Climate and Culture

Running head: CLIMATE AND CULTURE

Lehigh University Principal Internship

Climate and Culture Reflection
Nichole M. Held
EDL 414 Principal Internship I
March 25, 2016

Climate and Culture

Within the world of education, the concepts of culture and climate have garnered a great
deal of attention and a growing body of research. Although they are often confused as
interchangeable terms, these two distinct concepts undeniably work together to create an
environment where organizations and the people within them thrive.
Although definitions vary, climate is most often described as the feel of a building or the
collective mood, or morale, of a group of people (Gruenert, S. 2008). More simply, climate is
impression or sense you might get from strolling through the school.
On the other end, culture often presents a deeper definition and is typically described as
the engrained practices that the people within the organization adhere to (for better or worse).
Schein (1992) describes culture as a pattern of shared basic assumptions that a group learned as
it solved its problems of external adaptation and integration, that has worked well enough to be
considered valid and therefore to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think,
and feel in relation to those problems. In my eyes, culture is simply the way things are done
within an organization.
By embracing these definitions, my experience at Lincoln Elementary School has become
clearer with respect to both climate and culture. Beginning with climate, my experience at
Lincoln has illustrated a climate that is welcoming and warm. As a Leader in Me School,
Lincoln takes great pride in advertising this philosophy with brightly colored posters, signs and
encouraging quotes painted on the walls. When you pass in the halls or visit classrooms,
teachers and students will often smile and offer polite greetings. The front office staff address
families and visitors in a polite tone and appear to choose language very thoughtfully. For
example, when you ring the bell to enter the building, staff will answer with, How may I help

Climate and Culture

you? regardless of who answers the request. These actions provide evidence of a friendly,
hospitable and positive place.
With respect to culture, Lincoln appears more complicated. This is not to say that the
culture is not positive, but more that it is a work in progress. One of its biggest areas of strength
lies in its status as a community school. Lincoln has a strong positive culture in terms of
community and parent involvement. They openly welcome families and embed a great deal of
events (e.g., talent shows, breakfasts, family dinner nights, reading nights, student dances)
throughout the year to bring people in from the surrounding community. The welcoming climate
helps to cultivate the culture of inclusion that Lincoln has built as a community school and the
large attendance at these events evidences their effective efforts.
Another area of strength includes the expansion of professional development. Ms.
Draper and her staff spend a great deal of time working with Step by Step Learning to employ
best practice techniques. This aligns directly with their mission to close their achievements gaps
and illustrates the research of Louis and Wahlstrom (2011), which concluded principals were
the critical link in stimulating the conversations that led to classroom practices that are associated
with improved student learning.
This is also evident at Lincoln through the design of their professional development.
More specifically, Im thinking of a session from the fall on formal assessments. This training
was designed to seek feedback and consensus from the staff on what assessments best measured
the abilities of their students. This training served as the platform for the cohesive grading
system that is now in place at Lincoln.
Most importantly, the faculty at Lincoln recognizes not only areas of strengths, but areas
of growth as well. One area of growth that Lincoln has embraced focuses on their interactions as

Climate and Culture

a staff. This is evidenced by the establishment of a committee specifically dedicated to the task
of cultural improvement amongst the staff. This committee, with guidance and feedback from
the faculty as a whole, has agreed that professionalism would be the focus this school year and
into next. To that effect, staff-wide trainings have led them to define professionalism, discuss
thorny issues and to seek help from their Leader in Me consultants to assist the current state of
affairs.
Although I have not witnessed any specific encounters, my experience within a few
committee meetings has revealed examples of teachers struggling to redirect negative comments
from other staff members or challenges they have faced to motivate colleagues to work at a
higher level of rigor. More globally, the message I have perceived is that faculty is longing for a
vehicle or procedure to resolve conflicts. Louis and Wahlstrom (2011) remind us that
organizations with stronger cultures tend to be more cooperative and more equipped to solve
conflicts in an effective and productive way.
Thus far, it seems that staff look to Ms. Draper to solve conflicts for them as opposed to
resolving things amongst themselves. This lends itself to making more work for her and
seemingly implies less shared leadership. Louis and Wahlstrom (2011) found that changing a
schools culture requires shared or distributed leadership among many levels of the
organization. This includes how staff and administration take responsibility for themselves and
for the organization.
In seeing this struggle, as a principal, I would look to directly instruct and apply a
specific procedure for staff to use when addressing conflict with one another. When dealt with
correctly, conflict can lead to positive and productive change and subsequent growth within the
organization. I envision this practice would include specific steps (e.g., When you are upset by

Climate and Culture

a co-workers interactions, it is best to talk directly to the person with whom you perceive having
a problem) and be instructive in nature.
Despite having ideas about ways to improve upon culture, as a new building principal, I
envision my role as a learner and observer. One of the quickest ways to destroy a culture is to
lack an understanding of how is functions or why it exists. Bolman and Deal (1991) remind us
that culture is deeply held and rooted unconsciously, even if it was created consciously and
deliberately at some point in time. Coming in as a new principal and changing too many things
at once can ruin the glue and challenge shared beliefs and values. Changing culture for the better
rests with understanding these shared beliefs and values.
As a new principal in a school, I would attempt to employ a very simple technique I have
learned at Centennial in an effort to assess the culture of a school. I would look to administer the
informal, yet informative One Thing Survey. This survey is given to every staff member at
Centennial at the end of every school year. It serves as an anonymous way to express the
following: name one thing you like best about your job, name one thing you like least about your
job and name one thing you wish you could change about your job. This survey is compiled and
redistributed to staff to share and clarify the collective values, likes and dislikes of the group.
When a theme emerges that needs to be addressed (e.g., a need for higher pay, too many cliques
forming within programs), the administrative team makes efforts to mitigate them (e.g., drafting
new policy, adding PD topics).
When it comes down to it, climate and culture have one striking thing in common, for
better or worse, they exist in every school. In my experience Lincoln, I feel I have observed a
myriad of examples that with serve me well as I look to shape both climate and culture in future
organizations.

Climate and Culture

References
Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (1991). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Gruenert, S. (March, 2008). School Culture, School Climate: They Are Not the Same Thing.
Principal, 87(4), 56-59.
Louis, K. S. & Wahlstrom, K. (2011). Principals are Cultural Leaders. Kappan, 92(5), 2-56.
Schein, E. (1992). Organizational Culture and Leadership (2nd ed.). San Franciso, CA: JosseyBass, p. 12.