School Culture: Does a Fish Know What Water is Like?
A checklist for parents, teachers, and other stakeholders to survey the health of their local school.
This post is part of a series by @edpsychprof where I share edited highlights from my K12 guide to education along with additional thoughts and commentary
Last week, I shared my audacious proposal for how schools ought to be. This week, I am going to help make those influences visible so you can examine your school clearly and conduct your own “report card” to see where the school is helping its students and where it’s hurting them. Consider a fish in a polluted lake. If that lake is the only environment the fish has known, then it won’t think anything is amiss, even as they struggle to breathe. In fact, some hardier fish might even tell that fish that it’s weak and that’s why it’s struggling so much. But take that fish and put it into a pristine, mountain stream-fed lake, and it will begin to flourish. For schools, the school culture is the “water” surrounding students. And today’s school culture is quite polluted, both by larger forces as well as internal forces. All U.S. public schools face similar external forces, but individual schools—public and private—vary greatly on the level of “internal” pollution that exists at each. Consider the following areas when observing a school to determine how healthy it is.
1. School climate. What does the school "feel" like when you enter the front door? Are kids smiling? Are they engaged in their work? Yes, even the high schoolers! Why is that such a radical notion, that schools can be places of joy? Start with your intuition. Does the school feel like a place where kids are thriving? If you can’t visit the school (say, during a pandemic, or because some schools don’t allow tours), ask your child what it feels like to them. Ask other parents at the school. And you can certainly make an appointment to meet with the school administration, counselor, or teachers. This alone can tell you a lot about the school climate too, by how those in power treat you.
2. School Mission/Vision. Most schools have a public mission statement, and some have a vision statement as well. The mission statement reflects the school’s philosophy and purpose (see last week’s newsletter, for some things you should be looking for in the mission statement). The vision statement reflects what the stakeholders of that school intend as outcomes for their students (see Chapter 4 of my book for some things to look for in the vision statement). One thing to keep an eye out for is whether the school has adopted more of a “caring” approach towards students or more of an “authoritarian” approach. Caring schools put students’ well-being at the forefront of their mission and vision. Authoritarian schools value authority, rules, conformity, and obedience and rely heavily on rewards, punishments, and consequences to accomplish their mission. If it’s not obvious, I’d choose caring schools every time. Research shows that even difficult children respond best when given respect and love. Some schools take an authoritative approach — both caring and yet with high expectations — and that seems to be a good formula for success. But be forewarned, it’s a tricky balance to maintain in practice, so if you have to err, my bet is to err on the side of a caring school. (Remember, schools should first do no harm, as we saw last week.)
3. The School Principal. The culture of the school sets the tone for the school, and that culture is profoundly shaped by the school principal. When I was a public school teacher, we had a strict, uncompromising principal who made teachers and students’ lives miserable. When she was replaced the following year, the new principal brought so much joy and fun into the school day that it was like a completely different school. Parents, I can’t stress this enough: make time to meet and get to know your school principal. Read their emails and communications. View your school’s ratings on niche.com. See what people are saying about your school and the principal. Talk to other parents and your kids. Principals are in an unenviable spot these days, but they do have the power to make schools better places for your child.
4. School Facilities. Research shows that people’s behavior is worse when they are in environments that look neglected. Is your school facility clean? Is it physically maintained? Is it safe for kids to play and work there? Is it attractive? Does it look like a prison? There’s a new movement in school architecture to make school buildings places that encourage biophilia (love of nature) in children by having features like large windows, trees planted near the building, cozy spaces for reading, and comfortable seating for students. When we designed Galileo School, we made sure that it had a front porch with rocking chairs to send the signal that the school was meant to feel like a home rather than an institution. Kids spend 6+ hours a day in school; it should feel like a second home and be comfortable to them.
5. Parent involvement. Schools with high parent involvement tend to yield better outcomes for students. Look for ones with active parent-teacher organizations and school advisory committees. How are parents treated at your school? Do you feel a sense of welcome or belonging when you enter the front door? Is your input valued? How difficult is it to communicate with the administrative team? Do teachers have a collaborative or adversarial relationship with parents? My son had a disastrous first year of high school due to the indifference of teachers and school administration to parental input. From the first day, I did not feel welcomed at the school. The front desk staff were unfriendly; parents were treated as a number as we waited in line to get to speak to anyone. The whole place felt like a dreary institution. Communication with school administration was almost non-existent.
6. School communications. How often do you hear from your school principal? From your child’s teacher? What is the tone of these communications? Are they friendly, informative, and inviting? Or are they authoritarian, impersonal, and lecturing? Good schools and teachers communicate with parents regularly and keep them informed of what is going on. I taught k12 students in the “old” days (pre-internet), and I used to send home a weekly printed newsletter of what we would be focusing on in the coming week. Nowadays, some teachers and even some principals send home a weekly email of what is going on in the classroom. What you want to see at the minimum is regular communication that lets parents know what curriculum is being studied and what is happening at the school.
7. Student involvement. How involved are students in the school? Is there an active theater program? Sports? Clubs? Computer programming or robotics team? Are there a variety of opportunities for students to get involved in school activities during and after school? Is there a strong student government or is it just a token organization? Are students invited to sit on important school committees or search committees? Bonus points if your school has peer mentoring or other peer-to-peer activities such as older students reading to younger ones.
8. School library. Drop by the school library sometime. Is it well-resourced? Does it have comfy reading chairs? Speak with the librarian if there is one. How often are students allowed to visit the library? Bonus points if the library is available to students before or after school. (Subtract a lot of points if there is no library!) If the school is virtual, do they have an online library of resources for students? How easy is it to access? How diverse are the resources?
9. Neighborhood Connections. Schools are more segregated now than ever, and this is not a good thing. How diverse is your school? Does the school maintain strong connections to the local neighborhood? Some districts try to combat school segregation by putting magnet programs in inner city schools, but often these schools-within-a-schools remain isolated from the surrounding neighborhood and may not even enroll students from that neighborhood. Does your school have connections to local businesses? One fantastic high school I visited required their students to do an internship as part of their curriculum requirements. Many students found internships helping organizations that served the local community. The folks in the community saw the school as part of their community, a community resource, rather than something isolated from the community. Bonus points to schools that are rich in diversity and maintain a strong connection to their local neighborhoods.
10. School Board. Who controls the funding and overall administration for your school? If it’s a district public school, then it’s the district school board. If it’s a charter school, then it’s the charter school board. If it’s a private school, then it depends. Religious schools may be beholden to a church. Catholic schools, for instance, are funded by their diocese. Independent private schools may be operated by a non-profit board, a for-profit corporation, or even an individual. Follow the funding and get yourself to a meeting of the group that oversees your school. I know, these meetings are often boring. But go to some of them! You will see how decisions are made, what the organization values, and where the funding goes. Ask to look at the annual budget. Find out how you can speak at these meetings. Most public school boards give time for “public comment.” If you have questions or serious concerns about your school or district, make your voice heard.
So, how does your school fare on this checklist? In which of the above criteria does it excel? Where does it need work? And how can you help it get there? I’d love to hear from you.
For Further Reading
On biophilic design: https://www.teachermagazine.com/au_en/articles/learning-spaces-biophilic-design-in-schools
Linda Darling-Hammond and colleagues. (2018). With the whole child in mind: Insights from the Comer School Development Program. ASCD. http://www.ascd.org/Publications/Books/Overview/With-the-Whole-Child-in-Mind.aspx
I’m so lucky to be teaching in a school that checks so many of these boxes ✔️