Values, Culture, and the

Effective School
Offered here is a brief analysis of the elements of institutional
cultures, and how those cultures shape the behavior of people in
the institutions. The writer’s aim is to provide administrators
with strategies whereby they can recreate the culture of an effec-
tive school in their own school.

BY J. HOWARD JOHNSTON

UCH HAS BEEN written about
the characteristics of effective
school. We know that they give
frequent, monitored homework, that
they display order and discipline, and
that instruction is focused on basic sub-
jects.
reform, though, has been directed at re-
creating the artifacts of effective
schools, rather than recreating the cul-
ture that produced those artifacts.
Installing a new homework monitor-
ing program in the school will not en-
sure quality educational outcomes, just

But those are simply artifacts of a as a new discipline code, which ensures

good school-the things that are pro-
duced by its operation. They are not
necessarily the things that make the
school excellent in the first place.
For years, archeologists and anthro-
pologists have studied the artifacts pro-
duced by alien, and sometimes ancient,
cultures. The purpose of their study is to
understand the culture that produced the
artifacts, not simply to recreate the arti-
facts in modem society. Much of school
J. HOWARD JOHNSTON is professor, College
Education, University of Cincinnati, Ohio.
order, will not necessarily produce bet-
ter learning.
Cultures and Values
Dictionary definitions of culture point
to its pervasiveness and totality. Web-
ster’s New Collegiate Dictionary calls it
&dquo;the integrated pattern of human be-
havior that includes thought, speech, ac-
tion, and artifacts and depends on man’ss
capacity for learning and transmitting
knowledge to succeeding generations.&dquo;
of The American Heritage Dictionary
says it is &dquo;the totality of socially trans-

79
80
mitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs,
institutions, and all other products of
human work and thought characteristic
of a community or population.&dquo;
In both cases, it is clear that culture’ss
effects are awesome; it defines the very
way we think about phenomena and the
way we behave. It even determines, to a
large degree, what we will believe (and
disbelieve) and how we will view the
events of our lives.
In simpler form, Marvin Bower, in
The Will To Manage calls culture, &dquo;the
way we do things around here.&dquo;
Whatever the definition, culture con-
trols our behavior to a large degree. Fur-
thermore, it can be transmitted to gen-
erations that follow and, presumably, to
newcomers to the population or group
which is bound together by the culture.
And, because culture is inexorably
linked with social interaction, it is not
static; it can be changed by its members
just as it changes them.
At the very foundation of a culture are
its values-basic beliefs that control the
choices we make. In American culture,
we value individual liberty over the wel-
fare of the state. Because of that, our
institutions-the courts and the schools,
for example-are expected to act in ac-
cordance with that value. Schools are
supposed to teach the supremacy of that
value over other systems, and the courts
are expected to uphold the rights of the
individual, even if the cause is un-
popular or the individual unattractive.
It is, of course, an imperfect system,
and we can all point to evidence that
special interests are sometimes more
powerful than the individual, or that the
government runs afoul of individual lib-
erties. But our values serve as guide-
posts ; they tell us that we are generally
acting in accordance with what we pro-
fess, and they help determine the cor-
us
rectness of any action that we or our
institutions might propose.
So it is in complex organizations as
well. Every organization has values that
are clearly institutionalized and which
guide and control the behavior of the
people in them. How are they mani-
fested, though? And how can they be
shaped and changed by members of the
organization? Those are essential ques-
tions for a school administrator who
would shape the values, and thereby the
culture, of his or her school.
Values are the bedrock of
any institution. They articulate
the essence of the
organization’s philosophy
about how it goes about
achieving success.
In recent years, the private sector has
taken a profound interest in the cultures
of business and industry. In Search of
Excellence, by Peters and Waterman,
has emphasized the importance of val-
ues in successful organizations. Deal
and Kennedy’s Corporate Cultures not
only points out the importance of these
core values, but the critical means by
which they are disseminated in a com-
plex organization. Both of these works
provide useful insights for school ad-
ministrators who wish to create schools
which display values that encourage
excellence.
Organizational Values
Organizational values are the basic
beliefs that control the way an insti-

tution operates. For the most part, these
values are obvious to everyone in the
institution and pervade every activity
the organization undertakes. They _are
the criteria by which one can judge the
correctness of individual and collective
behavior.
Values are the bedrock of any insti-
tution. They articulate the essence of the
organization’s philosophy about how it
goes about achieving success. They
provide a sense of common direction
and guidelines for everyday behavior.
Most important, values tell what your
organization stands for ... what it
thinks is important.
What are your school’s values? One
way to determine them is to put yourself
10 years out into the future and look
back at your school as it is now. What
are you doing now that you would look
back on with the most pride?
But values are not concrete like
policies, rules, budgets, or curriculum
guides. Often, they are not even written
down. But they are manifested in every-
thing the school does because they guide
the choices we make ... choices about
content and method of teaching, choices
about how we spend our (and our stu-
dents’) time, choices about whom we
reward and what we reward them for.
Values: Elements of Success
We know that clearly articulated val-
ues are essential in the most effective
organizations, including successful
schools. In fact, values are associated
with the three essential elements of in-
stitutional success:
1. The institution stands for something.
It has a clear and articulate philosophy
about how it conducts its affairs.
2. Institutional leaders pay a lot of at-
81
tention to the shaping and dissemination
of values.
3. Institutional values are known and
shared by everyone in the institution.
These values have several attributes
that are worthy of mention. First, they
tend to be stated in qualitative rather
than quantitative terms. For example,
excellent schools have values such as,
&dquo;We believe that student achievement is
our most important product,&dquo; instead of
a more narrowly defined notion, such
as, &dquo;we want everyone to raise their
achievement scores by one whole grade
level . &dquo;
The reason for this is clear. It is easy
to become enthusiastic about &dquo;student
achievement.&dquo; It is very difficult to
generate much excitement about &dquo;one
whole grade level.&dquo; Furthermore, the
first statement is much more pervasive.
It allows for the possibility that student
achievement can (and probably will) be
manifested in ways other than standard-
ized achievement scores-perhaps in
the arts, or in athletics, or in special
service projects. It inspires more people
to try more ways to achieve.
Second, values should be capable of
inspiring people at the lowest levels of
the organization. In schools, that means
the people in the classrooms: the teach-
ers and students. They should give guid-
ance to virtually every possible deci-
sion. If the school believes that &dquo;student
achievement is our most important
product,&dquo; individual teacher and class
decisions will be directed by that value.
Time will not be spent on non-
productive activity, classroom inter-
ruptions will be minimized by peers and
colleagues, and teachers will spend time
working on the basic and essential con-
cepts of their discipline.
82
Third, an organization’s values will
force it to come down clearly on one
side of an issue or another. In other
words, the values mandate either formal
or informal structures, attitudes of con-
trol, or attitudes of trust. It isn’t possible
to straddle an issue and still profess to
hold a value.
Good leaders find it easy to
wander around and talk with
the people who do the
school’s business because they
themselves are comfortable
with the field.
The effects of
an organization’s val-
ues on day-to-day life in the school are
profound. Values determine:
. What will be attended to most dili-
gently : external relationships, athlet-
ics, academics.
w Who is most
respected in the insti-
tution : the basketball coach, the math
department head, the librarian.
. How far someone can
go in the orga-
nization ; whether a coach can be a
principal, or if a woman can, or a
counselor.
. What people will work on and how
hard they will work; preparing stu-
dents for the standardized achieve-
ment tests or advising the school
dance committee.
~ What the outside world should
expect
of a school; a winning baseball team,
high achievement test scores, or a
warm, caring environment.
But regardless of how influential val-
ues can be, they will be absolutely use-
less unless they are widely shared and
believed by everyone in the school. That
means that principals must give special
attention to the articulation, display,
dissemination, and shaping of values in
their school.
Without consensus on values, the
school will be aimless for teachers, con-
fusing for students, and will send con-
tradictory messages to its community.
Excellence cannot thrive in such an en-
vironment.
The Content of Values
What do effective schools value?
What do they believe? What values
should the principal try to shape in his or
her school?
There appears to be a cadre of values
that are essential for institutional suc-
cess, whether the institution is a busi-
ness, a school, a government agency, or
a recreational club. The content of these
values is:
1. A belief in being the best there is.
2. A belief in the importance of the de-
tails of the job; dedication to doing all
parts of a job well.
3. A belief in the importance and value
of individual people.
4. A belief in providing superior ser-
vice (or education).
5. A belief that most members of an
organization should be innovators, a
willingness to reward success and to
support failures.
6. A belief in the importance of infor-
mality to enhance communication.
7. An explicit belief in the primacy of
learning as the objective of the school. *
In general, these values are not
transmitted in formal, written policies.
In fact, they would probably be some-
what silly if they were. However, they
are spread by &dquo;soft&dquo; means: by the
*After Peters and Waterman, In Search of Excel-
lence, and Deal and Kennedy, Corporate Cul-
tures.

legends, myths, and stories of a school
and who succeeds in it.
In addition, they are evident in the
rules and policies that do exist. Com-
munication, for example, is not con-
fined to official channels, but is guided
by principles of informality and consid-
eration for other people.
Specific ways these values are mani-
fested and spread are worth special con-
sideration.
Manifestation and Dissemination of
Values
Values are made obvious to the peo-
ple in an organization by indirect
means. Leaders model them, day-to-day
practices incorporate them, symbols of
the values abound in the organization,
and the cultural &dquo;network,&dquo; the primary
but informal communication system,
carries them throughout the culture.
Each of these methods are explored here
in some detail so that principals can use
each channel to shape and disseminate
desirable values.
Leaders and Heroes
The most obvious display of an insti-
tution’s values is found in who it
chooses for its leaders and who it adores
as its heroes. Furthermore, the designa-
tion of heroes is one of the easiest ways
to shape a culture’s values. Not only do
heroes exemplify the values of a culture,
but they direct attention to emerging
values as well: &dquo;If he or she is a hero,
that must be what we value.&dquo;
America’s latest heroes, produced by
the tragedy of the space shuttle disaster,
are scientists and teachers. But this is
entirely consistent with our national
character; we have always idolized fron-
tiersmen, those who pushed back the
83
perimeter of our known world. What
has changed is that our new frontiers-
people are highly educated, culturally
refined, and of mixed sex and ethnicity.
And that’s what we now value more
than the raw, intolerant, uncon-
ventional, brute strength and endurance
of earlier heroes. What all our heroes
have in common is uncompromising
courage and a compelling curiosity.
Thus our fundamental values remain
unchanged, but our heroes help us to
fine tune them and adapt the values to a
modem world.
...
principals must give special
attention to the articulation,
display, dissemination, and
shaping of values in their
school.
Heroes have a number of characteris-
tics that must be understood if they are
to be of value in shaping a school’s cul-
ture. First, they must personify the val-
ues the school wants to have shared
throughout the system. They must show
people what a success looks like, what it
means to be the epitome of success and
strength in the school.
That means that a hero’s deeds are out
of the ordinary, but not so far out that
they cannot be attained by others. They
show that the ideal of success is well
within human capacity and does not re-
quire superhuman effort or ability.
Second, heroes tend to be intuitive
rather than decisive. They are guided by
a vision, not necessarily by a well-
defined plan. In fact, they usually make
only one important decision: &dquo;Does any
proposed action fit with the vision or
not?&dquo;
84
What is essential is that the vision
must stem from the values of the school.
The heroes must have a clear sense of
where the school’s values will take all
the members of the group.
Third, heroes are often situational.
They are anointed by their peers in rec-
ognition of some special aspect of their
behavior. An athletic hero, for example,
may live a perfectly reprehensible per-
sonal life, or may be intellectually inept,
but may be granted hero status because
of exemplary performance in athletics
alone. And because of the powerful
modeling effect of heroes, this can be a
serious problem in the school.
The impact of heroes on the school is
profound:
~ They show that success is attainable
and human
~ They provide role models for other
group members
.
They create a &dquo;school image&dquo; for the
outside world
. They set standards of performance
.
They motivate people to perform.
Each of us carries around a &dquo;personal
fable&dquo; that portrays the way we would
like to behave and the way we would
like to be perceived. To a large extent,
our personal fable is modeled after the
heroes of our culture, mostly because
we all have a need to be admired and, to
some extent, adored. Heroes prove to us
that such status is within the grasp of
mortal men and women, and they show
us how we must act to attain that status.
For school people, it is important that
multiple heroes be provided as examples
of the school’s values. If only one kind
of person gets to be a hero (an athlete,
for example) people without the native
talent that it takes to achieve that form
of heroism will feel alienated from the
school and may actually try to subvert
it.
Fortunately, it is relatively easy to
create heroes. We can do so by giving
public recognition to people who dis-
play, in a special way, the values we
want to encourage. If varsity letters are
given to students who demonstrate ex-
ceptional scholarship, or particularly
valuable community service, or a spe-
cial performance in the arts, it becomes
clear to the rest of the school population
that the value system calls for achieve-
ment-not in a particular domain that
may be denied to a large portion of the
students, but in a variety of domains.
...rewards should be
available for all the people in
the school, and they should be
given frequently and with
ceremony.
The motto of the State University of
New York is such a value, &dquo;Let each
become all he is capable of being.&dquo; This
is clearly a value that calls for multiple
heroes.
By the same token, we must be sure
that we do not give hero status (or leader
status) to undesirable manifestations of
values. Making someone who is notori-
ously anti-intellectual an associate prin-
cipal, for example, communicates the
message that it is not intellectual a-
chievement that is valued in this school.
And that is disastrous for the school’s
academic program.
It is also important that goals be set so
that a lot of people can meet them and
move toward hero status.
IBM, for example, sets sales goals so
that about 80 percent of its sales force

&dquo;
can become members of their
cent Club,&dquo; a designation given
everyone who achieves their sales goal.
This makes heroism clearly attainable
and keeps people working toward the
company’s objectives. If the objectives
were unattainable, people would estab-
lish their own and, most often, those are
minimum performance goals at best.
In schools, honor roll status should
not be reserved for only the top 10 per-
cent of the school, for it is only that
group that it will continue to motivate.
Letters should not be given only to the
superstars on athletic teams, or only
they will continue to strive for them. In
other words, rewards should be avail-
able for all the people in the school, and
they should be given frequently and
with ceremony.
Finally, principals should draw atten-
tion to the school’s heroes by telling
stories about them, reinforcing the
legends and myths. Instead of sending
out memoranda about the school’s
achievements, they should tell &dquo;people
stories&dquo; about students or teachers who
have had some special success, or
whose story exemplifies some special
value the principal wants to recognize.
Most of us understand our world
through the stories of how others cope
with life, and events in the lives of
school heroes are particularly instruc-
tive.
The Culture Network
The culture network is the informal
communication system that is used to
spread information about what is really
happening in an institution. To some
extent, it is the grapevine, which every
successful principal knows he or she
must have access to in order to get in-
85
100 Per- formation spread rapidly throughout the
to system.
But it is also the way that an insti-
tution’s memory is transmitted from one
generation to another. It is this memory
that conveys the values of the school.
For the most part, these values are con-
veyed through stories (myths, legends,
histories) about heroes, events, and
conditions.
... fundamental values
our
remain unchanged, but our
heroes help us to fine tune
them and adapt the values to
a modern world.
The effect of this network is pro-
found. A young colleague of mine was
complaining about the faculty union,
which he believed stifled individual ini-
tiative and reward. An older colleague
said, &dquo;You should have seen it before
the union was present. Deans ran the
place like fiefdoms and we got whatever
they thought we should have.&dquo;
Then he launched into a series of
stories (&dquo;histories&dquo; if you will) about
the old days. At the end of the con-
versation, the young faculty member
thought the union was the best idea ever
to come along.
These stories are more convincing
than any &dquo;evidence&dquo; that could be
amassed by the union’s public relations
officer in support of the union’s gains
over the past decade. Why? Because
they are about real people who are in the
same role as the young professor (or
teacher, or basketball coach, or stu-
dent), and the stories have the credi-
bility of familiarity.
Principals should collect these stories
86
and disseminate them at every appropri-
ate opportunity. They should become
the &dquo;storytellers&dquo; of the culture; the
ones who transmit the values through a
medium that all can understand. They
should tell stories about innovators if
they want people to innovate, about ex-
ceptional teaching if they want excep-
tional teachers, or about extraordinary
achievement if they want to stimulate
achievement.
Most important, though, is that the
stories be true--or at least plausible. If
they are clearly fabricated, and cannot
be verified by someone else in the orga-
nization, the story will not only have no
effect, but the storyteller will lose his or
her credibility.
Rituals and Ceremonies
Rituals are the day-to-day operations
of the school; ceremonies are special
recognitions that celebrate heroes,
myths, or special events. Together, they
shape much of the behavior that tran-
spires in a culture.
Rituals guide behavior and dramatize
a school’s core values. Behind each
ritual is a belief that is central to the
school’s culture. If, for example, the
principal stands at the doorway to the
school each morning and greets students
by name, she is manifesting a value of
civility and rejecting the notion that
schools must be anonymous places.
Often, rituals become institutional-
ized as procedures. If student attendance
is taken at the beginning of each class, it
will not be long before the institution
expects all teachers to take class atten-
dance every day. Among the adminis-
trator’s most important jobs, then, is to
spell out &dquo;the way we do things around
here. &dquo;
But as procedures and rituals de-
velop, is also important that the prin-
it
cipal make sure the link between the
procedure and the belief behind it is
clear: &dquo;We believe that student achieve-
ment is our most important product, and
in order to achieve, students must attend
class. Therefore, we take attendance
every day in every class.&dquo;
At the same time, they must be cer-
tain that the procedure does not con-
tradict a fundamental value. If the
school values trust, for example, it is
probably inappropriate for teachers to
require that students ask permission to
get out of their seats to perform routine
chores, such as sharpening a pencil or
getting drink of water.
a
Ceremonies, on the other hand, pro-
vide a dramatic illustration of what the
school values. If graduation exercises
are held in the dead of night in the most
uncomfortable place in town with no
press coverage, it leads to the con-
clusion that graduating isn’t very impor-
tant. If, on the other hand, it is held in
the local concert hall with a great deal of
ceremony and the disposition of numer-
ous awards for excellence (but very
short speeches) the rites of passage are
established as important.
Ceremonies, therefore, are extra-
ordinary. Their very existence says,
&dquo;something special is happening here.
We are giving special recognition to
something.&dquo;
And the something that is being rec-
ognized tells the whole world what the
school thinks is important ... what it
values. Ceremonies show what the
school stands for because they put its
fundamental values on display.
This means that ceremonies for
scholars, artists, community servants,

athletes, and a variety of other
&dquo;heroes&dquo; should be equal in splendor
and hoopla.
If there is a coach of the year (and
there should be), there should also be a
science teacher of the year, department
head of the year, and so on. Whatever
we value should receive equal recogni-
tion if it is to be equally valued.
Rituals and ceremonies also set stan-
dards of behavior. Dress, for example,
might be considered a ritual. If the
school personnel tend to dress up for
school, failure to do so on the part of
one person may suggest a rejection of
that value. While that is an innocuous
enough event, if individuals are able to
choose which values they will support in
the school and those which they will
reject, it is difficult to develop a co-
herent consensus on values. What this
means is that your rituals and rules
should be connected directly to core
values, the central ones that no one is
free to reject.
To a large extent, the decorum in a
school is established by its rituals. If the
rituals are civil and polite, so too will be
the decorum of students and teachers in
it. If, on the other hand, people are es-
sentially anonymous and impolite, that
will establish a behavioral standard that
rules alone will not be able to change.
Rituals and ceremonies can even be
obviously directed toward some school
value or objective. If informality is val-
ued, the principal might have a sign-up
sheet to take a group to lunch once in a
while to talk, informally, about school
issues and problems.
Ritualistic gatherings around the
coffee pot, or copy machine, or water
cooler may also be times when impor-
tant decisions are made. In any event,
87
the principal is likely to be the most
significant creator, monitor, and evalu-
ator of rituals and ceremonies.
Leaders and Values
Clearly, values can be affected in a
number of ways, all of them rather in-
direct and subtle. Vital to success,
though, is that the value must be be-
lieved. It is fine to have a slogan like
&dquo;Of Course We Can,&dquo; but only if it is
true.
Is the school set up so that everyone
can achieve? Are rituals and ceremonies
focused on achievement? Does the
school have heroes that have achieved?
Are stories told about those achieve-
ments ? Is it in the lore and myth of the
building?
Rituals guide behavior and
dramatize a school’s core
values. Behind each ritual is a
belief that is central to the
schools culture.
It’s the role of the leader to make sure
that the values are shaped in desirable
ways.
How can leaders do this? Aside from
the obvious ways that are outlined
above, several other strategies seem to
be helpful, most of which are borrowed
from management literature and re-
ported by Peters and Waterman.
First is management by wandering
around. Values are often laid down by
leaders and their vision of what the
school should be. That vision must gen-
erate enthusiasm and excitement, and
enthusiasm can come only from the suc-
cessful completion of hundreds of daily
events. So it is a major responsibility of
88
the principal to attend to the details of
day-to-day operations.
At the same time, though, it is impor-
tant that the leader continually reinforce
that vision by being visible. That’s the
way the vision is translated into reality,
when the leader is obviously interested
in the main business of the school,
teaching and learning, and convinces
people of that commitment by being in-
volved in the teaching-learning process.
In order for the leader to be comfort-
able in that role, however, he or she
must be at home with the nuts and bolts
of the business-teaching. Good leaders
find it easy to wander around and talk
with the people who do the school’s
business because they themselves are
comfortable with the field. That means
that leaders must stay involved in the
school’s essential business, what Peters
and Waterman call, &dquo;hands on, stick to
the business&dquo; management.
Wandering around puts the leader in
the position of observing, measuring,
giving feedback, distributing rewards
and encouragements, and guiding the
operation of plans that were developed
by small units (such as the team or de-
partment). Without regular, informed
contact with the main business of the
school, the principal can hardly hope to
have enough information about the cul-
ture of the place to have any influence
on it.
It is also important to enhance wan-
dering around with regular meetings to
reinforce the homogeneity of the
group’s values. Like the communication
style, these meetings are best managed
informally. Often, they can be made to
happen without actually scheduling one.
In one school, the principal hosts a
continental breakfast every Friday
morning. It’s a wonderful opportunity to
conduct business informally and to en-
gage in several other rituals, such as
recognizing special achievements (iden-
tifying heroes), celebrating birthdays
(recognizing the value of individual
people), or giving special rewards (mak-
ing the pay-off obvious for adherence to
school values). While this may not be
particularly subtle, it seems to work.
One of the most powerful ways to
influence values is to &dquo;play dumb.&dquo;
Many of the most successful school
leaders are successful because they sim-
ply &dquo;can’t understand why everyone
can’t move forward in math,&dquo; or they
just don’t understand why students are
not expected to behave with respect and
courtesy, or they just fail to comprehend
why anyone would not care for school
property.
Unwillingness to accept excuses for
lack of adherence to core values makes
it clear that they are eminently reason-
able and should be incorporated into
daily practice.
It is easy to dismiss the need to ma-
nipulate the culture of a school as too
theoretical and too abstract. Un-
fortunately, it is the culture that makes
people behave as they do. The culture
will affect school performance and stu-
dent outcomes. The only question that
remains is who will take responsibility
for shaping the culture?
References
Deal, T., and Kennedy, A. Corporate Cul-
tures. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley,
1982.
Peters, T., and Waterman, R. In Search of
Excellence. New York: Warner, 1982.