Culture as a Tool for School Improvement: The Case of Children’s Socialisation Centres

Abstract

The concern for delinquent children’s social and emotional development in closed institutions is a significant topic in educational research. This shows the need to improve the existing re-socialisation practice. Despite the fact that school effectiveness and school improvement researches theoretically have different general purposes and value bases, educational effectiveness and improvement paradigm involves both trends, which are combined by the same aspects: scientific approach and empirical data based on educational settings; knowledge of how to improve the school practice; and use of this knowledge for social purposes. In this context, the concept of the school culture is one of the main variables that allow us to answer how to address the needs of all children and improve their academic or social outcomes. The aim of this article is to illustrate the cultural characteristics of children’s socialisation centres as specific schools and to identify the guidelines for improving their performance. The mission of children’s socialisation centres is to re-socialise delinquent behaviour of children and to help them to integrate into the society. Quantitative data for measuring the school culture is obtained from the survey that was conducted using the School Culture Inventory (Maslowski, 2001). This instrument is based on the Competing Values Framework (Cameron, Quinn, 2011) consisting of four dimensions, which are labelled by human relations, open systems, rational goal and internal process orientation. The theoretical value of the survey is the analysis of school culture in terms of successful re-socialisation. The cultural profiles of these schools showed the priorities that require practical changes.