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 the 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 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.
Element IIIa. Focus on Collaborative Work Environment: The principal/assistant principal understands and acts on the understanding of the positive role that a collaborative work environment can play in the school’s culture.
Action: In an effort to understand the perceptions of the work environment at Speight, I created a Temperature Check Survey that I sent out to teachers several times throughout the year. I then analyzed the data and shared the results with the Principal. We then discussed the results with the Leadership Team to problem-solve solutions.
Temperature Check Survey
Temperature Check Analysis
Action: At the end of our staff meetings, I have had the teachers post plus/deltas using sticky notes. Then I have typed them up to share with the admin. team. Below are the plus/deltas from our November Staff Meeting that I opened with a bubble gum blowing contest. From the pluses, it appears that the teachers enjoyed the activity.
Plus/Deltas from Staff Meeting
Element IIIb. School Culture and Identity: The principal/assistant principal develops and uses shared vision, values and goals to define the identity and culture of the school.
Action: Under Element Ia, I have shared several actions and artifacts demonstrating my work on the school's core values and mission and vision statements. In order to ingrain these core values into the culture of the school, I have begun several staff meetings by asking teachers to share out examples of teachers and students who have shown Respect, Compassion, Commitment, and Innovation. In one staff meeting, I used a random spinner and drew names out of a cup to ensure whole staff participation and to demonstrate an instructional tool that teachers could us to encourage student engagement.
Spinner with Core Values
Action: Throughout the year, I have continued to keep the teachers focused on our our core values and vision by highlighting them in our daily newsletters.
Excerpts from Daily Newsletters Emphasizing Core Values
Action: I created a Core-Values Walk-Through Thank You Note. I use these on days that I feel teachers need encouragement to remind them of the good things that they are doing that make a huge difference in our school.
Core Value Thank You Notes
Element IIIc. Acknowledges Failures; Celebrates Accomplishments and Rewards: The principal/assistant principal acknowledges failures and celebrates accomplishments of the school in order to define the identity, culture and performance of the school.
Action: I started a monthly raffle and a quarterly ice cream social to celebrate teachers and students with perfect attendance.
Perfect Attendance Celebrations
Action: I created The Cougar Copy, a monthly student newsletter highlighting student success. It is sent out monthly to students through google classroom, and it is posted on Facebook and Twitter.
Newsletter Highlighting Student Success
Element IIId. Efficacy and Empowerment: The principal/assistant principal develops a sense of efficacy and empowerment among staff which influences the school’s identity, culture and performance.
Action: I encouraged teachers to continue growing in their profession by sharing teaching strategy videos on my Daily Newsletter and by encouraging them to participation in professional development opportunities both inside and outside of the school.
Teach Like a Champion Videos on Newsletter
Email Encouraging Attendance at PD
Action: I helped build teacher efficacy by encouraging teachers to share the great teaching strategies that they were using in their classrooms with their colleagues. Our Instructional Technology Facilitator started a Pineapple Chart where teachers advertise the day/time that they are planning an interesting lesson that they would like to share. When I witness great teaching I encourage the teacher to add it to the pineapple chart so others can come see.
Email Encouraging Teacher to Use Pineapple Chart
Action: In an effort to consider the well-being of our staff during the shortest, but longest month for our teachers, February, I assisted my Assistant Principal in "Share da Luv" Month. Each day in the month of February, we celebrated a different event. I organized "National Fly a Kite Day" where we let every student create a grocery bag kite and fly it around outside and helped organize the Chili Cook-Off. "Share da Luv" Month was a great morale booster, and I plan to continue this tradition in the schools I serve in the future.