– Shantanu Das, Principal, Sarala Birla Academy, Bengaluru
We want our children to grow up to be competent enough take charge of this planet. How competent they will be, will to a large extent, depend on how good our schools are. A school is as good as it functions and among the many factors that influence that is the culture that develops, with time, within it. It is at play at all times – during activity, inactivity, forming the backdrop of all that happens in a school. Yes, leveraging culture is but one of a number of leadership tools. However, by actively managing culture, a school will be much more likely to deliver on its goals in the long run.
As we go about contemplating on the organisational culture of a school, it will perhaps be helpful to structure the entire exercise around three key questions:
Why do schools need an organisational culture?
What determines its ‘strength’?
How do school leaders drive an organisational change to bring about the right culture?
Why schools need an organisational culture
The organisational culture of a school is a system of shared values that determine how a school approaches all aspects of its functioning. While the basic principles of functioning of most schools remain largely the same, yet different schools approach them in very different ways, resulting in significantly different outcomes.
An example would perhaps better illustrate what I mean. Ensuring discipline is something all schools need to do. A school with a strict regulatory culture might approach this purely from the premise of an action being just right or wrong. It’d deal with the matter purely as a ‘reward/punishment’ issue.
Another school, with a transformational culture, would perhaps try and understand the context of the action and also the psychology of the child involved. It’d then proceed to figure out what course of action would best ensure the child would reform, or maybe even transform. Clearly, there can be a gulf of difference in the outcome in the two cases, caused by the difference in culture that exists in the two schools.
This difference is evident in all aspects of the functioning of schools. All schools strive for collaborative interaction among staff. They wish to have healthy, learning atmospheres in the classrooms. They have their job descriptions, SOPs, norms. What’s probably of immense importance is the ‘spirit’ in which they interpret and administer them. And therein lies one of the biggest reasons for the difference between what different schools achieve. If there’s kindness, mutual respect, camaraderie, integrity, sincerity, resilience, trust embedded in the culture of a school, it’d approach all its functioning in ways that’d be significantly different from the way another school, where these attributes are at a premium, would. And what a world of difference this would make to the outcome! Culture matters, enormously! A particular strategy will succeed only when it’s supported by appropriate cultural attributes. Interestingly, Mr. Satya Nadella (CEO-Microsoft) maintains that the ‘C’ in his title stands for ‘Culture’..
‘Strength’ of organisational culture
This strength depends on how similarly its stakeholders feel, how aligned they’re with each others’ line of thought regarding school culture, how closely they identify with each other about the core values, how clearly they understand the culture of the school and how intensely they feel about it.
Driving organisational change to build the right culture
There’s an interesting thing about cultures: they form, with or without the leader’s intervention. Either the leadership play a proactive role and help give it a shape that’s beneficial or it can be left to spiral. Obviously, leaders need to step in and bring about changes that’ll usher in the right culture – one that’s Clear, Consistent and Comprehensive. The process could look somewhat like this:
A. Clear understanding of the goals
B. Strategy to achieve them
C. Visualising the appropriate culture that’ll best promote that strategy and then driving the change called for
For culture to be used as a leadership tool, it must be strategically relevant, strong and include norms that promote innovation and risk taking. How can leaders develop, manage and change the school culture to meet these criteria? They can choose to employ their preferred tools for change management. If I were to choose from the many in existence, I’d probably choose the Nudge Theory.
However, it is better to have a mix of them coupled by one’s reading of the situation, psychology of the groups and common sense. A HUGE LOT depends on who the leader is. Is he compassionate, trustworthy, resilient? Does he believe in meaningful teamwork, capable of camaraderie? Is he himself, what he wishes the school culture to promote? Can the team members see in him, what he wishes to see in them? The answer would better be a resounding YES, and if so, he indeed is the leader to drive the change that ushers in the appropriate school culture. Yes, he still has to adroitly marshal his team as it goes about setting in place, gradually, the appropriate school culture, nudge, facilitate and navigate the stakeholders through the inevitable obstacles along the way. He really needs to be someone a little special. A leader cannot possibly meander in the alleyways of mediocrity and hope to drive excellence.
Also read:
Eduleader Speaks: Shantanu Das, Principal, Sarala Birla Academy