1st Edition
Creating a Strong Culture and Positive Climate in Schools Building Knowledge to Bring About Improvement
If there is one thing that school leaders need to get right, it is school culture. When they do, children learn more and colleagues have a stronger sense of purpose - they are more motivated and ultimately more fulfilled. Creating a strong culture and a positive climate requires an understanding of the complexity of school life and this begins by building knowledge. This book supports leaders to do just that.
Drawing on ideas from different domains, this insightful book reveals the role of concepts such as autonomy and trust in school improvement. Each chapter sets out the specific knowledge and expertise required by school leaders for great cultural leadership and offers practical examples and case studies to show how they can be applied in different school contexts.
Creating a Strong Culture and Positive Climate in Schools is an essential lens through which to examine the common problems faced by school leaders. It is invaluable reading for all those wanting to become more expert in school leadership and to better solve the everyday problems that arise from leading a school.
Introduction, Part 1. Why do leaders need to pay attention to culture and climate?, 1. What is culture and why is it important?, 2. Extensive domain specific knowledge is required to create a strong culture and positive climate, 3. Setting our school’s strategic direction, Part 2. What do leaders need to know about culture and climate?, Preamble: What does it take for school leaders to learn about culture and climate from other domains?, 4. What do high performing teams have in common?, 5. The power of expectations, 6. Harnessing the drivers of motivation, 7. High levels of trust are required to improve outcomes for children, Part 3. How do leaders go about culture change?, Preamble: Culture change, 8. Influencing culture as a new leader, 9. Influencing culture as an established leader, 10. Why measuring culture is futile and evaluating it is not much better
Biography
Nick Hart is the Executive Headteacher of the Alwyn and Courthouse Primary Federation in Maidenhead. He has led in small schools and large schools; schools in a MAT and schools under local authority control; schools at the forefront of innovation and schools that required stabilising. Nick writes a well established blog on education issues such as leadership, culture and curriculum design.
