From Legends to Legacy 21topic and subsequently led to my dissertation on that topic in relation to student success,
principal leadership and school culture and climate.
As far as climate is concerned, I began to read the work of Brookover, Rutter, Edmonds,
Fox, Steinhof and others to learn more about this seemingly “soft’ side of schools and
learning. Relative to culture, I studied the work of Argyris, Sarason, Keefe, Howard, Schein,
Kanter, Deal and many others. So despite my 30 year running-dialogue with Carl Steinhof at
the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, I am convinced that the two are different: “culture” is
the shared values, beliefs, and norms of a school or organization that govern both its behavior
and attitudes. Or simply put, “the way things are done around here.” “Climate” on the other
hand, is the reaction and perception an individual or group may have to the existing culture of
the school. Getzels describes this as the tension between the nomothetic and the
idiographic.... remember that one? Or, put simply, the individual-organization conflicts that
are inherent in schools (Argyris, 1964; Getzels, Campbell, & Lipham, 1968).
Culture and climate are quite different, but both are significantly related to school or
organizational effectiveness (Martin, Howard & Colia, 2004; Colia, 2001; Brookover, 1978,
1979,1982; Purkey & Smith, 1982; Rutter, 1979; Edmonds, 1979; Keefe & Howard, 1997;
Goodlad, 1984; Sarason, 1971). School leaders must regularly examine and modify the
culture if effectiveness is to be improved. This includes reviewing the effectiveness of rituals,
taboos, myths, ceremonies, traditions, games, laws, rules, symbols, celebrations, etc. that may
interfere with success of a quality school. Surveys, observations and interviews must be a
regular part of the data collection process to ensure that no barriers exist to student learning
and the development of a quality school. For example, NASSP has a process that leaders can
use to examine culture and climate and I count as heroes Jim Keefe and Gene Howard (1997,
1991) for their leading-edge approaches in this area. Edward Brainard and Robert Fox
pioneered some fine work in school climate improvement (1973). Another superb handbook
for conducting school climate improvement projects was written for schools and leaders to
collaborate on effective strategies to change the climate of the school (Howard, Howell &
Brainard, 1987).
- SCHOOL RENEWAL AND IMPROVEMENT
“The schools of tomorrow should be allowed to develop more valid ways of judging
educational excellence. The expected student outcomes should include such skills as
competence in self-directed learning, mastery of oral communication, interpersonal
relations, and intercultural maturity” (J. Lloyd Trump, 1969).“Above all, let them remember that the meaning of life is to build a life as if it were
a work of art. In the end, the Basic School is committed to building lives as if they
were works of art.” (Ernest Boyer, 1995, NAES).I think the works of Boyer, Trump, Brown, Rutter, Edmonds, Brookover, Lieberman,
Darling-Hammond and of course, Goodlad and associates, have strongly influenced my
thinking in this area.
I first encountered Boyer, a pioneer in school renewal, when in Santa Barbara. He gave
me my first consulting job...school renewal in a Santa Maria elementary school. He believed
that the “challenge to school renewal cuts across all social and economic sectors. What was
needed was a new vision of education, a comprehensive plan that makes available to every