphasizes effort, progress, and mastery over innate ability and high-stakes testing.
A school’s culture impacts everything within the building. Creating a positive school culture is one of the most effective ways to provide students with the best learning environment.
The Role of Cultural Activities
Cultural activities for schools are a valuable way to cultivate diversity, inclusion, and identity within their culture. Schools can incorporate cultural experiences into academic and extracurricular activities to expose students to new perspectives and unite the community. Cultural festivals like Diwali, Lunar New Year, and Día de los Muertos provide immersive experiences where students engage in traditions meaningful to their peers. International Days can highlight cuisines, fashions, music, and customs from cultures worldwide. These celebrations teach students about diverse backgrounds and validate multicultural representation within the student body.
Elements of a Positive School Culture
School culture is complex and multifaceted. While each school culture is unique, certain elements facilitate student learning in all settings. Here are some critical components for building a positive school culture:
Safe, Supportive Environment
Students need to feel physically, socially, emotionally, and intellectually safe to engage in learning fully. This means classrooms, hallways, and common areas are orderly and well-supervised. Peer-to-peer connections are positive, and bullying is not tolerated. Teachers work to cultivate inclusion, celebrate diversity, and foster a growth mindset where students feel free to take academic risks without fear of embarrassment.
Trusting Relationships
Learning is a social process built on trusting relationships between students, teachers, and families. Teachers get to know students personally and show care for each learner. Healthy teacher-student and peer relationships create a team environment. Families are welcomed into the school community as valued partners in their children’s education.
Shared Mission & Vision
When all stakeholders work toward a shared, student-centered mission focused on high levels of learning for all students, school culture and learning outcomes improve. Collaboratively developing the vision can help build alignment, relationships, and accountability.
Positive Behavior Management
Consistent behavioral expectations, classroom management, and schoolwide systems of positive discipline and restorative practices help maintain a calm, orderly environment focused on learning.
Effective Leadership
School leaders and educators actively engage in teamwork to make decisions, promote a growth mindset, facilitate customized learning experiences, and prioritize inclusivity. They help shape school culture through the policies, programs, and priorities they establish and promote.
Meaningful Traditions
From special events to the day-to-day routines, traditions build community and identity. They reflect what the community cares about, from honoring heritage and culture to promoting core values. Traditions engage students and give them a sense of belonging.
By intentionally cultivating these and other positive elements, schools can build a supportive school culture that meets the needs of our diverse community and empowers students to reach their full potential.
Strategies to Develop School Culture
School culture affects diverse stakeholders, including students, teachers, administrators, families, and the wider community. Therefore, school culture development must utilize an inclusive process that brings people together around a shared vision and a sense of purpose. Here are several strategies NAIS uses to build a vibrant culture focused on student learning and development:
- Form a Culture Committee: At NAIS, a team of representative stakeholders comes together to assess our current culture and make recommendations. Getting input from various voices ensures a comprehensive approach.
- Focus Groups: We facilitate structured conversations to dive deeper into issues of culture. Focus groups shed light on stakeholders’ lived experiences and root causes of problems.
- Develop Shared Vision & Values: Through an inclusive process, we created consensus statements that paint a picture of NAIS’s ideal culture and articulate core values that guide our work.
- Define Expectations: Articulating norms of respectful behavior for classrooms and common areas, as well as modeling nurturing, equitable practices, helps maintain a positive culture.
- Foster Diversity: NAIS celebrates cultural heritage months, equitable hiring practices, and diversity training to help build cultural competence and inclusion.
- Community Building: From new student welcome ceremonies to inclusive school wide events, we bring people together across differences to form bonds centered on shared values.
- Observe Classrooms: Seeing student engagement and teacher-student interactions provides insight into how culture affects learning and relationships at the classroom level.
- Be Proactive: School culture is easier to maintain than repair. We monitor issues proactively and quickly intervene to resolve problems before they escalate.
By taking a holistic approach focused on our people, NAIS aims to create an empowering culture that allows students and educators to thrive.
Conclusion
School culture significantly impacts students’ education and well-being. Nurturing a positive culture with safety, trust, collaboration, and meaningful traditions is vital. Strategies like forming committees, fostering diversity, and proactive monitoring are crucial to building a thriving school culture that benefits everyone involved. At NAIS, we aim to create an empowering culture that enables both students and educators to thrive.