Essay Question: Why does school culture affect student learning?

School culture is defined as the school’s underlying norms and values that shape the
patterns of behavior, attitude and expectation between stakeholders in the school and influences
every aspect of how the school functions. It is something created and shaped by everything that
all people in school – school head, teachers, parents, staff, students, and community – see, hear,
feel and interact with. School culture has also been confirmed from researches that it has an
important role in learning. There are different ways how school culture affect school success and
why school culture affect student learning.
School culture can be positive or negative or toxic. A positive school culture has a
friendly atmosphere. It allows the faculty and staff to be themselves and work with a cooperative
relationship among colleagues – allows experimentation and considers mistakes as part of the
learning process. There is trust and confidence, honest and open communication between the
school head, the teachers, and the parents and even with the students. A positive school culture
also allows everyone in the school community to be heard, voicing out their concerns and
opinions, and get involved in decision making. In addition to that, positive school culture
encourages appreciation and recognition with a sincere praise of other teachers as well as care
and positive feedback to students.
Moreover, a positive school culture protects what the school considers important such as
school traditions as this strengthens the sense of the school community. On that note, the school
sets high expectations for high achievement, teachers have what it takes to be a teacher, and there
is concrete support from school head. This is the positive school culture. It fosters improvement,
collaborative decision making, professional development, and staff and student learning.
Researches show that with a positive school culture, school heads care, teachers are motivated,
and the school climate is favorable – these are few of the factors that affect student learning.
Positive culture creates positive environment which results to motivated students and
motivated students are most likely do well in their academic performances. On the other hand,
negative school culture fosters the opposite of these all – worse case for a toxic school culture.
School culture is the foundation of learning environments and the one that creates the conditions
for an effective teaching and learning to occur. That is why school culture affect student
learning.