MODULE 1: CREATING A POSITIVE SCHOOL CULTURE

Enrichment Activities
Research the answer to the question below. Encode your answer using legal
size paper.

 Is school culture also known as the hidden curriculum? (50 pts)

School culture has been referred to as the ‘hidden curriculum’ of a school
(Pollard and Triggs, 1997). It forms the rites and rituals, customs, symbols,
stories, and vocabulary of a school. Students unconsciously absorb codes of
behaviour and expectations from the culture in their school, which therefore
directly affects their learning. A school that is able to develop and maintain a
positive shared culture knows what aspects of the culture are important in
developing an effective learning environment; it consciously transmits these
values to its students. Through collective awareness and action, culture can be
used positively in order to enhance student learning and achievement, whether
through small actions such as celebrating achievements in public events, or to
more large-scale projects such as developing democratic processes for teachers,
students and other stakeholders to contribute to curriculum reform. While it
appears to be constant, culture is a dynamic space that is influenced by laws,
policies and changes of leadership. It therefore requires school leaders to be
aware of what influences or changes aspects of the school culture, whether
deliberately or not, and ensuring that the culture for learning and achievement
are never put at risk. Research demonstrates that school leaders have a critical
role in ensuring that the culture supports student achievement (MacNeil et al.,
2009). But – as identified by Bulach (2001) – a leader must identify a school’s
existing culture before attempting to change it. Changing aspects of a school’s
culture is not a quick process; any actions you take may not show results for
some months or even years. The existing culture and associated behaviours
may be fairly entrenched, requiring a long-term, incremental sequence of
changes before seeing any real differences. However, being aware of a school’s
culture, its impact on your ability to lead change and having a vision of the
culture you want to develop is critical to leading for effective learning. This unit
will support you in beginning to think about the learning culture in your own
school and your leadership of it.
Comprehension Check
Perform all the tasks/activities given in the Discussion part and encode all
answers on long size paper.

APPLICATION- LET’S APPLY

1. Based on your experiences, give at least 10 school practices that don’t
contribute to positive culture.

 No clear sense of purpose. If school administrators and teachers don't

share a common goal, they will work toward their own agenda, which will
eventually create conflict.

 Hostile relations among staff, students, and parents. When elephants

fight, it's the grass that suffers. When the adults in the room fight, no
one can focus well on the most important thing: the students.

 An emphasis on rules over people or mission. This issue is often created

at the district level. Teachers are more focused on the rules than on
serving students and feel they have little latitude to do their jobs.

 An absence of honest dialogue. Principals who avoid difficult

conversations with teachers and address issues by reassigning the
teacher or changing a teacher's schedule aren't truly serving kids.

 More self-preservation than collaboration. When self-preservation takes

priority over serving kids, it's difficult for good ideas and talented
teachers to stick around.

 Active back channels over formal lines of communication. If more is

being said and accomplished in unofficial meetings after the staff
meeting, it's a sign that teachers and faculty don't trust each other. If the
rumor mill controls everything, it leaves an opening for people to make
their own narratives. Whoever controls the narrative controls your school
culture.

 Punishment instead of recognition, and rewards and behavior motivated

by the avoidance of punishment. If colleagues punish bad behavior and
don't reward good behavior, the culture encourages students and staff to
do the minimum to avoid getting punished, but not to excel.
 A palpable lack of safety. If people are afraid to speak up, they can't
address problems head on. When teachers aren't free to be vulnerable,
they don't feel safe in uncomfortable conversations.

 A small group who controls the conversation. If a few dominant voices

control the culture of your school, toxicity thrives. It's imperative to find
ways to help everyone speak up.

 An absence of risk taking. People are afraid to do what they feel is right
for kids because they're afraid to step away from the pack. If teachers try
nothing new, the kids are the ones who suffer.

2. Are the following items good tips in building positive culture? Defend
your answer. If it is not so good tip, replace it with good one.

a) “No talking” as a classroom rule #1 imposed by the teacher.

 This is not a good tip in building positive culture because this will limit
the student’s capability to engaged in classroom discussion process. It is
okay to have a peaceful classroom environment however we should not
compromise the student’s engagement and freedom to talk by limiting
them such as to answer a question or ask for a clarification. It’s really
important to give student’s opportunity to express themselves.
 Replacement Tip: Don’t talk with your seatmate when the teacher is
discussing. Just raise your hand if you want to answer or ask question.
b) If some student say they need a quiet area to work in at times, they make
a sign like “Quiet Area, Brains at Work”.
 It’s a good tip because sometimes you can disturb their busy brain task
and it’s good to make a sign so we can recognize immediately and won’t
disturb them easily.
c) “We talked about this yesterday. Did you forget?” You had this so well
yesterday. I know you can get it today”
 This is not a good tip because is like laying blame on the student and it’s
a lack of encouragement to the students.
 Replacement Tip: “I believe in you. You can do it.”
d) Do you believe in your own ability to learn and grow? Do you believe it is
your obligation as a teacher to model learning and growing?
 Yes, it is a good tip in building a positive culture because this question
helps the teacher assess their mindset and serve as a tool for self-
reflection. This is an important part of what can make us a good teacher
and can be hugely valuable. It gives us the time to think deeply about
our teaching; about what we do in the classroom, why we do it and why
it works, enabling us to identify any changes and improvements we could
 make. This help the teachers to be an effective teacher that builds
positive culture for better conducive to professional satisfaction, morale,
and effectiveness, as well as to student learning, fulfillment, and well-
being.
e) Come up with a Question-and-Answer Wall. Here students post the
academic question they want answered within the month with their
name on it. Anybody can give an answer with his/her name written.
 Yes, it is a good tip in building a positive culture because this promotes
every student’s freedom and involvement with their academic learning
through letting them ask questions and answer. This will be a great way
to recognized their queries and ideas to show that you are willing to
listen and give them feedback, these small actions will make them feel
that they are important and valued. Building an honest and open
communication will foster strong student-teacher academic relationship
that is vital in creating positive culture in school.
3. Suggest 5 concrete ways to establish a positive school culture.
I suggest these 5 concrete ways to establish a positive school culture:
 Encourage innovation in the classroom
 Engage students in ways that benefit them
 Establish school norms that build values
 Celebrate personal achievement and good behavior
 Create meaningful parent involvement
MODULE 2: SCHOOL POLICIES AND THEIR FUNCTIONS

Enrichment Activities
Answer these questions. Encode your answer on legal size paper.
1. Why are policies important in schools?
 Policies are important because they help a school establish rules and
procedures in order to function effectively and ensure everyone is
connected. The policies written by schools should include clear plain
language and definition of terms in order to function effectively. Schools
must have clear policies and procedures that guide day-to-day processes.
These policies cover everything from attendance, to student discipline, to
emergency procedures, to the curriculum.
2. Look for at least two school policies from CHED. Locate the same policies
provided in your Student Handbook. Based on your experiences, are the
effective and properly implemented? Explain your answer.
3. What is your attitude toward school policies? Do you welcome them?
Why or why not? Illustrate your answer by giving concrete examples.
 I am happy with a school with great policies. It just indicates that the
school is an example of a good social community. If there are policies,
there are assurance that whoever is inside that school, they are made to
be more responsible and having good etiquette and values. I agree with
the establishment with policies. It controls the crime and unwanted
accident inside the school by setting rules that will benefit everyone by
ensuring their safety.
4. Look for the policies of attendance, tardiness, uniform and wearing of ID
from the Student Handbook. Know the whys behind the policies.
 The Regional Order No. 07, s. 2018 from May B. Eclar ,Ph.D., CESO V.
Regional Director, DepEd CAR dated November 13, 2018, entitled “Basic
Guidelines in the Development of Learners’ Discipline Manual”, which is
self-explanatory, for the information, guidance and compliance of all
concerned. If schools had no policies on student’s tardiness and
absences, possibly improper ways of learning may bring impact between
learners and teachers, late learning will lead to failure and low
accountability to pass. Besides school can obtain bad records among
others who implemented good quality education and well-disciplined
behavior. Rules should be implemented since educator’s reputation may
affect if he/she didn't manage it.
Comprehension Check
Instructions: Perform all the tasks/activities given in the Discussion part and
encode your answers on long size writing sheet/s.
Task 1.
A. Study the following information.
*****************
B. Answer these questions based on the above given information.
1. How do you feel about the policies? Are you happy about them or happier
without them? Explain your answer.
 School policies were made in order to manage the school. of course, I am
happy with a school with great policies. It just indicates that the school
is an example of a good social community. If there are policies, there are
assurance that whoever is inside that school, they are made to be more
responsible and having good etiquette and values. I agree with the
establishment with policies. It controls the crime and unwanted accident
inside the school by setting rules that will benefit everyone by ensuring
their safety.
2. What if schools had no policies on grading system? What do you think
will happen? Discuss by giving specific examples.
 Schools with no grading system would be fine. However, issues might
arise when the students graduate from school. Yes, schools can provide
students with a ‘leaving certificate’ or similar, but in credential conscious
societies, to what extent will the students leaving certificate fare against
others with more recognizable qualifications? That said, the existent of
grades should not affect the teaching and learning, providing the
parameters of what learning is and what level it will be, have been
decided prior to the commencement of the course.
3. What if schools had no policies on student’s tardiness and absences?
What would its possible consequences on school’s atmosphere and on
teaching and learning process?
 If schools had no policies on student’s tardiness and absences, possibly
improper ways of learning may bring impact between learners and
teachers, late learning will lead to failure and low accountability to pass.
Besides school can obtain bad records among others who implemented
good quality education and well-disciplined behavior. Rules should be
implemented since educator’s reputation may affect if he/she didn't
manage it.
4. Based on DepEd Order on PTA Collections, why are schools very strict
with money collections?
 The reason why schools are very strict with money collections is because
it isn’t the obligation at all of the parents to raise financial material just
to work for the so called ‘projects’ of the school. Further on, not all
parent can provide contributions for only what they are thinking id free
education of their children. Somehow, it may turn into corruption too if
some teachers behave dishonesty. Money is the root of all evil in regards
to this, money can start a conflict one it is unethical.
5. Should all school policies come from DepEd Central Office? Can schools
also formulate their own policies? If yes, why and how? If no, why not?
Defend your answer.
 Schools can also formulate their own policies. Not everyone understands
why policies exist – some people view them as being bureaucratic and
overbearing. In reality, as the school management cannot be everywhere
all the time to ensure staff carry out their tasks correctly and
responsibly, policies provide useful and necessary assistance. Rules
therefore help to decrease the amount of direct supervision by the
management, and at the same time increase the efficiency of work
processes.
6. Would policies crafted by the schools be more effective than those that
come from the Central Office? Explain your answer.
 Policy is generally an intent, a set of rules and principles, adopted for
ease of governance within an organization. It is fundamentally important
for organizations to have implementable policies, as it forms a linking pin
between the school management, teachers, students, parents, and the
rule of law. An organization without policy is an organization without
control. If there are no formal policies, then organization staff at any level
would have no guidance on how to make right consistent decisions.
Imagine, a parent approaches a teacher, and requests to view her child’s
answer script. If the school has no proper policy on Assessments, the
choice on whether to show the answer paper might depend upon which
teacher she spoke to, or whether the teacher she speaks to is having a
bad day. In short, an absence of policy leads to inconsistency of decision
making.
MODULE 3: ROLES AND COMPETENCIES OF SCHOOL HEADS

Enrichment Activities
Encode all your answers on legal size paper.
Research on competencies of school heads/school leaders of other high-
performing educational systems in the world e.g.- Finland, Singapore, Canada.
Will an effective teacher necessarily be an effective school head?

 The issue of teacher effectiveness has risen rapidly to the top of the
education policy agenda, and the federal government and states are
considering bold steps to improve teacher and leader effectiveness. One
place to look for ideas is the experiences of high-performing education
systems around the world. Finland, Ontario, and Singapore all have well-
developed systems for recruiting, preparing, developing, and retaining
teachers and school leaders, and all have attained high levels of student
performance and attribute their success to their teacher-effectiveness
policies. This report examines lessons from these high-performing
systems that the United States can apply, and provides detailed
descriptions of the policies from each system. This report contains the
case studies: (1) Lessons Learned from Finland, Ontario, and Singapore
(Linda Darling-Hammond and Robert Rothman); (2) Developing Effective
Teachers and School Leaders: The Case of Finland (Pasi Sahlberg); (3)
Systems for Teacher and Leader Effectiveness and Quality: Ontario,
Canada (Barry Pervin and Carol Campbell); and (4) Creating Effective
Teachers and Leaders in Singapore (Tan Lay Choo and Linda Darling-
Hammond). Individual sections contain endnotes. [This paper was co-
published by the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education.
Additional funding was provided by the Education Funders Strategy
Group. For related report, "Teacher and School Leader Effectiveness:
Lessons Learned from High-Performing Systems. Issue Brief", see
ED517674.] For its examination of teacher effectiveness policies, AEE
and SCOPE looked to Finland, Ontario, and Singapore. These
jurisdictions have attracted a great deal of attention in U.S. education
policy circles recently, and with good reason. Most significantly, they get
good results: they are among the highest-performing jurisdictions in
international tests of student achievement, and their results are among
the most equitable in the world. The gaps between the lowest-performing
and the highest-performing students in Finland, Ontario, and Singapore
are much smaller than in the United States, and the average
performance is quite high. A leader at any level needs to focus on helping
 the team be its best by supporting each individual team member to fulfill
their professional potential. So not all great teachers make great leaders,
in my experience, and successful leaders may not necessarily be
consistently high-performers in the classroom.

Comprehension Check
Task 1. Perform the following. Encode your answers on long size writing
sheet/s.

 With the word SCHOOL HEAD, give the competencies of a school head
based on the 2 competency frameworks for school heads you just
studied.
S- Strategic
C- Competent
H- Hardworking
O- Open-minded
O-Objectives. Have your own objectives or goals.
L- Love to work

H- High Performance
E- Excellent
A- Accountable
D- Dedicated

1. By means of a Venn Diagram, compare the domains of the NCBSSH and

Southeast Asian Competency Framework for School Heads.

 NCBSSH – focuses on the parent involvement and Community

Partnerships, HR management and professional development, and
creating student centered learning climate which is not focused in the
other competency.
 SOUTHEAST ASIAN COMPETENCIES FOR SCHOOL HEAD– focuses on
the overall competencies divided into 4 domains.

 SIMILARITIES - School heads are competent, committed and accountable

in providing access to quality and relevant education for all through
transformational leadership and high degrees of professionalism.

2. What competencies for school heads are common to the NCBSSH and
the Southeast Asian Competencies for School Heads?
 The competencies that are present to both frameworks are the School
Leadership, Instructional leadership and Personal excellence.

3. What is/are in the Southeast Asian Competencies for School Heads that
is/are not in NCBSSH?
 There is Stakeholder Engagement in Southeast Asian Competencies for
School Heads that is not in the NCBSSH.

4. What is/are in the NCBSSH that is/are not in the Southeast Asian
Competencies for School Heads?
 The present domains in NCBSSH that is not present in Southeast Asian
Competencies are Creating a student-centered learning climate, HR
Management, and Parent Involvement and Community Partnership.

5. Do the competencies for both frameworks emphasize more on

instructional leadership or administrative leadership? Defend your
answer.
 Both framework emphasizes more on Instructional Leadership because
both more focuses on the school on how it becomes the creator and giver
of knowledge. It focuses on how improved Instructional materials help
student.
Task 2. Reflection
1. Based on the NCBSSH and the Southeast Asian Competency Framework,
do you have the makings of a school head?
 Yes, in order for us to have the makings in School Head we need to be
competent, committed and accountable in providing access to quality
and relevant education for all through transformational leadership and
high degree professionalism. This characteristic is important when we
become a school head, so that when we become a school head, we need
to know the different issues or problems in school, we have capabilities
on how to handle this kind of situation and how we improve the schools
 specially the student learning. This kind of makings can help us how to
achieve our mission, vision and goals in our school. The important thing
there is we need to have a partnership with the community and the
parents of the students.

2. Of the listed competencies for school heads in NCBSSH and the

Southeast Asian Competencies, which do you have most? Least? What
message does this give you as a future candidate for the position of
school head?
 I think for me, I have most engaging in community and the parent’s
involvement, communicate effectively with other stakeholders and the
least is managing performance of teachers and staffs. For those who have
the power to become a school head, the important thing that always put
in your mind that when you become a school head, always think and
analyze in making decisions- if it’s right for the school or it will help the
students in their learning and have communication with the community
and parents’ involvement. To become a school head, you need to build a
different projects or programs for the good of the school you handle.
Always remember that school is where the students are learning.