Standard Three: CULTURAL LEADERSHIP
School executives will understand and act on the understanding of the important role a school's culture contributes to the exemplary performance of the school. School executives must support and value traditions, artifacts, symbols and positive values and norms of the school and community that result in a sense of identity and pride upon which to build a positive future. A school executive must be able to "reculture" the school if needed to align with the school's goals of improving student and adult learning and to infuse the work of the adults and students with passion, meaning, and purpose. Cultural leadership implies understanding the school as the people in it each day, how they came to their current state, and how to connect with their traditions in order to move them forward to support the school's efforts to achieve individual and collective goals.
A. Focus on Collaborative Work Environment
Fuller's theme for the 2020-21 school year is Strong in Our Foundation. The image, created by the school's instructional facilitator, is a visual representation of the collaborative work environment already established at the school that will lead to strong teaching, learning, and high student success. It takes everyone on staff for all students to experience success.
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Fuller's administration team (i.e., principal, assistant principal, magnet coordinator, instructional facilitator, and me) planned and executed a quarterly materials distribution day. The school's instructional facilitator and magnet coordinator worked with grade level teams and specialists to compile the materials for both core and elective classes. Some of these materials included whiteboards, dry erase markers, general school supplies, EL books for language arts, math manipulatives, and kits for specific elective classes. Staff members signed up for a station and assisted families retrieving their needed supplies depending on the grade level and elective.
We worked strategically during the first materials pick-up to have families fill out and return student locator cards and update student information in PowerSchool. Doing this allowed teachers and other staff members to access correct student information since the beginning of the school year. Teamwork and creativity were the key to the success of distributing materials to all of our students. School administration did not hesitate to deliver needed materials to students' homes if families were unable to come to school on the assigned distribution day. The collaboration needed and exhibited demonstrates a positive school culture focused on student success. |
B. School Culture and Identity
Fuller's School Improvement Team worked to redefine the school's value statements. In October 2020, the team's key process managers reintroduced the school's value statements to school improvement team members, comprised of committee chairs and grade-level representative, and asked the members to take the statements back to their respective committees. The committees worked collaboratively to update their value statement, which aligned to the school's mission, vision, and beliefs.
As the co-chair of the Equity/Diversity Team, I used the suggestions given to me by the team and crafted a new equity value statement specifically stating what team members and Fuller staff will do to create an equitable school environment. |
As part of NCSU course requirement, I reflected on the shift in my understanding the powerful role school culture and climate play. At the beginning of the course, culture did not have any defining points for me. Since then, I have learned how components of school culture are not only interconnected but are truly manipulated by an effective school leader. That leader must begin by defining a personal mission and vision before moving to a shared mission and vision. The leader will utilize the people within the school to reinforce the shared commitment and use leverage points throughout the school year for times of renewal. Lastly, the school leader will recognize a need for change and act on that need while coaching and supporting staff -- building their capacity to benefit all students.
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C. Acknowledges Failures; Celebrates Accomplishments, and Rewards
To gain feedback from Fuller's staff, I collaborated with the Climate Committee to create a Jamboard seeking staff's feelings about returning to the school building and working in a virtual or in-person learning environment. Some of the questions posed to staff were:
Since the Jamboard activity, the Climate Committee has worked to celebrate staff more through Staff Spotlights. These spotlights are posted weekly in the Monday Memo highlighting staff accomplishments and affirmations for one another. |
As part of NCSU course requirements, I conducted a culture audit for Heritage Middle School analyzing the school's overall culture and identifying specific implemented elements making the school culture a positive one. One practice the teachers and students at Heritage consistently did was to the find ways to honor and recognize one another. Staff honored other staff members using Patriot Pick-Me Ups and monthly Golden Lantern awards. Students honored staff members through Firecracker Awards, and staff member showed appreciation to students demonstrating the H.M.S. way through Patriot Tickets. Each system of celebration positively defined the school's culture and identity.
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D. Efficacy and Empowerment
As part of NCSU course requirements, I created a graphic demonstrating my personal philosophy of empowering teachers in a school building, examined the strategies used by my former principal to empower teachers, and created a strategic plan of action to empower teachers across the educational system. School leaders who empower teachers to step into teacher leadership roles will experience an increase in teaching quality and innovation, school effectiveness, and overall job satisfaction that positively impacts the classroom and increases the commitment to the profession and organization.
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Each Fuller staff member participates on a School Improvement Team (SIT) Committee to ensure the work of the committee is in alignment with the school's values, beliefs, and vision. Fuller staff have the opportunity to serve on the following committees: Instructional Practices, Core Behavior, Magnet, Media and Technology Advisory, Climate, Family/Community Engagement, and Equity/Diversity Team. Each committees' co-chairs attend monthly SIT meetings. The Equity/Diversity Team was added at the beginning of the 2020-21 school year as a SIT committee, but the team meets at another time in order for staff members to apply their learning with their other assigned committee.
During the 2020-21 school year, committees worked to define core behavior expectations in a virtual learning environment, hold family nights about virtual learning and academics, host a virtual magnet showcase and talent show, conduct an equity audit of the books in the media center, celebrate staff, and created an informal walkthrough system capturing teachers' varying instructional practices. |