Improving schools: the importance of culture.

Abstract

Though formal quality assurance procedures have their place, meaningful long-term school improvement is founded on a shift in the cultures that underlie the surface operations of a school. The article outlines four cultural arenas with which leaders and teachers must engage in order to accomplish real change; global cultural pressures brought about by international trends, the cultures of local families and communities external to the school, the internal organisational culture of the school and, finally, the subcultures of teachers and learners. Avoiding the allure of homogenised so-called world-class practice, aligning school and community cultures, and working long term to adjust teachers’ socialised culture in order to change pedagogy are the keys to improving education for all children.