5 Ways to Improve Your School’s Culture

By April Brown, Guest Author

It’s no secret that when searching for jobs, educators hope to find opportunities at schools that boast a friendly, open, and positive climate. Parents follow the some process as they check the area’s school system before deciding to rent or buy a house. Teachers and students spend more than eight hours a day at school and a school’s environment greatly impacts the education that takes place.

Staff and administrators in a positive school culture believe they have the ability to achieve their ambitions. Their counterparts operating in a negative school environment lack faith in the possibility of realizing their visions, according to Education World. Trust and connection are cultivated when students feel that their teachers believe they can be successful.

As an educator, there are ways you can improve your school’s culture that will benefit staff development, student achievement, and the collective spirit of the school.

Put Students First

Schools are first and foremost safe environments where students should grow, learn, and thrive. Putting the priorities of kids first helps teachers and administrators prove to students how important their engagement with learning is. A survey conducted by YouthTruth found only one in three students believe their school culture is positive.

• Host student-led conferences. Ask the students to fill out a brief reflection sheet about their academic, social, and emotional progress. Encourage them to write down a few ways their families and teachers can help them be successful in the classroom. Some question ideas include: What do you like that is happening in your school/classroom? What changes would you make in your effort or in your teacher’s instructional practices? How do you feel about your peers? What are some of your favorite learning activities/subjects? What do you do when you feel stressed out? Do you feel supported? Encourage older students to lead the conference. Early learners can be prompted to answer questions.
• Begin monthly classroom improvement meetings. Place an improvement box in your classroom. Encourage students to write down ideas about changes they feel could improve relationships, academic success, and the overall positive vibe in the classroom. Every month, pull out the box and sit in a circle. Discuss the ideas and put some of their plans into action.
• Change your classroom environment. Instead of putting desks in rows, switch it up! How can you and your students design the classroom to emphasize peer-to-peer collaboration, movement, and flexibility? Some ideas include putting student desks in groups, investing in communal tables, and creating a wonder-wall in the classroom where students can post questions they have before, during, and after inquiry projects.

Foster Independence

Let your students lead the way. Teaching students to persevere through challenging situations is a quality that will help them succeed in the future. Carol Dweck, a Stanford psychology professor who coined the phrase growth mindset, says “when children are praised for the process they engage in — their hard work, their strategies, their focus, their persistence — then they remain motivated learners. They’re more likely to take on challenges and thrive in the face of difficulty.”

• Set aside time for passion projects. Research shows that interest drives learning. Give students time for passion projects where they must dig deep to find answers to questions they’ve always wondered about. For example, if a student is interested in how plastic affects marine life, he can search through books, online resources, and interview a local marine biologist. Passion projects are also a perfect opportunity to use parents as support. Encourage them to come in and speak about their career!
• Connect with local businesses. Provide students with ample opportunities to interact with the community. Community-based field trips help early learners make sense of the world around them. For older students, consider offering part-time, interest-based internships. Some ideas include helping at restaurants, pet shelters, schools, local farms, and environmental agencies.
• Be a “guide on the side.” Becoming a facilitator takes practice. When your students partake in independent or group work, let them work through problems they face instead of jumping in and saving them. This not only promotes critical thinking skills, but also gives you time to document student learning and hand ownership over to your class. Instead of interrupting students as they collaborate, use a non-intrusive approach and jot down your feedback on a sticky note.

Model Collaboration

If you want your students to work as a team, you must teach them how! Effective teams challenge each other to take risks and try new approaches. Most importantly, successful collaboration includes healthy conflict. Here are a few ways to grow your collaborative learning community.

• Get together. Dedicate time for planning at least once or twice a month with a few teachers that teach the same grade or speciality area. Discuss the standards you’re covering, challenges you’re facing, and successful ideas you’ve put into action. Be honest, vulnerable, and appreciative of feedback.
• Participate in multi-age classroom projects. Design a few multi-age projects throughout the year, working with a younger or older class. Multi-age learning helps older students master foundational skills by teaching them and also allows teachers to see the fluidity across grade levels.
• Use technology to share ideas. Create websites through Google Site or Blogger for each grade level as a go-to place for educational resources, including units and lesson plans.

Teach Tolerance

Celebrate diversity. Schools must provide an inclusive environment for all learners, no matter what gender, race, religion, or culture. How can you teach tolerance?

• Find multicultural literature. Look at your classroom library. Does it include books that feature main characters of different races, religions, genders, and cultures? If not, check out library bag sales and local thrift shops for stories to add to your collection that feature a diverse range of characters, situations, and issues.
• Expose students to multiple perspectives. Teaching about the wars going on in Syria? Include credible articles, websites, and interviews from multiple perspectives. Holding civil discourse and discussing challenging real-world events will help students recognize that there is never a simple answer. This recognition transfers to having empathy for diverse peers in the classroom.
• Host a Cultural Day. Ask your students to create a project about their family’s culture. Some ideas include religious background, holidays, traditions, rituals, family history, sacred objects and more. Dedicate a day for students to present their projects and ask the students to bring in a food dish to pass.

Begin a Mindset Monday

Starting the week on a positive note will make a difference school-wide. Facilitate a conversation with your administration about a short, five-minute meeting once a week or twice a month. Encourage staff, students, and administration to take turns sharing inspirational quotes, guided breathing exercises, and positive highlights from past weeks.

By implementing some of these simple practices, the staff and students at your school will notice the positive benefits in no time!

For more teaching inspiration and resources, check out education.com.

April Brown is an innovative educator with a background in Special Education and Psychology, and over ten years of diverse teaching experience spanning three countries. April encourages her students to become healthy, environmentally-aware citizens and make a difference in the world through student-led inquiry, art, theater, and nature exploration. April is currently earning her M.A in the Experienced Educators Program at Antioch University of New England, with a focus on Mindfulness. She resides in Placencia, Belize with her family. Check out her website for more of her ideas.