ANTHONY MUHAMMAD, PH.D.

Transforming School Culture:

How to Overcome Staff Division

The Task at Hand

“If schools are to be transformed into learning communities, educators must be prepared first of all to acknowledge that the traditional guiding model of education is no longer relevant in a post-industrial, knowledge-based society. Second, they must embrace ideas and assumptions that are radically different than those that have guided schools in the past.”

DuFour & Eaker, Professional Learning Communities at Work (1998), p. 34

Two Forms of Change

Technical

Cultural

Technical Change

Technical changes are changes in learning tools/structure

1. Collaborative time2. Common assessments3. Norms and Protocol4. Educational technology5. Support classes

Common Misconceptions About Technical Changes

Changing the structure will lead to higher levels of productivity (Rearranging the seats on the Titanic)

Technical changes can make up for low capacity or unprofessionalism

Technical changes will “fix” kids or schools that are broken (i.e., dress codes, longer school day)

Cultural Change

“Structural change that is not supported by cultural change will eventually be overwhelmed by the culture, for it is in the culture that any organization finds meaning and stability.”

Schlechty, Shaking Up the Schoolhouse: How to Support and Sustain Educational Innovation

(2001), p. 52

School Culture

“School culture is the set of norms, values, and beliefs,

rituals and ceremonies, symbols and stories that make up the ‘persona’ of the school”

Peterson(2002), Is Your School Culture toxic or positive? Education World (6)2

“Healthy” School Culture

“Educators have an unwavering belief in the ability of all of their students to

achieve success, and they pass that belief on to others in overt and covert ways.

Educators create policies and procedures and adopt practices that support their belief in the ability of every student.”

Peterson(2002), Is Your School Culture toxic or positive? Education World (6)2

“Toxic” School Culture

“Educators believe that student success is based upon students’ level of concern,

attentiveness, prior knowledge, and willingness to comply with the demands of

the school, and they articulate that belief in overt and covert ways. Educators create

policies and procedures and adopt practices that support their belief in the impossibility

of universal achievement.”

Peterson(2002), Is Your School Culture toxic or positive? Education World (6)2

Good to Great, Jim Collins

What do great corporations/organizations do differently than good/average organizations?

1.They seek and find the “brutal facts”

2.The get the right people on the “bus” and sit them in the “right seats”

The Quandary

Believers

Objective:

Success for Each Student

The Believers

Very intrinsically motivatedFlexibility with students (academically and

behaviorally)Mission driven/connection to school or

communityWilling to confront negative talk and

attitudes towards childrenVaried levels of pedagogical skill

Tweeners

Objective:

To Find Role Within the Organization

The Tweeners

Loosely-coupled with the school missionEnthusiastic about the idealistic nature of

school, but have not quite hit the tipping pointThey stay out of school and district politicsFollows instructions as given by

administration (considered “good” teachers)One extreme experience (Moment of Truth)

can swing them to be a believer or a fundamentalist

Survivors

Objective:

Survival

Survivors

Overwhelming nature of the job or life has caused clinical depression (Burnout)

No political or organizational aspirationsCreate subcontracts with student to broker a

“cease-fire” agreementLittle to no professional practice is evidentAll members of the organization agree that

they do not belong in the professionRemoval and treatment is the only possible

remedy

Fundamentalists

Objective:

Maintain Status Quo(Leave Me Alone!)

Apprenticeship of Observation

Educators have been socialized in their field since childhood and adopt the norms

The average educator was a good studentEducators subconsciously protect a system

that was of personal benefitEducators implement practices that protect

the system (academic obstacle course)

(Lortie, Schoolteacher: A Sociological Study, 1975)

Fundamentalists

Believe not all children can learn (Social Darwinists)

Believe that school reform is a waste of time Believe in autonomy and academic freedomOrganize to resist threat(s) to status quoBelieve that gaps in learning are solely due

to outside forces (students, parents, administration)

Have varied levels of pedagogical skills

Methods:The Three “D’s”

Defamation

Disruption

Distraction

BelieversBelievers FundamentalistsFundamentalists

Focus on problem and problem solving

Pragmatic discussions stay within the locus of control

Focus on personal affect of the problem and constant, emotionally-charged description of the problem

Emotional discussions lie outside of the locus of control

Control of Language

BelieversBelievers FundamentalistsFundamentalists

Goal: Success for Every Student

Accepts that change (the right change) is necessary to improve student performance

Student interest is more important that personal interest (Public Servant)

Goal: Maintain Status Quo

Rejects any substantive change if it clashes with personal agenda

Self-interest is more important than student interest (Self Servant)

The Real Difference

The Current State of School Reform

The Clash

Stalemate

The Problem of Our Time?

“Money alone will not fix our struggling schools. The issue of adult dysfunction, at every level, must be addressed and fixed before we can truly have

a new American public school.”

Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of EducationCody High School, Detroit, MI

May 16, 2009

A Call to Action

“Education is too critical to our society for leaders to allow it to be hijacked by

a group of individuals who refuse to embrace substantive change, even in

the face of compelling evidence. School leaders and Believers have to become more active and vocal and meet this

challenge of overcoming fundamentalism head on.”

A. Muhammad, Transforming School Culture, 2009, pg. 81

What’s Next? Is Change Necessary?

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result?” – Albert Einstein

Can Fundamentalism Be Reversed?

FundamentalistChange Is Not Easy

“Drop Your Tools” ResearchPeople persist when they are given no

clear reason to changePeople persist when they do not trust the

person who tells them to changePeople persist when they view the

alternative as more frighteningTo change may mean admitting failure

(Maclean, Young Men and Fire, 1992)

How do we respond?

• Level 1 – Make a clear case for change• Level 2 – Develop relationships, do not ostracize• Level 3 – Increase capacity and consider the context• Level 4 – Monitor Strongly

Reflection

• Has an initiative ever been introduced to you without explanation or apparent logic and you were held accountable for execution of the initiative?

• Have you ever been let down by a leader that you trusted and it made you reluctant to trust future leadership?

• Have you ever felt overwhelmed and mentally and physically unable to entertain additional responsibilities?

Level 4 Fundamentalists

• Timing is essential!• Assume that all uncooperative colleagues

have a legitimate reason for behavior and address legitimate concerns

• A separation will occur between Levels 1-3 and Level 4 Fundamentalists

• If you act too soon, a mutiny occurs• Choose not to act at the proper time and an

endorsement of unproductive behavior is articulated

Behavior not People!

If you answered yes to any of the aforementioned questions, you have behaved in a Fundamentalist manner in the past.

The focus in transforming culture is on changing behavior, not getting rid of people.

To “Transform” is different than to “Inform”

Hard Fact #1

Schools are institutions created for the purpose

of educating children, not for adult employment.

Hard Fact #2

Educators are Public Servants, no different

than police officers or fire fighters.

Hard Fact #3

If schools are going to improve, the issue of Fundamentalism and inordinate self-interest is going to have to be effectively

addressed.

Purpose

“The best case for public education has always been that it is a common good. Everyone

ultimately has a stake in the caliber of schools, and education is everyone’s

business.”

Michael Fullan, The Moral Imperative of School Leadership (2003)

Let Us Not Forget!

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government”

U.S. Declaration of Independence

It’s Not About Us! It’s About Them!

Contact Information

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