Culture vs Change
Understanding a school ’s culture is a significant contributor to the success of any type of school improvement. Ross (2010) discusses the importance of understanding a school’s culture before introducing any form of internal or external change. Without this understanding, it is likely that the improvement or initiative will fail. After the initial enthusiasm of the new initiative, there is often a sense of frustration when problems arise, which leads to abandonment. Ross explains that this is because there is too much consideration given to the initiative itself and not enough to the people who will need to accept and implement the initiative, the staff and parents who together make up a school’s culture. School culture is defined by Schein (1985) as, ‘... the deeper level of basic assumptions and beliefs that are shaped by members of an organisation, that operate unconsciously, and that define in a basic “taken -for- granted” fas...