An edited version of this manuscript appears in the April, 2001 issue of the Principal Leadership, 1(8), 48-51 in both the Middle Level and High School Level issues
 
 

        School systems across the country are experiencing change. With numerous principals and superintendents retiring or on the verge of retirement, new leadership is being introduced into school systems. New leadership is an opportunity both for change and resistance to change. Organizational theorists such as Warren Bennis and others are aware that a leader who comes into a school with change in mind is in for a struggle because the system will resist the change. The secret for successful leadership is to identify the existing culture and reshape it in order to minimize the struggle. Principals who fail to identify the existing culture before introducing change will meet with resistance. Based on my 14 years as a school superintendent, I believe that the odds are 50/50 that in 2-3 years the system will win the struggle and the principal will be looking for another job.

        While there are other techniques for identifying a school’s culture, such as surveys and outside consultants, a technique I call "the expectations diagnosis" is preferred (step one). This technique takes very little time and can take place at the first faculty meeting of the school year or at any other time. Although the technique is very helpful to new principals, it can be beneficial to any principal. The "expectations diagnosis" requires that all faculty receive three 3 x 5 or similar index cards. They are asked to write an expectation they have of you (the principal) regarding the rules for faculty behavior on each index card. Writing one expectation per card allows for easy sorting of expectations. You will need to explain why you are asking for this information and how you will use it, because at this point trust has not been established.

        Explain to the faculty that one of your duties as their leader is to enforce rules and policies for both students and faculty. While the rules and policies for students tend to be clear, those for faculty tend to be more flexible and subject to interpretation. Explain that you would like their input on the rules and expectations they consider important in order for this school to function at peak efficiency. Explain how you will use the 3 x 5 cards and that one expectation per card allows you to quickly sort expectations into common areas.

        Once the cards are sorted into piles, you will be able to identify the values and beliefs or culture regarding the type of leadership the faculty prefers. A list of the ten to fifteen most frequently mentioned expectations should be compiled. This list is then given to faculty and they are asked to rank the list from most important to least important. Based on the rankings, you can determine the faculty’s expectations for your leadership. These expectations are shared with the faculty and what was previously a hidden culture becomes a shared culture. What tends to emerge is a list of rules/expectations by which the faculty wishes to be governed. Based on experience, some likely rules/expectations are the following:

• faculty should be involved in the decision-making process;
• all faculty should be treated the same;
• the principal must discipline students who are sent to the office;
• rules should be enforced;
• the principal should be visible; and
• the principal will deal with individuals who violate rules instead of telling the entire faculty at a staff meeting.

        There is no best way to conduct an "expectations diagnosis." Some principals may prefer to set aside five to ten minutes at the start of the first faculty meeting. Others may want to collect expectations at the end of the day. One word of caution: If you give teachers the rest of the day to formulate expectations, they might get together and plan what they want you to hear. I prefer the spontaneous approach that is likely to occur during the faculty meeting before they have a chance to talk to each other.

        Keep in mind that the rest of the staff, i.e., custodians, paraprofessionals, cooks, bus drivers, etc. also have expectations that will shape the culture of the organization. I would use the same process with them, except I would use different colored index card to assist with the sorting process. Their expectations are likely to be quite different from those of the certified faculty.

        The above process is the first step in identifying and reshaping the existing culture. Reshaping the culture occurs because the leader has listened to the faculty/staff and laid the ground for the development of trust. Listening is an activity that conveys that you care about your faculty’s opinions, beliefs, and values. It also conveys that you are open to changing your leadership style to meet their expectations. Openness and trust are clearly intertwined (Bulach and Peterson, 1999). Once faculty perceive that you care and are open to them, they will begin to trust you. The existing culture can not be reshaped without some level of trust between the principal, faculty, and staff.

        While the "expectations diagnosis" sets the stage for them to trust "you," it also conveys to the faculty/staff that you trust "them." You are allowing them to set the parameters for the operation of the school. Based on my experience with this process, the rules the faculty wants are going to be more stringent than the rules that would be set by the administration. The principal in such a setting is in a much more powerful position than if they were enforcing the rules of the administration.

        Step two is the same process repeated by each teacher in the school. Students should be given three 3 x 5 cards and asked to list three rules that should govern behavior in that classroom. This would cause a dramatic change in the culture of each classroom because the teacher is enforcing the students’ rules and not the teacher’s rules. The psychological shift when students’ break their own rules versus those of the teacher are again an example of moral power versus position power. The students have set the rules for the right kind of behavior in the classroom. Normally, all the teacher has to do is remind students of how to do things right versus using position power to make students do the right thing. For example, if the classroom rules are posted and a student is violating rule #2, the teacher only has to announce that rule #2 is being violated. All eyes in the classroom focus on the student breaking their rule, and normally the student violating the rule will stop violating it.

        Step three in reshaping culture is to find out how the faculty/staff are responding to your leadership and to make adjustments as needed. This should take place six to eight weeks after the start of the school year. Use index cards or a sheet of paper and have them complete the following two sentences as many times as they wish:

        The principal is doing a good job because…

        The principal would do a better job if…

        Again, this shows that you are willing to listen to faculty; you are concerned about their welfare; you care about them; and you are willing to change your leadership style. With this the trust building process continues, and you will get valid feedback on the faculty’s perception of your leadership. Based on the feedback you can build on your strengths or address those things they would like for you to change. Identifying problems early in the school year allows you to be pro-active as opposed to reactive when the problems surface later in the year. A more formal approach to assessing your leadership would be to use the "Supervisory Climate Diagnosis Inventory" (SCDI}. The SCDI (Bulach, Boothe, and Michael, 1999) measures behaviors in five areas that have allowed principals to create a positive supervisory climate or caused them to create a negative one. The five areas are the following: human relations, trust, instructional leadership, control, and conflict.

        The final step is to assess the climate and culture of the school 4-6 weeks prior to the end of the school year. This can be done through a formal or an informal survey. If an informal survey is chosen, the same process that was used to get feedback in your leadership style can be used. The two sentences that they would complete as many times as they want would be:

        I like working at this school because…

        I would like working at this school better if…

A school improvement committee could be established to analyze the data and develop a plan to be implemented during the upcoming school year.

        If a formal survey is desired, contact your principal’s association for information about surveys. There are a number of climate and culture surveys available. One such instrument that measures both climate and culture was used by Bulach and Malone (1994). An analogy of an iceberg can be used to describe climate and culture. Climate is the part of an iceberg that is easily seen above the water and culture is the part of the iceberg below the water. You can’t see it, and you do not know that it is there. However, the climate (the part that is observable) cannot exist without the culture (the part that cannot be seen). The culture variables are openness, trust, collaboration, and environment. It is difficult to tell if people are receptive, trust, work together, or care about each other. The climate variables are order, leadership, instrumentation, expectations, and involvement. You can see if students obey rules; if the principal leads; how teachers teach, etc.

        The advantage of the formal survey is that it provides detailed information about a school’s strengths and areas needing improvement. The data are quantitative and allow for comparisons of data to measure the effectiveness of the school improvement plan. The use of an outside consultant to generate the climate/culture profile also adds authenticity to the data. The disadvantage is that there tends to be costs involved that can range from a low of $250 to a high of $1000.

        The advantage of the informal survey is that it is quick, easy, and costs only the time needed to analyze and describe the data. Since the data is of a qualitative nature it is more difficult to analyze and make comparisons to see if the climate has improved as a result of the school improvement plan. One method of measuring the effectiveness of the plan is to count the number of times the faculty identify something they like about the school and the number of times they identify something that would cause them to like the school better. If the plan has worked, the post-school improvement plan data should have an increase in the number of things they liked about the school and a decrease in the number of items for "like this school better if."

        In conclusion, school principals must identify the existing culture if they wish to introduce change. They also have to change the culture that operates in most classrooms. This can happen if leaders and teachers become more servant leadership oriented. They must create conditions where the followers/subordinates create the rules and policies and the leader enforces them. The faculty and students identify the culture they want in the school, and the principal and teachers help to create and reshape it into a healthy learning environment. Receiving early feedback on the supervisory climate created by your leadership style is important to avoid more serious problems that that could be caused by end-of-year feedback. The overall climate that has been created in the school also needs to be analyzed and a plan implemented to improve the climate. These are pro-active techniques that allow you to continue reshaping the culture of a school where both the needs of the organization and the people within the organization are being met.

        While the above process describes a plan for building principals to use in identifying and reshaping the culture and climate of a school, the same process could be used by school superintendents. The expectations of board members, teachers, and the administrative team could be ascertained using the same process. The supervisory climate of the superintendent could also be measured using the above process. Last, but not least, superintendents who ignore the climate and culture of the schools in their district are ignoring early indicators of schools that are headed for a decline in student achievement scores.
 
 

Bulach C. R. Leadership techniques that control or empower subordinates: A new power typology. A presentation at the Southern Regional Council of Education Administration on 11-15-99 at Charlotte, NC.

Bulach, C. R. Boothe, D., & Michael, P. Analyzing the leadership behavior of school principals. Paper presented at the Association for the Advancement of Educational Research conference at Pointe Vedra, Florida on December 1,1999.

Bulach, C. R., & Malone, B. (1994). The relationship of school climate to the implementation of school reform. ERS SPECTRUM: Journal of School Research and Information 12(4), 3-9.

Sergiovanni, T. & Starrett, R. (1998). (6th Edition) Supervision - A redefinition. NY: McGraw-Hill