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0 10-July-2020
Study Guide in Prof. Ed. 104: The Teacher and the Community, School Culture and Organizational Leadership Module No. 4
MODULE OVERVIEW
School leaders are constantly trying to find alternative ways to leverage and explore teacher leadership
potential in their school building(s). Teachers leaders that are willing to go above and beyond their general
duties. Teacher leaders are the type of educators that fall under the motif of potentially taking on additive
responsibilities that will help to improve the school community. By infusing shared leadership in the school
community, responsibility and accountability becomes a shared belief, that can be utilized as a catalyst for
change in the school community.
At the end of this module, pre- service teachers should be able to:
1. discuss the concepts that influence school organization as a part of a larger organization in response to
community contexts;
2. describe various functions and roles of various members of the school community based on policies
and procedures to foster harmonious working relationships; and
3. explain concepts on school culture and climate.
A. Structure in Schools
What is a Bureaucracy?
Weber's bureaucratic theory contributes significantly to the classical organizational theory which
explains that precise organization structure along with the definite lines of authority is required in an
organization to have an effective workplace.
“It is specific form of organization defined by complexity, division of labor, permanence, professional
management, hierarchical coordination and control, strict chain of command, and legal authority.”
Study Guide in Prof. Ed. 104: The Teacher and the Community, School Culture and Organizational Leadership Module No. 4
“In its ideal form, bureaucracy is impersonal and rational and based on rules rather than ties of kinship,
friendship, or patrimonial or charismatic authority.
“Bureaucratic organization can be found in both public and private institutions.”
Weber listed several preconditions for the emergence of bureaucracy: the growth in size of the
population being administered, the growth in complexity of the administrative tasks being carried out,
and the existence of a monetary economy requiring a more efficient administrative system.
Weber identified in bureaucracies a rational-legal authority in which legitimacy is seen as coming from a
legal order and the laws enacted within it. This is contrasted with traditional forms of authority, which
arose from phenomena like kinship.
Rationalization describes a transition in society, wherein traditional motivators of behavior, like values,
beliefs, and emotions, are replaced with rational calculations.
Weber termed the increasing rationalization in Western societies an “iron cage” that traps individuals in
systems based solely on efficiency, rational calculation and control.
Richard H. Hall (1963) developed an organizational inventory that measures various characteristics of the
bureaucracy. Hall (1963) through his school organizational inventory (SOI) categorized bureaucracy into six
areas. These are
(a) hierarchy of authority.
(b)specialization.
(c) rules
(d) impersonality,
(e) procedural specifications,
(i) technical competence.
Study Guide in Prof. Ed. 104: The Teacher and the Community, School Culture and Organizational Leadership Module No. 4
Formalization
The formalized organizational structure focuses on roles and positions rather than the people in the
positions. Formalization is the process of creating a formalized structure and includes the maintenance of
that formal structure over time. Formalization of an organizational structure is commonly initiated in an
attempt to rationalize the decision-making process. The formalized organization is critical for the
organization in which issues are known and changes are implemented slowly and purposefully.
Formalization refers to the management of an organization through written rules, regulations, and
procedures (Hoy & Miskel, 2004/2010). Hoy and Sweetland (2001) divided formalization into two
aspects: coercive and enabling. The coercive nature of bureaucratic school structures is associated with
bureaucratic rules, procedures, and regulations which restrict employee autonomy by forcing them to display
compliance behaviors, and punishing those who do not comply (Adler & Borys, 1996). Hoy (2003) stated that
the dominance of coercive rules and procedures in bureaucratic organizations could have a negative impact on
collaboration, motivation, communication, and organizational trust. Therefore, it is safe to argue that
organizational rules in coercive formalization reinforce employee compliance behavior, punish those who do not
abide by the rules, and closely control employee behavior (Hoy & Sweetland, 2001). Kimbrough and Todd
(1967) criticized bureaucratic structures in schools and stated nine claims as to why schools should not be
bureaucratic organizations:
(a) The inability to legitimize differences in ideas among the personnel depresses creativity;
(b) New ideas generated from within would possibly be subject to scrutiny by the official hierarchy,
especially if those ideas were in conflict with perceived rational teaching behavior;
(c) Bureaucracy does not adequately allow for personal growth and the development of mature healthy
personalities;
(d) Bureaucratic organizations do not have adequate structures or processes for the review of decisions;
(e) Bureaucratic organizations are unable to accommodate the diversity of external inputs needed for
democratic school systems;
(f) The extrinsic reward system stimulates conformity rather than innovation;
(g) Prior organizational resource commitments to subunits within the organization make it difficult to
develop innovative solutions to new problems;
(h) Bureaucracy does not take the informal organization into account; and
(i) lines of communication are often closed because of hierarchical divisions.
Enabling formalization refers to the construction of rules, regulations, and procedures in such a way that
enable employees to solve the problems they encounter, to take initiative in organizational processes, and to
continue professional improvement (Adler & Borys, 1996). According to Hoy and Miskel (2004/2010), in
enabling formalization, the bureaucratic rules are more flexible and the employee needs are taken into
consideration. Hoy and Sweetland (2001) also argued that enabling formalization assists in encouraging
employee collaboration in organizational processes and creates a working environment based on mutual trust
and respect.
Study Guide in Prof. Ed. 104: The Teacher and the Community, School Culture and Organizational Leadership Module No. 4
4. Mintzberg’s Coordinating
Coordination is a fundamental activity in organizing work and a classical term in the organizational
vocabulary (Groth, 1999; Kärreman, 1996). Coordination can be seen as action performed in order to:
“Bring different elements of a complex activity or organization into a harmonious or efficient relationship”
(Oxford Concise Dictionary, 1999). Coordination can also be described in terms of mechanisms. Well-
known sets of mechanisms are for example proposed by March and Simon (1958) and Mintzberg (1983,
1998). The latter set of mechanisms from Mintzberg which put forward mutual adjustment, direct
supervision, and standardization of skills, work processes, results, and norms, have a large impact on
organizational theory literature.
Henry Mintzberg suggests that organizations can be differentiated along three basic dimensions:
(1) the key part of the organization, that is, the part of the organization that plays the major role in
determining its success or failure;
(2) the prime coordinating mechanism, that is, the major method the organization uses to coordinate
its activities; and
(3) the type of decentralization used, that is, the extent to which the organization involves
subordinates in the decision-making process.
Using the three basic dimension key parts of the organization, prime coordinating mechanism, and
type of decentralization and Mintzberg suggests that the strategy an organization adopts and the extent
to which it practices that strategy result in five structural configurations: simple structure, machine
bureaucracy, professional bureaucracy, divisionalized form, and adhocracy.
Henry Mintzberg (1992, 2009) suggests that organizations can be differentiated along three basic dimensions:
Study Guide in Prof. Ed. 104: The Teacher and the Community, School Culture and Organizational Leadership Module No. 4
Direct supervision means that one individual is responsible of the work of others.
Standardization of work process exists when the content of work is specified or programmed.
Standardization of skills exists when the kind of training necessary to do the work is specified.
Standardization of output exists when the results of the work are specified. Because the “raw material”
that is processed by the operative core (teacher) consists of people (students), not things,
standardizations.
Mutual adjustment exists when work is coordinated through informal communication.
3. Type of Decentralization
Vertical decentralization is the distribution of power down the chain of command, or shared authority
between superordinate and subordinates is any organization.
Horizontal decentralization is the extent to which non administrators (including stuff) make decisions,
shared authority between line and staff.
Selective decentralization is the extent to which decision-making power is delegated to different units
within the organization.
Republic Act No. 9155 (RA 9155), An Act Instituting A Framework of Governance for Basic Education,
Establishing Authority and Accountability, Renaming the Department of Education, Culture and Sports as
the Department of Education, and for Other Purposes , otherwise known as the Governance of Basic
Education Act of 2001, was issued. It provided a framework for the governance of education, decentralizing
governance to the field, and making the schools and learning centers the heart of the education system. The
law also established the authority and accountability of the various organization levels of the Department of
Education (DepEd).
The rationalized organizational structures and staffing patterns were a result of the thorough study of
the DepEd Change Management Team (CMT) on the current structures, functions and staffing
complement of the DepEd offices vis-à-vis the long-term education reforms, requirements of the
learners and the changing environment, and national government policies.
The approved organizational structures are consistent with the provisions of RA 9155 in applying the
principles of decentralization and shared governance to ensure accountability and relevance to the
context, and development needs of the learners and stakeholders of the various organizational levels.
In developing the organizational structures, the DepEd CMT also identified the themes or organizational
strands common to all levels of the Department. These organizational strands reflect the similarity of
functions and objectives of offices and units.
Study Guide in Prof. Ed. 104: The Teacher and the Community, School Culture and Organizational Leadership Module No. 4
Study Guide in Prof. Ed. 104: The Teacher and the Community, School Culture and Organizational Leadership Module No. 4
I. Description
There are numerous attempts to define what organizational culture is. One of simplest and probably the
most commonly known definition is “the way we do things around here” (Lundy & Cowling, 1996). The concept
of organizational culture explains that “the way we do things…” comes from specific sets of values, beliefs,
attitudes and behaviors that are shared by organizational members, which gives the organization unique and
distinctive character (Brown, 1998).
Organizational culture can be understood as “collective software of minds” that has developed out of
three sources: universal, group or collective and individual.
The universal source consists of elements that are common for every culture and organization as they
are human constructs and reflect the nature and specificity of us as human beings.
Henry Mintzberg (1989) refers to culture as organization ideology, or “the traditions and beliefs of an
organization that distinguish it from other organizations and infuse a certain life into the skeleton of its
structure.”
Stephen Robbins (1998) defines organization culture as “a system of shared meaning held by members
that distinguishes the organization from other organizations.
Edgar Schein (1992), however, argues that the culture should be reserved for a “ deeper level of basic
assumptions, values, and beliefs” that become shared and taken for granted as the organization continues to
be successful.
Our general definition of organizational culture is a system of shared orientations that hold the unit
together and give it a distinctive identity. Orientations are values, norms, and tacit assumptions.
Organizational culture manifests itself at different levels or through different dimensions. Edgar Schein
(1992) for example argues that it can be seen as a phenomenon that expresses itself on three levels:
Study Guide in Prof. Ed. 104: The Teacher and the Community, School Culture and Organizational Leadership Module No. 4
The level of basic assumptions – deeply rooted in our minds these mental models give us an explanation
about the nature of the world, nature of human being, etc. These are usually unconscious but strongly influence
the reality of our organizations.
Second is the level of basic values that are important for certain organizations. It is important that school
(organizational) leadership ensures that they are conscious as they directly influence everyday practice within
the organization. The members of organization have to clarify them and transfer them into their practice
according to their understanding.
The third level, called the level of artefacts, can be seen on the material level in the ways building, space,
material resources and equipment look and are used. It usually reflects what is important in organizations from
the perspective of levels of basic assumptions and values and it is good if it is consistent with those levels
(Schein, 1992).
Organizations and their cultures are different. To describe that difference and understand some
distinctive elements of organizational culture more precisely some authors have developed typologies of
organizational cultures. There are numerous attempts of typologies but the best known and most frequently
used to describe schools as organizations is Handy’s typology of four cultures: power culture (Zeus), role
culture (Apollo), task culture (Athena) and person culture (Dionysus).
The first type, power culture, is strongly influenced by the centrally located, strong personality of a leader.
He/she dominates every single aspect of organizational culture. It is then built of the potential of one person
only. From the perspective of educational organization it is not a very good culture as it limits potential of school
and educational processes going on within it on different levels to the potential of person that plays formal role
of school head.
Role culture, which is also called bureaucratic culture, is built on laws and regulations that describe
every single aspect of school life leaving no place for individual decisions. Such culture is very static or
mechanistic and does not allow for flexibility or freedom of action. That is why it is not adequate for the needs of
schools as organizations as they everyday deal with new and unique problems of developing learners.
Task culture is built on the potential of all members of organization seen from the perspective of
specific organizational tasks. It must be argued that it is the best culture for school as organization. It values
individual potential but puts it into the context of organizational goals. It can create conditions that maximize the
potential of organizations and best support the development and learning of students.
Person culture (anarchic) which also values individuals neglects organizational interests and brings the danger
of narrowly understood individualistic needs as central for organization. As learning and development processes
have social nature it does not serve good needs of schools as organizations focused on learning and
development processes (Handy, Aitken, 1986).
Typologies such as Handy’s attempt on one hand give clear picture of some features of organizational
culture, but on the other they lose complexity of it and simplify the picture of live organization. Schools (any
other organizations) have to be cultures that are able to incorporate different ways of understanding and action
that are typical for different cultures in order to serve different needs of complex and unpredictable educational
processes. Building such school cultures seems to be central challenge of contemporary educational systems
(Dorczak, 2014).
The organizational culture of schools is often taken for granted, but it is a subject that needs greater
focus and understanding of school-based professionals. In general, organizational culture “refers to a set of
common values, attitudes, beliefs and norms, some of which are explicit and some of which are not” (Brown,
2004). In many ways organizational culture is invisible—although it can be both conscious and unconscious
—but at the same time, it serves as the glue that binds and builds a sense of cohesion within schools.
Organizational culture can be found in shared relationships among colleagues, norms within the school
environment, student, and teacher relations, and sharing experiences (Haberman, 2013). A school's
organizational culture provides a sense of identity, promotes achievement orientation, helps shape
standards and patterns of behavior, creates distinct ways of doing things, and determines direction.
Study Guide in Prof. Ed. 104: The Teacher and the Community, School Culture and Organizational Leadership Module No. 4
Study Guide in Prof. Ed. 104: The Teacher and the Community, School Culture and Organizational Leadership Module No. 4
Functions of Culture
Creates distinctions among organizations
Provides the organization with a sense of identity
Facilitates development of commitment to the group
Enhances stability in the social system
Social glue that binds the organization together
Provides standards of behavior
LEARNING ACTIVITY 1:
Assignment 1 - Reflections:
Study Guide in Prof. Ed. 104: The Teacher and the Community, School Culture and Organizational Leadership Module No. 4
According to Schein (2004) points out that it is critical that leaders recognize that changing culture doesn’t
occur overnight. It is a process and he offers a number of specific suggestions about how this process can be
systematically implemented. Most of the people-teachers, students and parents who collectively determine what
the school’s culture is like have limited incentive to listen to you. Managing school’s culture is not dependent on
the authority that has based on your position, but can only be affected by increasing your influence over
behaviors, beliefs, relationships and other complex dynamics present in the school that are often unpredictable.
To understand what the organizational climate definition is we should begin by reading an interpretation
from one of the most respected authors on Human Resources, Professor Idalberto Chiavenato:
Study Guide in Prof. Ed. 104: The Teacher and the Community, School Culture and Organizational Leadership Module No. 4
“A set of measurable properties of the perceived work environment, directly or indirectly, created by
individuals who live and work in this environment and that influences the motivation and behavior of these
people.”
Besides these two factors, it is interesting to note some others to understand fully what the organizational
climate definition is.
ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATE
Is concerned with large unit; it characterizes properties of an entire organization of major subunits.
Describes a unit of organization rather than evaluates it or indicates emotional reaction to it.
Arises from routine organizational practices that are important to the organization and its members.
Influences members’ behaviors and attitudes.
Study Guide in Prof. Ed. 104: The Teacher and the Community, School Culture and Organizational Leadership Module No. 4
School environments vary greatly. Whereas some schools feel friendly, inviting, and supportive, others
feel exclusionary, unwelcoming, and even unsafe. The feelings and attitudes that are elicited by a school’s
environment are referred to as school climate. Although it is difficult to provide a concise definition for school
climate, most researchers agree that it is a multidimensional construct that includes physical, social, and
academic dimensions.
Study Guide in Prof. Ed. 104: The Teacher and the Community, School Culture and Organizational Leadership Module No. 4
A positive school climate fosters student’s feelings of belonging and strengthens their feelings of
academic efficiency.
Strong feelings of academic deficiency lead to better school performance.
Positive Discipline
Prevention and Interventions
Cultural Competence
Physical and Psychological Safety
School Connectedness
Home-School Collaboration
LEARNING ACTIVITY 2:
1. Based on your experiences, give at least 10 school practices that don’t contribute to positive culture.
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.
Study Guide in Prof. Ed. 104: The Teacher and the Community, School Culture and Organizational Leadership Module No. 4
1. Search in the Web at least three (3) published researches on any topic concerning School’s Organizational
Culture” and supply the table below.
SUMMARY
School culture is the character of a school that gives the school qualities beyond its structure,
resources and practices. It is created by all the people in the school. It is not inherited and so is not passed on
through the genes. School culture includes school climate and so school culture is broader than school climate.
School climate is relational while school culture is a deeper level of reflection of shared values, beliefs and
traditions. Undoubtedly, school culture affects learning and so schools must, by all means, build positive not
toxic school culture.
REFERENCES
Online Sources:
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-sociology/chapter/schools-as-formal-organizations/
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1125064.pdf
https://mje.mcgill.ca/article/view/9139/7094
https://bizfluent.com/info-8235460-formalization-organizational-structure.html
http://www.vits.org/publikationer/dokument/527.pdf#:~:text=When%20using%20Mintzberg's%20(1983%2C
%201998,were%20chosen%20representing%20core%20processes.
Study Guide in Prof. Ed. 104: The Teacher and the Community, School Culture and Organizational Leadership Module No. 4
https://www.deped.gov.ph/2015/10/30/do-52-s-2015-new-organizational-structures-of-the-central-regional-
and-schools-division-offices-of-the-department-of-education/
https://www.affordablecebu.com/load/schools_universities/organizational_structure_chart_of_deped/23-1-
0-8418
https://academic.oup.com/cs/article-abstract/39/1/3/2616453
http://evaluationplus.eu/school-organisational-culture
https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=http%3A%2F%2Fwaynekhoy.com%2Fppts
%2FHM_PP_Slides_Ch5.ppt
https://www.heflo.com/blog/hr/organizational-climate-definition/#:~:text=The%20organizational%20climate
%20is%20a%20concept%20%E2%80%9Cperceived%E2%80%9D%20by,organizational%20climate
%20affects%20productivity%2C%20motivation%20and%20employee%20behavior.
https://www.naesp.org/sites/default/files/resources/2/Leadership_Compass/2007/LC2007v5n1a4.pdf
Books
The School and the Community, School Culture, and Organizational Leadership, G. Pawilen, et.al, Rex
Bookstore, 2019, Manila, Philippines.
The School and the Community, School Culture, and Organizational Leadership, N. Prieto, et.al, LORIMAR
Publishing, 2019, Quezon City, Philippines.