A “cracking” school culture: leading resource exploitation during implementation of a national reform

Abstract

PurposeThe study explores characteristics of strong school cultures through principals' exploitation of additional resources within implementation of a national reform.Design/methodology/approachAn interpretive approach was utilized to analyze qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with 35 Israeli high school principals who implemented a national reform in state and religious-state schools from all school districts.FindingsThe article presents four types of cracking cultures led by the principals: (1) a school values-based culture, such as respect; (2) a caring culture based on trust and a positive atmosphere; (3) a maintenance achievement-oriented culture; and (4) a creative culture that supports the teachers and takes risks in using resources beyond their intended purpose.Originality/valueExploring principals' exploitation of resources within a cracking culture may promote school improvement and innovation during national reform implementation.

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“…The analysis by Lee and Louis (2019) suggests a clear link between schools with a strong culture and their continuous improvement in school-level achievement. Among other features of a strong culture are listed staff commitment to pupil support and learning, teacher collaboration and collegiality, academic press and improving pupil achievements (Tamir and Ganon-Shilon, 2021). To achieve new insight regarding the role of leadership within the school culture, this study will address these two research questions: Q1: What are the main culture gaps in primary schools?…”

“…In this study, Innovation process and Expected pupil learning results create dependent variables that depend on the national strategy in education and the general postulated fact that a positive culture of organisation supports achieving the needed results of the educational process (cf. strong culture and student achievement, Lee and Louis, 2019;Tamir and Ganon-Shilon, 2021). The School Culture Inventory uses a five-point Likert scale, and for more detailed description of each school culture item, contains short, detailed descriptions.…”

Development of School Culture for School Quality Improvement

“…Selain itu, budaya adalah kebiasaan kerja seluruh manajemen dan personel yang telah diterima sebagai standar perlakuan kerja dan membuat mereka terikat secara emosional. Berdasarkan pengertian tersebut, budaya dapat dipandang sebagai sarana yang dapat menjadi perekat yang mengikat komponen organisasi menjadi satu kesatuan (Tabroni et al 2021;Tamir et al 2021) Konsep budaya yang berkembang dalam konteks pendidikan sebenarnya bersumber dari budaya kerja di dunia industri, yang merupakan suatu situasi yang akan memberikan landasan dan arah bagi terselenggaranya proses kerja yang efektif dan efisien. Budaya sekolah dapat digambarkan sebagai pola nilai, norma, sikap, ritual, mitos dan kebiasaan yang terbentuk dalam perjalanan panjang sekolah (Kholis et al, 2014).…”

School leadership writ small: Meetings and school principal practice

“…As a microcosm of school leadership, principal meetings suggest school leaders' goals such as reinforcing accountability (Datnow et al, 2019;Duke and Landahl, 2011;Lowenhaupt et al, 2016;Schildkamp and Poortman, 2015;Spillane et al, 2011), orchestrating collaboration and shared vision (Hoppey and McLeskey, 2013;Khanal et al, 2020;Tamir and Ganon-Shilon, 2021;Wolcott, 1973), fostering reflective thinking (Argyris and Schön, 1978;Houchens et al, 2012;Scribner et al, 1999), smoothening administrative performance (Grissom et al, 2015;Gronn, 1983;Martin and Willower, 1981;Wolcott, 1973), and exhibiting authority and power (Friedman and Berkovich, 2020;Gronn, 1984;Sam, 2021).…”

“…Principals meetings support testing or “trial ballooning” (Licata and Hack: 95) change plans with the teacher and parent subcultures before implementing the ideas (Guesno, 2012; Newmann et al, 2000). Importantly, the bridging role is enabled through transparent face-to-face interactions that both principals and teachers consider crucial to establish trust (Houchens et al, 2012; Szeto and Cheng, 2018; Tamir and Ganon-Shilon, 2021).…”