Topic 3:School and Teacher Culture

Takeaways of: Tessa Mae Tirador - M. Ed. Guidance (1st Year)

Culture had been given different definitions by many anthropologists. As we

gaze at different departments and fields in society, we can say that each one has built up

or has its own concept of what culture is. Some keywords I took from previous

discussions about culture are that culture is ever-changing, contested, and can be

controlled by power. These keywords or definitions can be associated with what schools

and teachers have in terms of how they perceived culture.

Culture as shared beliefs and values ((Deal & Kennedy, 1982, 1983) and acts as a

lens on how people view themselves and the world (Hargreaves,1994) is sensitively

observed at schools. Schools have their own means on how they navigate their students

and even faculty members, and that becomes their own standard. The culture they imply

is in accordance with the vision and mission that they have set for their community.

Teachers on the other hand can be catalysts in contesting or backing up these

standards set by the school. Their role is not merely focusing on implementing these

standards but also facilitating their learners to develop their sensitivity towards the

diversity and differences of cross-culture. Teachers are witnesses and are in between the

collective and individual power set about the school and its society. As founders or

leaders shaped their school’s culture they are also able to direct or establish unified ideas

and beliefs for their employees where teachers are included. They have to follow the

demands and all other negative and positive outcomes of this and later on, apply to their

learners. But, school and teacher's culture do not only revolve around how their leaders or

their experiences affected them, these can also be demented by outside forces which

creates new concepts of culture.

The pandemic brought by Covid-19 had enforced its power and own culture on

society, which had made abrupt changes to common or habitual things that we do. In this

paper, I will discuss how the pandemic became enabling and disabling in my socio-

cultural life as a graduate student.

 Due to protocols like lockdowns and a limited number of people per gathering,

establishments that had given narrowed time to open, and schools that opted to have

online and modular teaching methods are some changes that have acculturated on us.

These things had made an impact on my own socio-cultural life.

In most cases, I prefer to be on my own. I can make more progress if I only deal

with what concerns me and when working on my own, which is why adapting to

socializing with few people and limited time is not that hard for me. It challenged me to

work with my school requirements despite limited resources. As a graduate student, it

gave advantage on me because I was able to learn without being overwhelmed or

pressured by the competition brought by learning inside the four walls of the classroom. I

am at ease to speak my mind freely and somehow helped me improve my research skills.

We were given the chance to be technologically knowledgable. By being adepth with

technology it somehow had open some global skills within us like video-making,

preparing online presentations, and even discovering websites which enriched our

thinking skills.

However, with all the positive effects of this pandemic culture there were also

some negative effects that eventually poped-out. From within the comfort of our home, I

began to feel lax in doing my school requirements and had been unmotivated. I felt like I

was deprived of being challenged and the competitions I had experienced in school. I

began to procrastinate and which in the end resulted in me, cramming to comply with my

graduate study requirements and even the presentation that I needed for my online

teaching. It affected the quality of my work, that even I realized that I am no longer

satisfied with what I am doing. This somehow affected my mental health especially since

I can’t even go out to take some time to unwind. As time went by, I was able to adapt to

the changes that I’ve witnessed as a graduate student in the midst of the pandemic.

It made changes in how I manage my work and social life. The pandemic as a

new culture has taught me a lot and I am still coping with it. It proved that indeed culture

can really be ever-changing and contested and with external and internal powers it can

really make a change in someone’s life.

References:

La Tefy Schoen & Charles Teddlie (2008) A new model of school culture: a response to a
call for conceptual clarity 19:2, 129-153, DOI: 10.1080/09243450802095278
https://doi.org/10.1080/09243450802095278