School Culture

Rewired
How to Define, Assess, and
Transform It

Michael Miller

Objectives:
1. Culture vs. Climate
2. Leverage Points
3. Leadership Matters

Culture vs. Climate

1. What is school culture?
2. What is climate?
Take 45 60 seconds to define school culture and
climate.
(Think Write Pair Share)

Culture vs. Climate

Climate: what you do - attitude (short term)
Culture: why you do it - personality (long term)
Take 3 minutes to walk around the room and comment on
the chart paper you see on the wall. Write as many times as
you would like on each piece of chart paper, but you do not
need to write on every piece of chart paper.

(Graffiti Talk 4 minutes)

Leverage Points
Start of the school year at the beginning of the
school year, each classroom and the school are like a
ball of clay.. (p. 135).
A new principal by setting expectations early on,
you avoid correcting behaviors down the line (p.
137).
Planning for next year: What are 2 things that you
could do at the start of the school year to help transform
the school culture?
(Give One, Get One)

Leadership Matters!
Set the message Talking up successes makes people
feel successful, whereas talking about overwhelming
obstacles makes people want to give up (p. 165).
Be Consistent shift from short-term behaviors to longterm expectations (p. 16).
LeadOr Else An ineffective principal lends validity
to the complaints of naysayers, which enables naysayers to
develop much more power than they would under strong
leadership (p. 164)
What is one commitment that you can make (this year or
next) to help transform your schools culture?
(Moment of Silence, Whip Around)

Reflection and Planning for Action

Reflect on your experiences
as a teacher, teacher leader
and principal intern. When
have you seen a strong,
positive school culture?
What characteristics lead you
to define it that way? How
can you, as the leader, help
your school develop a
strong, positive culture?

Journal Reflection for

your own personal use.