Personal Leadership Platform

Gorton, R. (2022). School leadership and administration: Important concepts, case studies, and simulations (11th ed.). McGraw-Hill Higher Education (US). https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/9781266172724

CHAPTER 3: Authority, Power, and Influence

APPLICABLE PSEL STANDARD*, † ▪ Standard 1: Mission, Vision, and Core Values Effective educational leaders develop, advocate, and enact a shared mission, vision, and core values of high-quality education and academic success and well-being of each student.

▪ Standard 2: Ethics and Professional Norms Effective educational leaders act ethically and according to professional norms to promote each student’s academic success and well-being.

▪ Standard 3: Equity and Cultural Responsiveness Effective educational leaders strive for equity of educational opportunity and culturally responsive practices to promote each student’s academic success and well-being.

▪ Standard 4: Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment Effective educational leaders develop and support intellectually rigorous and coherent systems of curriculum, instruction, and assessment to promote each student’s academic success and well-being.

▪ Standard 5: Community of Care and Support for Students Effective educational leaders cultivate an inclusive, caring, and supportive school community that promotes the academic success and well-being of each student.

▪ Standard 7: Professional Community for Teachers and Staff Effective educational leaders foster a professional community of teachers and other professional staff to promote each student’s academic success and well-being.

▪ Standard 9: Operations and Management Effective educational leaders manage school operations and resources to promote each student’s academic success and well-being.

Page 76

Any administrator engaged in making decisions, mediating conflict, introducing change, supervising teachers, or any other administrative task or activity should have a reasonable basis for action rather than behaving idiosyncratically or capriciously. In a bureaucratic organization, such as a school district, that basis is typically called authority. Authority can be defined as “a right granted to a manager to make decisions within limitations, to assign duties to subordinates, and to require subordinates’ conformance to expected behavior.” It is the authorization to get things done or accomplished. Authority is, therefore, power-conferred, allowing an administrator the right to “decide, direct, or control.”

WHAT LEGITIMATES AUTHORITY?

There are several possible, reasonable bases for an administrator’s authority in a particular situation. First, authority may come from “higher up.” It may be derived from a governing board or a superior within the organization. This type of authority is generally referred to as legal authority. Second, authority may come from tradition. An administrator may possess authority in a particular situation simply because administrators have traditionally possessed authority in such situations. Thus people continue to recognize that tradition by accepting the administrator’s attempts to exercise authority. According to data from one major study of education, “most teachers do what their principals ask of them because they feel that their principals have a legitimate right to make demands.” Third, authority may be earned or perceived as being deserved. In other words, an administrator may be able to exercise authority successfully because people respect the person or the position. Therefore, they are willing to allow their behavior to be directed by a particular person whom they hold in high esteem and consider worthy of their trust, irrespective of how they judge the merits of the directives.

However, because an administrator’s authority is usually believed by school boards to be either inherent in the position or associated with the assigned responsibilities, some of the specific elements and scope of that authority may not always be defined.9 This lack of specificity can sometimes cause problems, especially if the administrator is not supported by superiors or if those under his or her authority resist. As long as superiors back the administrator, however, and as long as the people who respond to the administrator’s exercise of authority believe it is the administrator’s right to exercise it, either because of the position in the organization or for some other reason, no serious problems may occur. This is true, despite the fact that the nature and limits of the authority may have never been fully defined.

TWO COMPETING BASES OF AUTHORITY

Cooper addresses the myths that currently operate in regard to the premises underlying assumptions about where authority for school reform resides. He argues that in educational settings, there are two separate—even competing—bases of authority. Administrators base their authority on their status in their organizational hierarchy, be it as principals, central office supervisors, or district superintendents. Their expertise is derived from their position in the hierarchy and their specialized knowledge of school system operations and management.

Page 77

Teachers base their authority on their knowledge of the subject matter and on their expertise in pedagogy as it relates to their students. Superintendents speak generally about curriculum reform measures, whereas teachers can explain how a particular objective worked with a special group of students. Teachers believe that they have authority and control over children and classrooms, whereas administrators believe that all the authority and control emanates from them, that is, top-down control. Unfortunately, these assumptions or beliefs can constrain genuine calls for reform from parents and the community because teachers and school leaders each believe they have proper authority. These myths impair innovations initiated by top leadership because teachers are not part of the process.

Ogawa and Bossert assert that the “medium” and the “currency” of leadership lie in the personal resources of people. This can be true of teachers as well as administrators. The more resources people have and the kinds of resources they possess or have access to can give them greater power. On the basis of their review of studies on power, Fuqua, Payne, and Cangemi conclude that “the currency of leadership, essential to influencing others, involves a wide variety of factors.” Eight such factors are listed by these authors: support systems (participation in networking opportunities), information (knowing where to find information and obtain it quickly, which encourages the practice of good listening), credibility (attaining respect and trust through demonstrated abilities and trustworthiness), visibility (being noticed as one who takes on difficult tasks and works hard at them), legitimacy (being recognized and commended by respected persons in positions of power), persuasiveness (effectiveness in winning others over to one’s viewpoints through one’s confidence, personality, and appeals to reason and emotions), charisma (a combination of qualities that add up to a personal dynamism or aura that draws others), and agenda setting (in the words of Fuqua et al., “knowing when meetings will be held and accessing the group leader to put items on the agenda at just the right time”).

Leadership shapes the systems that produce the patterns of interaction and the meanings that other participants attach to organizational events. As principals fulfill their roles, their ability to

influence the organization without dictating their authority affects the productivity of the organization. Whereas authoritarian leaders, intent upon control, undermine the efficiency of an organization, those leaders who work from an inclusion perspective find themselves supported by their personnel. This, consequently, enhances the entire organizational structure. Fuqua and his associates refer to Kanter’s studies of corporations and her findings that those leaders who relied more on their personal power than on their job title or credentials were the leaders most able to mobilize resources, instill confidence, motivate those under their authority, and encourage their creativity.

A reorientation and a rethinking of the current paradigm of authority and of who controls what in our schools must occur before any meaningful reform measures can be jointly implemented by teachers and administrators, as well as by the community. This reorientation issue means that an administrator, especially one new to a school or school district, should give high priority to the identification and understanding of sources that grant and limit authority.

Page 78

SOURCES THAT GRANT AND LIMIT AUTHORITY

As the previous discussion makes clear, the administrator’s authority may be derived from more than one source. An important step, then, for any administrator is to ascertain the specific nature and extent of the authority to carry out the responsibilities and to take action when needed. Figure 3.1 identifies a number of possible sources that may, formally or informally, grant an administrator the authority to act and that may also place formal or informal limitations on the administrator’s prerogatives to exercise authority. In other words, each of the sources identified in Figure 3.1 can potentially serve a dual function, that is, to grant authority and to restrict authority. Authority once granted is not always permanent. Zirkel and Gluckman remind administrators that in a time of downsizing, middle managers’ jobs are at risk. In school systems, the middle managers are the principals and assistant principals. Members of both groups can quickly find themselves stripped of authority as they are moved from an administrative role to a teaching reassignment.

FIGURE 3.1 POSSIBLE SOURCES THAT GRANT AND LIMIT ADMINISTRATOR AUTHORITY

A school administrator can usually determine, for the most part, the specific nature and extent of authority by examining the job description, the school board policies, and the district’s master contract. The prerogatives to exercise authority may also be broadened or limited, however, by the superior’s expectations,16 state law and regulations, federal court decisions, and a number of other elements that are identified in Figure 3.1. For example, the same superintendent who grants a certain type of authority can also take it away or restrict it in some manner. The same faculty members who, through their expectations, informally grant their principal the authority to take certain actions can change those expectations and remove their support.

Although the number of potential sources of limitations presented in Figure 3.1 is large and may seem overwhelming to some readers, an administrator’s initial response should be to investigate policies, regulations, expectations, and conditions in the principal’s own school situation rather than assuming a certain pattern of limitations. (For further discussion of reference group expectations, see Gorton and Thierbach-Schneider.) Some of the potential sources of limitations identified in Figure 3.1 may not be actual constraints in a particular school district.

Page 79 For example, under “District” in Figure 3.1, “Principals’ Norms” are listed as a possible source of limitation to the exercise of authority. Although rarely discussed in the professional literature, a principal’s peers in the school district can develop norms that may limit to some extent what a principal can do in school. These peer norms can be especially powerful in influencing the behavior of a new or “outer-directed” principal. It is not inevitable that a new principal will find the norms of peers limiting the exercise of authority in the school. In many school districts the norms of the principals are not well developed, nor is there much evidence that sanctions would

be imposed by other principals unless the behavior in question was extreme. Some beginning principals have been assisted in gaining an understanding of peer norms, job expectations, and clarification of subtle signs and signals by implementation of a “buddy system” or mentoring program. The norms of the other principals in a school district do, however, constitute a potential source of limitation on a principal who wishes to exercise authority in school, and therefore the importance of these norms needs to be weighed.

Another example of a potential source of limitation on a principal’s exercise of authority is the principal’s own perception of policies, expectations, and conditions. If an administrator perceives a condition as a limitation of authority, then it is a constraint, regardless of whether any other administrator in the same situation would perceive that condition to be restrictive. For instance, some principals who assume a position at another school are reluctant to change any school procedures or practices that have been in existence for a long time because they believe that such changes might upset certain people. Although there is nothing necessarily wrong with proceeding cautiously in a new situation, other principals who face the same circumstances would not perceive the possible negative reactions of others to change as a constraint on their authority. If they were convinced of the need for change, these principals would take whatever steps were necessary to bring about the change. The latter group of principals is not necessarily exercising authority effectively; it is simply that this group does not perceive the same conditions as a constraint to the exercise of authority as does the first group of principals in our example.

A school administrator should not be intimidated or immobilized by the possibility of constraints on existing authority. The wise administrator, however, will make few assumptions about having authority to act, and will carefully and objectively examine the situation to determine the limits and the strengths of the various sources of authority. The administrator will also be constantly aware of a characteristic of formal authority that Blau and Scott have perceptively observed, namely, that formal authority only “promotes compliance with directives and discipline, but does not encourage employees to exert effort, to accept responsibilities, or to exercise initiative.”

FACTORS TO CONSIDER IN EXERCISING AUTHORITY

School administrators exercise authority in a variety of ways. For example, they make decisions, promulgate rules and regulations, interpret policies, and issue directives. The purpose of exercising authority should be to bring about some desired response from others. The ideal outcome would be the acceptance of the administrator’s right to exercise authority, along with willing cooperation in carrying out the administrator’s expectations. Although this ideal is frequently recognized in school administration, it is not always achieved. Simon has suggested, based on earlier work by Barnard, that subordinates’ characterization of the administrator’s exercise of authority can range from “clearly unacceptable” to “unquestionably acceptable,” with several degrees of variation in between. (Wilkes and

Blackbourn have devised a useful instrument for measuring the degree of acceptability of various kinds of administrative directives to teachers.) Whether or not people will find the administrator’s directives acceptable would appear to depend on a number of factors, including the personality of the administrator and the way the authority was exercised, as well as the personality and needs of the recipients of the directive. For example, research found that teachers were more likely to accept the directives of the principal when the administrator was perceived as strong in the leadership dimensions of both consideration and initiating structure.

Page 80

Negative Reactions

Most administrators at one time or another will encounter unavoidable negative reactions when they attempt to exercise authority. In order for administrators to address negative responses effectively, they must first recognize that such responses may take a variety of forms. In Peabody’s study of an elementary school faculty, nine different types of negative responses were identified that could result when administrative authority is perceived as unreasonable.

1. The teachers may consciously question the order but accept it as binding. 2. The teachers may inform the administrator of their views and seek to be converted to the

administrator’s point of view while complying with the order. 3. The teachers may discuss the situation with the administrator and try to work for change

while complying with the order. 4. The teachers may attempt to gain support for their contrary views by appealing to

coworkers. 5. The teachers may go around their superior and try to gain the support of those above in

the hierarchy or people from the outside. 6. The teachers may discuss the order, but ignore, evade, or try to modify it while seeming

to comply. 7. The teachers may ignore, evade, or try to modify the order without discussing it. 8. The teachers may openly reject the order. 9. The teachers may transfer or resign.

The type of negative reaction that teachers display toward the exercise of administrative authority would undoubtedly depend on many situational factors. In most circumstances, subordinates are unlikely to reject openly the exercise of administrative authority or resign because of it, unless the authority has been exercised in an extremely arbitrary or capricious manner. Staff members may react to what they perceive as the unreasonable exercise of authority by responding in one or more of the first seven ways identified in Peabody’s study.

Responding to Negative Reactions to Authority

When encountering a negative reaction to the exercise of authority, an administrator should first attempt to diagnose the reasons why it is occurring. This approach may not be the initial predisposition of many administrators when they encounter a negative reaction to the exercise of their authority. Instead, they may become upset or defensive and try to impose their authority on those reacting negatively. An administrator who attempts the latter may believe the power exists to impose authority, but, as discussion in the next section will make clear, an administrator’s power is limited and should always be verified before it is used. Although to some extent these emotions are normal and understandable, the thoughtful administrator will quickly gain control over such tendencies and will try to avoid doing anything that might exacerbate the situation. The administrator should also try to understand the reasons for a negative response to authority in order to be in a more knowledgeable position to take appropriate steps.

Also, it needs to be emphasized that the questioning or challenging of authority is not necessarily bad and can be instructive if its causes are understood. Although organizations (especially large bureaucracies) seldom encourage dissent and frequently do not tolerate it, a negative reaction to the exercise of authority may signal the inappropriate use or understanding of that authority.30 Teachers, one of the groups that will be a recipient of the administrator’s authority, frequently do not consider themselves to be subordinates or employees working for a superior, but as professionals whose expertise and autonomy must be respected.

Page 81

Diagnosing the Problem through Discussion

The key for an administrator who encounters a negative response to authority is to try to diagnose the causes of the reaction by first conferring with the parties involved. The initial inquiry should be along the line that “perhaps there has been a misunderstanding.” An effort should be made to avoid putting the other party on the defensive, and an attempt should be made to understand the other person’s frame of reference before explaining the administrator’s own position. In this kind of a situation, the use of concepts from “The Administrator as a Recipient of Communication” in Chapter 4, along with concepts from Chapter 5, “Conflict Management,” will be very important.

Examining How Authority Is Exercised

If a negative reaction to the exercise of authority persists, the administrator will then need to make a judgment about whether the authority was appropriately exercised. Boucher offers administrators the following suggestions for giving criticism in a way that motivates others to do

a better job: (1) See yourself as helping someone improve—you are now a teacher or coach, (2) express sincere concern as you share ways for this individual to be more successful, (3) choose the right moment to offer criticism, (4) drop the word “should” from this conversation (“shoulds” make you appear pedantic and rigid), (5) make a conscious effort to avoid appearing that you are more interested in achieving compliance than in helping the other person improve, (6) discuss how the person will grow and benefit from following the suggestions you are making, (7) be specific—vagueness creates anxiety and doubt, which often makes the situation worse, and (8) be prepared to receive criticism yourself—you’ll be perceived as a credible source.

Dealing with Insubordination

Before judging whether authority was aptly exercised, the administrator may want to consult with superiors, as well as examine school board policies, the master contract, and any other sources that are used as a basis for exercising authority. If the basis for the administrator’s exercise of authority is sound and if the original objective sought is still desirable and attainable, the administrator should insist that the authority of the administrator be obeyed. No administrator should permit the reasonable exercise of legitimate authority to be ignored, evaded, or rejected. Such responses to the exercise of legitimate authority represent possible insubordination and, if permitted, could weaken the authority base of an administrator and could lead to more widespread noncompliance.

Page 82

The administrator should keep written, dated documentation of the initial negative reaction to the exercise of authority and of all subsequent meetings, contacts, correspondence, and reactions between the administrator and others involved in the situation. An excellent monograph that provides further guidelines to preparing needed documentation has been published by the National Organization on Legal Problems of Education and is entitled A Documentation System for Teacher Improvement or Termination.

Insubordination and its variants under applicable state employment laws defy exactitude and uniformity. Nevertheless, the odds tend to favor school districts as long as administrators resist knee-jerk reactions and document repeated efforts to be clear, reasonable, and diligent in their directives and the teacher’s intentional noncompliance.

Gaining Compliance from Resisters

The specific steps that an administrator should take to gain compliance from those who are resisting or evading the exercise of authority will undoubtedly vary according to the circumstances. When continued opposition is likely, given the results of an initial conference

with the parties involved, the administrator will want to confer with superiors to obtain their ideas and support of certain courses of action. Also, the legality of proposed administrative actions and due process requirements need to be clearly understood and followed. In most cases, unless the negative response to authority is extreme, it will be better for the administrator to begin insisting on compliance with authority gradually by conferring again with the parties involved. At this second meeting, the administrator should make sure that whoever is resisting or evading the directive fully understands the possible implications of such actions. Before the meeting is over, if the continued reaction of the other party is negative, then the administrator should explicitly state expectations. If the reaction continues to be negative, then the administrator should issue a written warning to the other party that disciplinary action will be taken if compliance is not forthcoming by a certain date. Before writing this letter, the administrator should consult with superiors and obtain legal guidance. At some point, stronger negative sanctions may need to be used, including recommended disciplinary measures or even dismissal of an employee if compliance cannot be obtained. While an administrator should want people to accept the administrator’s legitimate authority and carry out the directives cooperatively, in the final analysis, when people are reacting negatively, there must be compliance.

Guidelines for Exercising Authority Successfully

There are no doubt numerous specific reasons why people question, challenge, or resist authority, some of which were discussed in Chapter 2, “Decision Making.” Chester Barnard indicated in his analysis of the authority problem in organizations that a person can and will accept authority when four conditions prevail: when the individual understands the order, when there is a belief that the order is consistent with the perception of the purposes of the organization, when there is a belief that the order is in the individual’s own personal interest, and when the individual is mentally and physically able to comply with the order.

Page 83

Based on Barnard’s concept of the prerequisites for compliance with authority, it would appear that administrators should keep in mind the following guidelines in issuing directives or orders:

1. In deciding on the need for a directive and in its formulation, presentation, and execution, administrators should consider how the order will affect the recipients personally, recognizing that people are likely to question or resist directives that they feel are not in their best interest.

2. Administrators should consider the strengths and limitations of those who will be expected to implement a directive. They should avoid issuing orders to people who lack the necessary motivation, skill, or training to carry out.

3. They should explain thoroughly the rationale behind each directive and its relationship to the goals of the organization. They should not assume that people understand the reasons for an order or that people will necessarily see the logic or value of an order.

4. They should leave room for modifying the original order or its method of implementation. Flexibility and a willingness to compromise when appropriate are key factors in exercising administrative authority successfully.

5. They should issue only those directives they are relatively sure either will be obeyed or can be enforced if resisted. Orders that cannot be enforced in one situation weaken the administrator’s authority for successfully issuing orders in other circumstances.

Although some administrators and supervisors may be reluctant to exercise authority, particularly in light of the human relations and empowerment emphasis in school administration and challenges by various groups to administrative authority, it should be clear that if the administrator is to perform assigned responsibilities effectively and work with others in the improvement of the organization and the achievement of its goals, it may be necessary to utilize authority. The use of authority is an inescapable aspect of an administrator’s job. The important question, then, is not whether authority should be exercised, but how and in what circumstances. The preceding and the following discussion should be helpful to an administrator in answering that question.

ADMINISTRATIVE POWER

Although many administrators and even some theorists use the terms authority and power interchangeably, these concepts differ in both function and implications. The successful use of administrative authority is based first on the willingness of subordinates to comply with an administrator’s expectations and second on the fact that the authority being exercised has been granted by one or more of the sources in Figure 3.1. When these two conditions are adequately met, an administrator does not need power. Power represents the “capacity or potential for effecting desired results in one or more persons that would not have otherwise occurred.” According to this definition, administrators possess legitimate power if they can get people to do what the administrators want them to do, even when people resist or refuse to accept authority in a certain situation.

Page 84

Power as Securing Compliance versus Power as Empowerment

The traditional compliance model of power has been replaced with concepts of personal and collective empowerment. In regard to the latter, power is viewed as the ability to predict the consequences of one’s actions in complex situations as well as the ability to maintain individual

control over one’s feelings and behaviors. The administrator or supervisor serves primarily as the catalyst or charismatic leader who prompts individuals to transform themselves at the same time they transform the social environment. Beaven suggests that more attention needs to be focused on those who actually change themselves; on their response to leader control; and on the phenomenon known as charismatic, transformational leadership.

Types of Power

What types of power are available to an administrator? Several theorists have proposed somewhat useful paradigms to answer this question. For example, Etzioni advanced the proposition that there are three general kinds of power: (1) coercive power (e.g., suspending an employee), (2) remunerative power (e.g., control over resources), and (3) normative power (e.g., control over prestige). Parsons has identified four types of power or influence, using the terms interchangeably: (1) persuasion, (2) inducement, (3) activation of commitment (e.g., use of negative sanctions to influence another person’s intentions), and (4) deterrence (e.g., negative sanctions to control a situation). Furthermore, French and Raven, in what is probably the most elaborate proposed model of power, have suggested six types of power. Reward power: Capacity to provide rewards, such as higher salary or better assignment. Coercive power: Capacity to provide punishment or negative consequences, such as teacher dismissal. Legitimate power: Power derived from a position or a set of formal relationships. Referent power: Tendency of other individuals to be attracted by and to identify closely with the administrator. Expert power: Special knowledge or skill, for example, supervision, scheduling, or group Informational power: Ability to control the flow of information that is needed to get things done

Table 3.1 presents examples of the six types of social power identified by French and Raven.

Paul Hersey and Walter Natemeyer have developed a Power Perception Profile instrument to assess why someone responds to another’s attempts to exercise power. They expanded French and Raven’s five power types into seven, adding connection power based on the perception that the supervisor has relationships with influential people inside or outside the organization and information power based upon the leader’s possession of or access to information perceived as valuable to others. This latter power base is important to others because they need this information or want to be “in on things.”

Page 85

Also, Buhler stresses the importance of recognizing that power is not unilateral but is generally shared and distributed. Teachers, for example, hold a great deal of potential power in the degree of compliance and in their willingness to comply. Buhler further believes that “most employees throughout the organization have the ability to make their boss look bad.” This important political element can often be overlooked by the principal. There is also power in terms of whom teachers are aligned with and the great loyalty they have for these individuals. For example, in business, when a senior executive leaves the company, a whole group generally follows. In school systems, administrators and teachers may not have the flexibility to follow their superior immediately, but the information and communication network of loyal past employees is nevertheless powerful and influential. People tend to group together in order to achieve and sustain power. Particularly in educational settings, power should be used, when possible, as a shared resource.

Power Sharing and Teacher Empowerment

Power sharing encourages teachers, principals, department chairs, counselors, and other staff at all levels of the school to be involved in decision making without feeling coerced or manipulated. A study on empowering teachers at the elementary school level found personal power of the principal who incorporated referent, information, and expert subordinate perception bases is highly valued by teachers. Teachers, however, resent principals who falsely see themselves as relying on personal power when, in fact, they use positional power bases such as reward, coercion, connection, and legitimate authority. Connection power, through which the principal has a personal relationship with influential people inside or outside school, could be a source of personal power as well. Yet teachers in this same study tended to “devalue their principals’ connections as being part of an old boy’s network. They resented the fact that their principals with connections spent a good deal of time away from the schools.”44 Accessibility is an important quality in effective leadership.

“Giving teachers greater power is a major way to make them more professional and to improve their performance.” Teachers should have an impact on policy decisions and should work in a

collegial relationship, “sharing power” with administrators. Through this relationship, principals become facilitators of school goals, empowering teachers and allowing them to generate their own ideas. This, in turn, gives more dignity to the profession of teaching. As teachers become more empowered, they will have to accept the burden of responsibility. Whereas in the past teachers could “blame the administrators for problems,” this blame should decline as teacher empowerment increases. In order to empower teachers and expect them to be successful in carrying out their responsibilities, they must be educated and trained in the skills necessary for appropriate decision making.

Page 86

Power and Perception

In examining the various conceptualizations of power, a question could be raised about whether, in some cases, the concepts that the theorists are presenting should not more properly be characterized as sources or types of social influence rather than power. Types of “power,” such as control of prestige, persuasion, and referent and reward power, seem to represent sources of influence rather than sources of, or types of, power (more will be said later about influence). It is difficult to see how these types of power could be used to force someone to comply with authority if the person was determined to resist it.

RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT

How Men and Women Use Influence in the Workplace

A leader’s success often depends on his or her ability to gain the cooperation and support of others. A recent questionnaire of 223 leaders (116 men, 107 women) found the following:

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GENDERS

Of the four most effective influencing tactics—reasoning, inspiring, consulting and collaborating—men and women use reasoning and collaborating to the same extent. There are, however, some significant differences regarding the two other core tactics—inspiring and consulting. Women tend to use inspiring more frequently than men, especially with colleagues and direct reports. Women also use consulting more frequently than men with bosses and with their direct reports. Here are some other important findings from the research:

● Women use apprising significantly more with direct reports. Men use apprising when influencing their bosses.

● Men could benefit from using consulting more often with their direct reports, especially when they have authority to make a change but need others to help them implement it. However, women may be using this influencing style too often with their bosses.

● Women use recognizing (using praise or flattery) significantly more than men when influencing their colleagues and direct reports.

● Women use legitimizing (significantly more than men when influencing colleagues.

TIPS FOR MAXIMIZING INFLUENCE

Both men and women use collaborating and consulting to the same extent with colleagues. Additionally, men and women use pressure to the same degree. Leaders can use the following tips to maximize their influence:

● Don’t consider gender. The gender of the influencer and person being influenced has no effect on whether influencing attempts are successful. To be successful, the influencer must know the person he or she is trying to influence.

● Don’t rely on reasoning. Reasoning works best when used with other influencing tactics. If you’re going to use reasoning, be sure to talk about the benefits of what you’re pitching, not just the facts.

● Build a solid the foundation. The trust and relationship you have with the person you’re influencing play a vital role in how successful you are. However, many influencers fail to take time to build trust within teams. Having this relationship in place ahead of time helps you build credibility with the person so you don’t have to rely on a single influencing tactic.

Page 87

If a subordinate is determined to resist an administrator’s authority, the only effective type of power may be coercive power, defined as “the capacity to force people to do something against their will.” It needs to be emphasized, however, that most school administrators are quite limited in their possession of coercive power. By and large, this kind of power is based on the backing of an administrator’s superiors; it may also need to be validated by some outside agency—for example, the courts—if the legality of the use of power is challenged. To complicate matters, the basis for the use of coercive power is frequently vague and often not predictable or dependable. For instance, seldom will an administrator find in school board policies or in a job description any discussion of the right to use coercive means to gain compliance from employees. This type of power is rarely made explicit and is usually, at most, implied.

On the other hand, an administrator may be able to achieve initial compliance from others or overcome resistance to the exercise of authority as a result of other people’s perception of the administrator’s coercive power. Three perceptual conditions, however, must be present: Others must perceive the administrator as possessing a certain kind of coercive power. They must perceive this power as something that they definitely would like to avoid. They must perceive the administrator as ready to use coercive power if compliance is not forthcoming.

Page 88

If, for example, a teacher believed that a principal could and would use punishment in some way for the teacher’s failure to monitor the corridor when students are passing between classes, and if the teacher wanted to avoid that punishment, then the teacher would probably comply with the administrator’s expectations. In this case, the perception is more important than the reality. If a subordinate perceives that an administrator possesses coercive power, then the subordinate will act on that perception, irrespective of whether the administrator possesses that power. As Wheeless and his colleagues point out, “People act not on the basis of the situation but on the basis of their perceptions about the situation. … It makes no difference, for example, if the agent [administrator] making a threat has the ability to carry out that threat. If the [individual or group] being threatened perceive[s] such an ability, the agent has power.”

WINDOW ON DIVERSITY

Power and Privilege

Take a look at the video “Power, Privilege, and Oppression” and then consider how a school leader wields his/her power. Watch the following video, “Power, Privilege, and Oppression” https://youtu.be/LTDikx-maoM

Nevertheless, it is important for an administrator to understand that coercive power is most effective when it is not used, but when it is believed that it would be exercised and supported if compliance were not forthcoming. The more an administrator has to resort to the use of coercive power in order to gain compliance, the greater the possibility of exposing its limited or inadequate basis, thereby exacerbating a situation, or resulting in some other unanticipated consequence. Although certain circumstances may warrant the use of coercive power, in most situations the administrator should utilize other means, such as dependence upon personal power, for gaining compliance and, especially, cooperation.

The appropriate exercise of personal power is one of the means of obtaining higher levels of teacher satisfaction and cooperation. Empowerment through the use of personal power gives teachers a sense of ownership, raises their level of self-esteem, and increases participatory decision making and communication. Ross and Webb determined in their study of an elementary school how shared decision making taught administrators and faculty members how to share power and thus provide a better learning environment for their students. Other means that administrators can use for gaining cooperation fall under the category of influence, to be discussed next.

Page 89

POWER AND INFLUENCE

Most of the kinds of power identified above would seem to represent types of influence rather than power. Power, of course, can be and has been defined broadly by a number of theorists. Kotter aptly notes that inherent in every position in an organization is a certain degree of power, and individuals have the potential either to enhance or to decrease the power of their position by the behavior they display. When power is defined broadly, such a definition (and sometimes the mere use of the term) can inadvertently mislead an administrator into thinking there is more capacity to bring about change than the administrator possesses in certain situations. Unquestionably, power and influence are closely related on a theoretical basis; however, little research exists about the effects of a leader’s influence-seeking behaviors on subordinate perceptions of leader effectiveness in an organizational context. Specific descriptive theory and valid empirical research on possible linkages between perceived leader behavior and attributions of power have been virtually nonexistent. One exception in recent years is the research of Rice and her colleagues, in which the power and leadership practices of school superintendents were studied according to the perceptions of both leaders (principals) and followers (teacher association representatives).

TYPES OF INFLUENCE

Influence, when compared to power, seems to be a more positive concept and more in line with the realities of organizational life for most school administrators. Influence can be defined as “the ability of an [administrator] without recourse to force or legitimation, to affect another’s behavior.” Influence is the shaping of decisions through “informal and nonauthoritative means.” It differs from authority in that (1) many people can influence a decision whereas only one person has final authority, (2) influence may be distributed unequally, whereas authority is usually distributed equally, and (3) authority is top-down management, whereas influence is multidirectional.61 An example of multidirectional influence is described by Bredesen, who was able to use his influence to involve upper elementary and middle school students in a community

service project that would have been reserved for high school students. As the principal of a school and a member of the board of directors for a historical society, he was in an ideal position to convince the school board that the habit of community service needed to be established in students before the pressures of their high school years. Working with teachers and the local museum personnel, he was able to implement a successful summer service program for students that reinforced the classroom instruction of local history.

An administrator has influence if other individuals or groups can be persuaded to comply with the administrator’s expectations, despite their ambivalence or objections. In light of the limitations of power and considering the periodic challenges to authority that most administrators will experience during their careers, it would appear that the concept of influence offers a positive and constructive alternative basis for many administrative actions.

If the administrator is to exert influence successfully, the administrator’s actions must be based on some factor that will persuade people to act in accordance with the administrator’s decisions or directives. Successful implementation of directives will, in large measure, be contingent upon the perception of the individual receiving the directive from the administrator.

Furthermore, utilizing (with minor modification) French and Raven’s concepts, it would appear that administrators may be able to exert influence based on other people’s identification with them (referent influence), their ability to obtain rewards (reward influence), or their perception of administrators’ expertise as educational leaders (expert influence).

Page 90

Referent Influence

The identification of other individuals or groups with the administrator as a person is the basis for the referent influence of an administrator. An administrator who possesses certain qualities, such as an attractive personality, a strong character, or a charismatic leadership style, may be successful in securing the cooperation of other people as a result of their identification with these characteristics. Even if teachers, parents, or students question the decisions or policies set forth by an administrator, they may oblige, simply because they react positively to the personal qualities the administrator possesses.

There is considerable observational evidence that people will respond favorably to an administrator’s attempt to influence them as a result of their identification with the individual. Administrators in business and government, as well as in education, have found it possible to secure the cooperation of others, in spite of objections to a particular policy or action, because of their positive feelings about the administrator. There is little doubt that the identification by

others with the administrator can be a powerful basis for influencing them if the administrator possesses the requisite personal characteristics.

One problem with referent influence is that research has not conclusively established the kinds of personal characteristics with which people identify positively. It appears that not all people respond the same way to particular personal characteristics. Qualities that one group may find attractive or charismatic might be perceived by other individuals or groups as undesirable. For example, ingratiation, acting friendly toward another, or flattering another may be enjoyed by some employees but be seen as a sign of weakness by others. Consequently, there is no single pattern of personal attributes that can be recommended without qualification to the administrator for all situations. A study by Hoy and Kupersmith suggests, however, that administrator “authenticity” could be very important. In addition, a study by Johnston and Venable suggests that an administrator’s style in administering personnel rules may be significantly related to the degree of loyalty that teachers feel toward the administrator.

Another important limitation of referent influence is the fact that its potential is largely determined by factors over which most administrators have little or no control. By the time a person becomes an administrator, personality and leadership style are usually already developed. Therefore, if the administrator does not currently possess the kinds of personal characteristics with which people identify, the likelihood of developing them is not great. Although an administrator can often improve personal traits, the task is not an easy one, and change is frequently slow. Despite these obstacles, it would be in the best interest of any administrator to improve personal qualities and leadership style so that greater referent influence can be exercised (see Chapter 1, “Leadership”).

Reward Influence

A second kind of influence an administrator may be able to utilize in persuading people to adhere to the administrator’s wishes is reward influence. This type of influence is based on the administrator’s actual or perceived possession of certain rewards that can be distributed to those who comply. Examples of these rewards range from a better work schedule to greater administrative receptivity and accommodation to the recommendations and special needs of certain individuals or groups.

Page 91

Reward Distribution Issues

Unfortunately, it would appear that most administrators do not possess a great deal of influence based on rewards, since they frequently find themselves in a position where they cannot

distribute to one individual or group any rewards that do not need to be distributed equally to other individuals or groups. Unlike executives in private enterprise, educational administrators can seldom selectively reward their employees according to merit or increased productivity. They may occasionally be able to offer a reward to one individual or group without having to give similar recognition to other involved individuals or groups, but this possibility does not occur often. In education, preferential treatment seems to be regarded with suspicion, and students, teachers, and parents are alert to situations in which the administrator seems to be favoring one individual or group over another.

Limited Resources

There is also a problem that only a limited number of rewards are available to most administrators to utilize in influencing other people. School board policy, bureaucratic regulations, the nature of public control over resources, and teacher, student, and parent militancy are factors that tend to restrict the number and importance of rewards available to an administrator.

Alternative Rewards

This does not mean that the administrator possesses no reward influence or that it should not be utilized. There are some administrators who, over the years, have been able to develop a wide variety of rewards. For example, in discussing the behavior of one principal who attempted to use reward influence, Cusick pointed out that “because he administered the schedule, additional assignments, and unallocated resources, he controlled just those things that many teachers wanted in order to fill out their fields. The principal could award a department chairperson with a free period, a favorite class, a double lunch period, an honors section, or support for a new activity.” Another practical alternative reward is “modeling.” Blase and Kirby found that teachers reported that modeling influences their behavior to be consistent with the principal’s expectations. One teacher stated “many of the principals’ requests might be viewed as beyond the call of duty, but because of the principal’s modeling, they seem to be a part of the job.” These teachers reported that this type of influence made them feel “comfortable,” “proud,” “aware,” and “positive.” Given this, Henry Griffith, an elementary school principal, demonstrates how a leader’s power and influence can be used to enhance school improvement. Under his guidance, the faculty wrote and received a grant for $25,000 a year for five years. The faculty was able to use the grant-writing experience to gain ownership of the ideas Griffith wanted to incorporate, while enjoying not only the benefits of the money but also an enhanced self-respect and collegiality among themselves.

Positive Reinforcement as a Reward

In addition to control over resources, a school administrator has available a simple but frequently overlooked source of rewards: positive reinforcement. This can, for example, take the form of oral and/or written appreciation to a person who volunteers for an activity, praise for a job well done, a commendation for a significant effort to improve, or some other type of reward. Although most school administrators may believe that they are already utilizing this potential source of influence sufficiently, there is evidence to the contrary.

Page 92

To be effective in influencing behavior, positive reinforcement must be directly linked to the specific effort or performance that warrants the reinforcement. For example, the school administrator who gives praise indiscriminately or who does not clearly relate the delivery of praise to the production of a certain type of behavior is not likely to be successful in influencing others with positive reinforcement. In addition, unless the kind of positive reinforcement used by a school administrator is valued by its recipient, the latter’s behavior is unlikely to be influenced. Consequently, to be effective in using positive reinforcement, the school administrator needs to become knowledgeable about the reward predisposition of the people to be influenced. Fuqua and colleagues refer to the importance of “rewarding people for their accomplishments, contributions, and ideas,” inviting people to participate in decision making, and giving credit where credit is due. Leaders who empower, according to these authors, are leaders who “reward people who generate the greatest impact toward organizational goals, rewarding results rather than processes.”

Hierarchical Influence as a Reward

An administrator perceived as someone who has influence with superiors may also be able to exert reward influence with teachers. Such influence can be manifested in at least two important ways: by securing additional resources from the district that subordinates need and by being an effective advocate and supporter of subordinates in their interactions with the district office. This type of hierarchical influence has received some research support and represents a frequently overlooked source of rewards that an administrator may be able to generate for subordinates. For two interesting studies of the techniques that people use to try to exert upward influence, see Schmidt and Kipnis and Schilit and Locke.

Although it is important for an administrator to make maximal use of whatever resources or reward influence exists, it should be understood that, in many situations, the administrator’s reward influence is not extensive, and there are significant constraints that may make it difficult to take advantage of this type of influence. Therefore, although an administrator should try to develop and use as many sources of rewards as possible, inasmuch as there are limitations to

administrative influence based on rewards, other sources of influence will be needed as well. Glinow has written a provocative article on reward strategies that speaks to this issue.

Expertise as a Basis of Influence

Although the foregoing discussion of referent and reward influence has emphasized the personal and situational limitations of these bases for administrative action, there is one source of administrative influence that potentially would seem to offer the administrator a truly viable basis upon which to gain the cooperation of others. That source is expertise, that is, specialized knowledge or skill.

Page 93

Empirical support for the primacy of this source of administrative influence was furnished in a study by Horstein. He discovered, in an investigation of 325 teachers who worked in 14 different schools in two school districts, that the most important factor associated with teacher satisfaction and high evaluation of principal leadership was the principal’s tendency to base attempts to influence teachers on possession of expertise, rather than on other sources of influence. Administrative attempts to influence teachers based on the possession of certain rewards for compliance were not associated with high teacher satisfaction or high evaluation of the administrator’s leadership. Referent identification as a source of influence was positively related to teacher satisfaction, but the relationship was not statistically significant. Horstein’s research also revealed that in those situations where the administrator based behavior on legitimate authority or coercive power, the faculty was not satisfied with this individual as a principal and did not give the principal a good evaluation as a leader.

While the data from Horstein’s investigation seem to suggest that an administrator can successfully influence teachers if the actions are based on expertise as a source of influence, there is other evidence that, regrettably, many administrators seem to lack expertise or are perceived by others as lacking expertise. The ability of administrators to manage a school or school district effectively and humanely has come under attack periodically through the years, and these criticisms have recently escalated with the emphasis on school accountability and on student, teacher, and parent demands for involvement in school decision making. For a further discussion on this problem, see Gorton and Thierbach-Schneider.

On the other hand, research on effective schools has demonstrated that principals with expertise can exert influence in their schools and that their leadership contributions are important to the success of these schools.81 In the area of instructional supervision, for example, Guditus and Zirkel found that “the influence of principals depends to a considerable degree on their possession of special knowledge and skills which enable them to help teachers achieve their

goals.”82 For example, principals could increase their influence on teachers by learning more about teaching and by visiting classrooms. “Managing by walking around may give administrators an opportunity to influence faculty and staff.”

The effectiveness of an administrator’s influence would also seem to depend on the extent to which attempts to influence others fall within the teachers’ zone of acceptance. See Clear and Seager, Kunz and Hoy, and Johnston and Mullins for further discussion of the relationship between the zone of acceptance and administrator influence.

Therefore, it would appear that one of the keys for an administrator’s successful exercise of influence is to assist teachers and relevant others to meet their goals and to help them relate those goals to the overall goals of the school and school district. This may require an administrator to develop greater expertise in instructional leadership, program development, student discipline, conflict resolution, working with groups, or some other type of special knowledge or skill that is needed. In many cases, an administrator may need to identify and deploy other people who possess special knowledge and skill that the administrator does not possess and would find difficult to develop. The important consideration is not who possesses the special knowledge or skill but that it be utilized to help the people associated with the school to become more effective.

By empowering teachers, the potential for effecting desired results can be enhanced. Futrell believes that if teachers were empowered to design and create their own professional development, it would improve their performance. For an administrator, improved student, staff, and school performance is the goal, and empowering teachers is a means to that goal.

In Yukl’s view of influence, he noted it as the effect, either intended or unintended, of one party (the agent) on another person’s (the target’s) attitudes, perceptions, behavior, or some combination of these outcomes. He suggests that 11 proactive tactics (Table 3.2) can be used for influence attempts with subordinates, peers, and superiors.

Page 94

Table 3.2

A FINAL NOTE

By the very nature of their positions in an organization, administrators will be assigned major responsibilities. In order to carry out those responsibilities successfully, authority, influence, and perhaps, in some cases, power must be exercised effectively. Appropriate understanding and use of the concepts presented in this chapter should help the administrator achieve these objectives.

Although most of the case studies, suggested learning activities, and simulations presented in Part II require the appropriate use of the ideas in this chapter on authority, power, and influence, the following exercises should provide the best opportunities for testing understanding and effective use of authority, power, and influence concepts: Cases 20, 27, 28, 30, 37, 38, 49, and 62, and the midyear and end-of-the-year in-basket exercises.

Chapter 6: Organizational Culture

APPLICABLE PSEL STANDARDS*, †

▪ Standard 1: Mission, Vision, and Core Values Effective educational leaders develop, advocate, and enact a shared mission, vision, and core values of high-quality education and academic success and well-being of each student. ▪ Standard 3: Equity and Cultural Responsiveness Effective educational leaders strive for equity of educational opportunity and culturally responsive practices to promote each student’s academic success and well-being. ▪ Standard 7: Professional Community for Teachers and Staff Effective educational leaders foster a professional community of teachers and other professional staff to promote each student’s academic success and well-being. ▪ Standard 9: Operations and Management Effective educational leaders manage school operations and resources to promote each student’s academic success and well-being.

Scholars have long been interested in the social factors that seem to influence individual or group behavior in an organization.1 A classic example of this focus was the Western Electric studies in the 1930s that found employees develop a set of implicit group norms that influence, and in some cases restrict, the levels of performance for an individual in a group.2 Another example is provided in Anderson and Poe’s more recent description of the entrepreneurial society created in certain companies in which employees work together with nothing less than a zeal to perform.3 Since the 1930s, there have been several studies of the types of social and professional norms that develop in a school,4 and research on effective schools has identified the culture of a school as an important effectiveness variable.5 The Education Commission of the States has found that quality learning experiences start with an organizational culture that values high expectations and respects diversity of talents and learning styles.6 Therefore, if school leaders desire to improve the morale and productivity of those they lead, it is imperative that they strive to understand and enhance the organizational culture of their school or school district. In the following sections the theory of organizational culture will be examined, especially as it relates to effective schools.

Page 161

MAJOR ELEMENTS OF ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

What is the organizational culture of a school, and how would an administrator recognize it? Any organization operates according to a set of values, goals, principles, procedures, and practices that help define what it is all about. Another word for these combined operating characteristics is “culture.” According to Smircich, who synthesized a number of ideas from other theorists, “Culture is usually defined as social or normative glue that holds an organization together. It expresses the values or social ideas and beliefs that organization members come to share.” Brighton and Sayeed describe culture as “the social energy that drives (or fails to drive) organizations” and that enables organizations “to survive the external environment and manage the internal environment.” For Peterson and Deal, “Culture is the underground stream of norms, values, beliefs, traditions, and rituals that has built up over time as people work together, solve problems, and confront challenges.” They emphasize that “this set of informal expectations and values shapes how people think, feel, and act in schools” and serves as a “highly enduring web of influence [that] binds the school together and makes it special.” Cunningham writes that effective school cultures are characterized by people “who have learned to trust and to share as well as to accept other’s needs to trust and share.”

Halpin’s research has shown that schools differ in their cultures and that those cultures have an impact on students. To illustrate, he writes:

In one school the teachers and the principal are zestful and exude confidence in what they are doing. They find pleasure in working with each other; this pleasure is transmitted to students. … In a second school the brooding discontentment of teachers is palpable; the principal tries to hide his incompetence and lack of direction behind a cloak of authority. … And the psychological sickness of such a faculty spills over on the students who, in their own frustration, feedback to teachers a mood of despair. A third school is marked by neither joy nor despair, but by hollow ritual. … In a strange way the show doesn’t seem “for real.”

Whether or not schools differ in their organizational cultures, conceptually every organizational culture seems to be composed of several elements, depicted in Figure 6.1.12

Values and Ideals

As Figure 6.1 indicates, an administrator’s analysis of a school’s organizational culture should begin with developing a good understanding of the values and ideals that the school represents.13 The basic question to be asked is, “What kinds of behavior are valued in this school, and what does the school aspire to become?” (It will be important for an administrator to distinguish between those values and ideals given only lip service by the people who are associated with the school and those on which their behavior is based.)

Page 162

Norms

The values and ideals of a school may be difficult to ascertain, but they usually will be reflected in its norms. Norms, according to Josefowitz, are “the unwritten rules stating what people should and should not do.” They serve the purpose of regulating and controlling behavior. An example of a desirable faculty norm would be, “Teachers should share ideas about how to improve instruction.”

Norms, it should be emphasized, are not values that an administrator can impose on a group. For example, faculty and staff come to school with personal value systems. Organizational values are then communicated to the individual through rules and processes. Shockley-Zalabak and Morley’s research demonstrates that when organizational rules and personal values are congruent, an individual is more satisfied with the job and projects high estimations of organizational quality and success. Consequently, as Miller points out, “Any lasting change of a school will occur only because the staff itself changes norms of expectations, appropriate role definitions, standards of accountability, and patterns of behavior.”

Expectations

The expectations of an organizational culture are the norms applied to a specific situation. For example, “Bob Elliott, an experienced sixth-grade teacher, should be willing to share his expertise with Julie Adams, a new sixth-grade teacher” is a specific expression of the faculty norm presented previously. In another situation, “Dr. Brown, the principal, should support Mr. Armstrong’s attempts to discipline a student” represents an expectation based on a faculty norm that maintains, “The principal should always support the teachers, right or wrong.” Although it is important for an administrator to become aware of the expectations of others as part of understanding the culture of the school, an administrator must also evaluate the merits of those expectations before deciding to meet them. For example, for a school to become more effective, it may require that teachers expend effort and time beyond the normal workday, and

improvement may require a focus on teaching reasoning and analytical skills, with a reduced emphasis on skills that are easier to teach.

Page 163

Sanctions

Expectations, if they are to be effective in shaping the behavior of the people associated with the school, must carry sanctions. These sanctions represent the means by which an organization or group tries to bring about compliance with its expectations. The sanctions may be negative or positive, and they may be exercised formally or informally. They can range from a punitive action to personal recognition and reward. The extent to which an organization or group possesses significant sanctions will determine the degree to which it can maintain conformity of behavior on the part of its members.

For example, an administrator may decide to instruct teachers to hold conferences before the end of the grading period with any students who receive a D or an F. In this situation the administrator is counting on the cooperation of the staff to carry out the directive. A majority of the faculty may feel that holding these conferences will take too much time, however, so they decide to ignore the administrator’s directive. Unless the administrator possesses adequate monitoring procedures for detecting a lack of follow-through on the part of the faculty, the principal may never discover that the policy on teacher–student conferences is not being carried out. If the failure to comply with the instruction is discovered, the principal may not be able to do anything about it unless the administrator can persuade the teachers of the desirability of these conferences or possesses adequate sanctions to force them to adhere to the directive, despite their lack of voluntary cooperation.

The noncompliance of an individual or group ordinarily does not take the form of a direct challenge to the administrator. Instead, resistance is usually expressed by underachievement or lack of implementation in response to the administrator’s expectations. As U.S. President Harry Truman observed in recalling the problems of the presidency, the executive may say, “Do this! Do that!” and yet find, to his chagrin, that “nothing will happen.” Often the reason for the lack of follow-through is that the subordinates in the hierarchy have concluded that the action desired by the administrator is either not in their best interest or not in the best interest of the institution—so they have ignored the instructions. As a result, the implementation of administrative policy is completely delayed or thwarted.

Communication through Symbolism

The expectations and sanctions of a school or a group associated with a school may be communicated directly, or they may be expressed indirectly through symbolic activity. As Morgan and his colleagues note, “Many organizations consciously attempt to create complex symbol systems which are intended to signify the desirability of engaging in rigorous patterns of rational, instrumental, and pragmatic action. Symbols [reinforce] the pursuit of excellence, achievement, aggressiveness, competitiveness, and intense commitment to organizational ends.” An organization’s symbolic activity, according to Smircich, may take different forms, including storytelling about important events, such as how an organization faced up to a particular challenge; group rituals, such as the annual banquet at which awards of recognition are presented; or organizational slogans, such as “excellence is our goal.”

Page 164

Symbolic Activity through Behavioral Example

Symbolic activity can also be found in the behavior of an administrator. For example, the principal who would like to show support of a “reading break” program and encourage teachers to support the program can certainly communicate these feelings and expectations at a faculty meeting. If the administrator does so, and yet is never seen reading a book during the reading break and does not use negative sanctions against teachers who fail to participate in the program, this constitutes a stronger message to the faculty about the principal’s attitude than any comments made at a faculty meeting. On the other hand, if the principal is regularly observed reading a book in classrooms, this nonverbal behavior is likely to send a symbolic message to teachers that will be more effective than anything that might be said at the meeting. The main impact of symbolic activity is not so much what is said as what can be inferred from the behavior of the people who are formal and informal leaders in an organization.

CULTURAL ELEMENTS OF AN EFFECTIVE SCHOOL

“Organizational culture and the symbols which are a part of this culture are not politically neutral but represent levels of power and control,” write Reilly and DiAngelo.23 Blanch studied culture as a control mechanism. Her research indicates that four core values define school culture: (1) cooperative community–parent relationships, (2) cooperative teacher relationships, (3) student needs, and (4) principals as cultural transmitters. Her research further demonstrates that strong congruence of “group sensemaking” with school values indicates culture is a strong control mechanism. She suggests that schools should attempt to foster consensus and that principals should act as consensus builders in the early stages of culture development dominated by indirect strategies. Direct strategies are diluted to minimize divisiveness, and “principal/teacher

sensemaking acts as a gauge of cultural controls,” according to the author. Her research implies that strong cultural control impedes change, neglects instruction, and ultimately affects achievement.

A Positive Organizational Culture

Earlier studies tended to focus on the negative influence that the culture of an organization could exert on the achievement and behavior of the individuals or groups associated with the organization. Researchers have recently emphasized the importance of developing and maintaining a positive organizational culture, however, if a school is to be effective. For example, Purkey and Smith have concluded that “an academically effective school is distinguished by its culture: a structure, process, and climate of values and norms that channel staff and students in the direction of successful teaching and learning.”

But what kind of an organizational culture best promotes successful teaching and learning? While scholars continue to pursue this question, research has produced some tentative findings that suggest a number of major elements of the culture of an effective school, as shown in Figure 6.2. Snyder and Snyder indicate that changing organizational culture through a systems thinking approach is based on “organizational planning, developing staff, developing a program, and assessing school productivity.” With this model, schools will more easily effect change and improve the instructional environment.

Page 165

Emphasis on Academic Effort and Achievement

An examination of Figure 6.2 shows that the organizational culture of an academically effective school includes a set of schoolwide norms stressing academic effort and accomplishment. Although other kinds of effort and achievement, such as developing ethical behavior, may also be important to parents and students, the research on effective schools stresses that the norms of an academically effective school will give the highest priority to academic effort and achievement.28 These norms may be reflected in an organization’s mission statement, educational goals, or other documents. Regardless of how the norms manifest themselves, Saphier and King underscore the point that norms should represent “a clear, articulated vision of what the school stands for, a vision that embodies core values and purposes.”

Since organizational norms are usually expressed in the form of expectations for the members of the organizations, what are the expectations for those associated with effective schools? In general, these expectations emphasize academic effort, improvement, and accomplishment. For example, “striving for excellence” would be one important expectation in an effective school. Saphier and King illustrate this emphasis by quoting a staff member, “In this school the teachers and administrators are held accountable for high performance. . . . While we [teachers and administrators] often feel under pressure to excel, we thrive on being part of a dynamic organization.”

Belief That All Students Can Achieve

A second important expectation for teachers in an effective school is adopting the attitude that all students are capable of achieving, and therefore that teachers should behave accordingly. In a study of effective inner-city elementary schools, Larkin found that “staff members verbally and behaviorally expressed the belief that all of their students could achieve, regardless of socioeconomic status or past academic performance.”

Page 166

Ongoing Faculty Development and Innovation

A third expectation characteristic of an effective school culture is that the faculty members should strive to improve themselves, in part by helping each other and in part through experimenting with different approaches. An example of this expectation, presented by Saphier and King, is, “In this school the professional staff help each other. … Around here we are encouraged by administrators and colleagues to experiment with new ideas and techniques because that is how teachers and schools improve. . . . We are always looking for more effective ways of teaching.”

A Safe and Orderly Learning Environment

A fourth major expectation associated with the culture of an effective school is that students and teachers will behave in ways contributing to a safe and orderly school environment. As Purkey and Smith point out, “Common sense alone suggests that students cannot learn in an environment that is noisy, distracting, or unsafe.” Edmonds found that in effective schools, a safe and orderly environment was established when “all teachers take responsibility for all students, all the time, everywhere in the school.” Moreover, in a study of several hundred schools, Wayson and Lasley discovered the following:

Schools with well-disciplined students have developed a sense of community, marked by mutually agreed upon behavioral norms; these norms surround students with examples of subtle rewards and sanctions that encourage students to behave appropriately.

How an Effective School Culture Benefits Students

Yale’s Child Study Center, through its Comer School Development Program, found that students improve in many areas, such as “self-efficacy, relationships with peers and adults, general mental health, achievement on standardized tests, and classroom grades.” Squires and Kranyik attribute this success to two reasons: The program supports change in the culture of the school and focuses on the child’s total development—social, moral, physical, and psychological. The Comer School program involves three teams—a parents’ program, the mental health team, and the school planning and management team—all working to bring key stakeholders together to coordinate school activities. All three teams are committed to the primary principles of no-fault problem solving, consensus decision making, and collaboration.

Although there may be other expectations associated with the culture of an effective school, it would appear that the ones described are the most important. Of course, these expectations will need to be communicated and reinforced, activities that usually occur in an effective school as a result of symbolic actions and sanctions.39 Such symbolic activity may, for example, take the form of a school slogan on the importance of learning, a school policy that students who fail a subject will not be allowed to participate in extracurricular activities, or a procedure requiring all students to make up their work, irrespective of the reason for their absence. In these examples a certain symbolic message is being communicated: “Academics are important!”

Both positive and negative sanctions will also be necessary to encourage the achievement of school expectations. Some administrators may be reluctant to use negative sanctions, such as those discussed in Chapter 3, “Authority, Power, and Influence,” but individuals or groups whose behavior conflicts with the ideals and values the administrator is trying to promote should not be

ignored. Of course, use of positive sanctions is preferable in encouraging adherence to organizational expectations. Several researchers have found that schools recognizing student accomplishment tend to have higher levels of achievement.40 In addition, the recognition and support of teachers are also characteristic of the culture of an effective school. For example, in another illustration presented by Saphier and King, it was observed, “Good teaching is honored in this school and community,” and, “Despite financial constraints, we have sabbaticals, summer curriculum workshops, and funds to attend professional conferences.”

Page 167

THE ADMINISTRATOR’S ROLE IN SCHOOL CULTURE

“The only thing of real importance that leaders do is to create and manage culture,” asserts Schein. The administrator’s role in regard to the organizational culture of a school is multifaceted. First, the administrator needs to develop and maintain an adequate understanding of the various elements of the school culture. Few new administrators are likely to assume they know the organizational culture of the school, but many experienced administrators may falsely assume that they already know their school culture because they have held a position in the school for several years. An organization’s culture is not a static entity, however, but is constantly changing and evolving. Figure 6.3 shows a number of major factors that can affect the nature of the organizational culture existing in a school.

By analyzing the factors identified in Figure 6.3, an administrator can take an important step toward better understanding how the present organizational culture has developed into what it is today and how it may be changing. To help achieve this understanding, the administrator should consider using one or more of the instruments that have been designed for assessing the organizational culture of a school. Although most of these instruments have been developed for the purpose of measuring the climate of a school (a broader concept), the data from such an assessment would also be valuable in understanding the organizational culture. Instruments that

would be useful for this objective include the Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire, the Elementary School Environment Survey, the Quality of School Life Questionnaire, and the Effective Schools Battery Survey. In addition, the National Association of Secondary School Principals has developed the Comprehensive Assessment and School Improvement, a climate instrument that appears to hold promise. These standardized instruments measure factors common to schools and typically have a high degree of validity and reliability. These instruments may not address the specific areas of interest of a particular administration, however. Rojewiski and his colleagues outline steps that may be used to develop an individualized school-climate survey.

Page 168 Enhancing School Culture

Once an administrator has attained a good understanding of the organizational culture of the school, the administrator will then, and only then, be in a position to try to enhance that culture if changes are needed. While most, if not all, administrators would probably like to develop an organizational culture that is characteristic of effective schools, trying to change an organizational culture, especially a school culture, will not be easy. Krajewski offers the following principles for modeling creative teaching and leadership behaviors that enhance school culture: (1) envision a future direction of collaboration, (2) clearly establish the connection between mission and practice by being an enthusiastic facilitator, meeting the needs of teachers and students, understanding the motivations of each employee, and promoting growth in all school personnel, (3) view problems as opportunities and focus on solutions, (4) be creative in stimulating good teaching practices, (5) think of others, (6) foster staff development, (7) create networks that decrease teacher isolation and promote professional sharing, and (8) stay focused on the most important outcome, student performance.

One problem is that schools, particularly secondary schools, are often referred to as “loosely coupled” organizations; that is, the authority and other bureaucratic linkages between the principal and the staff are often indirect. For example, an administrator may want teachers to emphasize more time on tasks in their classrooms and may, in fact, direct them to do so. But once the classroom doors are closed, a school administrator frequently has no adequate mechanism to enforce these wishes.

Subcultures and Countercultures

Moreover, although the discussion in this chapter, for the purpose of simplification, has referred to the organizational culture of a school as though it were a homogeneous entity, it is, in reality, more complicated than that. As Smircich has observed, “Much of the literature refers to an organizational culture, appearing to lose sight of the great likelihood as there are multiple

organization subcultures, or even countercultures, competing to define the nature of situations within organizational boundaries.” This type of condition is particularly characteristic of secondary schools with their different departments, orientations, and needs. It is conceivable that in a secondary school, each of the departments may have its own subculture, and, more important, many of the subcultures may not be compatible—and may be in conflict—with what the administrator would like to see as the overall organizational culture. Considering that students may also have their own subculture (or several of them), which may be in conflict with the other subcultures of the school, then the complexity and the difficulty of trying to change the organizational culture of the school become apparent. As Conway points out, “We are asking schools to restructure themselves and their culture, to go through an organizational learning of the most difficult type.”

Page 169

Promoting Values and Respecting Diversity

Rothstein states that issues involving class, culture, and race have influenced students for centuries and are gaining in importance with the increasing diversity of today’s society. Darling-Hammond cautions that more than ever before, the ability of America to survive as a democracy is dependent on public education preparing citizens to think independently and forge out common ground among many diverse experiences and ideas. Dietrich and Bailey note that facilitating students in discussion and expression of their points of view, as well as working in cooperative groups, is important to their social development and enforces a sense of community by fostering a cohesive environment in which to learn. Boyer believes that schools have the obligation not only to guide students into becoming literate and well informed but also to “help them develop the capacity to live responsibly and to judge wisely in matters of life and conduct.” He sees the crucial problem as deciding which values should be taught within the diversity of today’s society. He concludes that the following core of virtues might be agreed upon: honesty, respect, responsibility, compassion, self-discipline, perseverance, and giving.

“A school’s greatest impact occurs not in the formal lessons taught, but in creating a climate in which virtues are learned by example,” according to Boyer. For example, the character education program in Boston is centered around books that have been chosen for their treatment of specific character traits and values. In grades K–5 the values emphasized are trust, self-love, self-esteem, compassion, self-awareness, and justice. The skills taught are expressing one’s point of view, expressing and managing feelings, and resolving conflicts. In grade 6, the values emphasized are sharing, hope, and courage, and the skills taught are expressing someone else’s point of view, empathy, and compromise.

Kohn, on the other hand, voices concern about current character education programs and advocates that teachers facilitate student thinking about the way the students want themselves and others to be: “Students and teachers should decide together what they want their communities to be like, so students will understand values ‘from the inside out.’” The topic of character development in schools is a controversial issue that future administrators will need to address.

Challenges in Shaping School Culture

In spite of these complexities and difficulties, an administrator may be able, to a limited extent, to shape the organizational culture of the school or school district. Principals should remember, however, that combining “professional management with inspirational leadership and a collectivist culture” may lead to role conflicts and confusion. Based on an analysis of the social science and educational literature on organizational cultures, the following suggestions are offered.

Page 170

Clarity about Values and Ideals

First, an administrator needs to be clear about which values and ideals the school should be promoting. An administrator who has no notion of what an ideal school would look like will not be able to create policies for moving in a positive direction.65 Research by Hallinger indicates, “Principals can influence student learning by developing a clear mission that provides an instructional focus for teachers throughout the school.”66 Unfortunately, many administrators become bogged down in the everyday duties of managing a school and have not thought through what it is that their school should aspire toward. A basic question that needs to be answered is, “What should be the primary mission and goals of this school?”67 Obviously, the administrator should not be the only one who attempts to answer this question; teachers, students, and parents, among others, also need to be involved in order to gain deeper insights and commitment. The principal appears to play the major role, however, beyond that of parent, in developing a school climate of high expectations.68 If an administrator is not clear about what the school should stand for and should be aspiring toward, the administrator will be in a poor position to shape the organizational culture in a different direction. As Firestone and Wilson have emphasized, “The principal’s task and challenge is to develop a clear vision of the purposes of the school that give primacy to instruction and to carry it through consistently during those countless interactions with [important others].”

Shaping the Culture through Choice of Staff

Once an administrator has developed a clear vision of the “purpose” of the school, particular attention must be paid to the kinds of individuals recommended as future members of the faculty and to the people appointed to important leadership positions within the school. For example, every time an administrator has an opportunity to replace a member of the faculty, the potential exists for shaping the culture. Since the principal’s greatest influence may well be in the power “to recruit, select, promote, and demote staff members,” it may take years of this process for a principal to reshape the school’s culture. Hiring and retaining teachers who especially value experimentation, for example, will certainly make innovation or change easier to facilitate for principals. It is true that, in the instance of a single vacancy, there is little chance of hiring someone whose values and ideals are exactly what the administrator wants the organizational culture to reflect. The cumulative effect of selective hiring over a number of years, however, could potentially change the culture of a school in important ways. In the final analysis, the people associated with an organization are the major contributors to its culture. Their values and ideals are the building blocks of the group norms that greatly influence individual and group behavior. By emphasizing certain values and ideals in the hiring process, an administrator can shape the culture of an organization over a period of time.

Shaping the Culture through Formal Leadership Appointments

An administrator will also have an opportunity to shape the culture of the organization when making appointments of people to leadership positions within the organization. Periodically, an administrator will need to appoint a chairperson of a committee or select someone for an important position, for example, department head. In these situations, an administrator should take care to select or appoint people who will best represent the organizational values and ideals that the administrator is trying to promote. By selecting such individuals, the administrator will not only obtain people who share a commitment to certain organizational priorities but, perhaps more important, be communicating symbolically to others in the school those values and ideals the administrator thinks are important for people to possess. The administrative act of selection or appointment can potentially carry great symbolic influence, especially if the administrator emphasizes publicly the reasons for these selections. According to Hallinger, however, these appointments also lessen the opportunity for the administrator to personally communicate key values and place greater reliance on instructional leaders to aid in fostering a positive school climate.

Page 171

Working with the Informal Leaders

In addition to selecting with care those individuals who will occupy important leadership positions in the school, an administrator who wishes to shape the organizational culture will need to identify and develop an appropriate relationship with the informal leaders of the school. This is particularly true for a new principal because the formal and informal leaders who are already in place form a large portion of the school’s power structure. Developing a commitment from the school leaders will be crucial to the achievement of the principal’s goals.

An informal leader generally operates in every group. The informal leader may be the same person as the formal leader; however, whether or not that is true depends on the formal leader’s personal influence with other members of the group rather than on any formal appointment by the principal. An informal leader can best be identified by examining a group’s interaction patterns: the individual with whom there is the greatest interaction and communication within the group and whose opinion and judgment are most respected by the other members is the informal leader.

Obviously, in most situations it would be best for an administrator if the informal leader and the formal leader were the same person. That may not be the case, especially if an administrator has not exercised good judgment in selecting the formal leaders within the organization, or if there has been very limited opportunity to appoint new formal leaders, or if the informal leader’s values are not consistent with those that the administrator would like to see adopted by the organization.

Handling Conflict between Formal and Informal Leaders

When the informal leader of a group is a different person from the formal leader, a potential for conflict may exist. For example, the administrator and a department chairperson may be trying to promote a certain work ethic on the part of members of a particular department. If the informal leader of that department is opposed to the new work ethic, then the other members of the department may develop a group norm that will influence the members to resist the proposed work ethic. This type of conflict can be detrimental to developing a cohesive organizational culture.

Unfortunately, there are no easy answers to resolving this type of conflict between formal and informal leaders, although the concepts that are presented in Chapters 3 and 5 should be helpful. The administrator could, of course, attempt to influence the informal leader by using persuasion to convey the desirability of what the organization is trying to accomplish. In addition, the

administrator could attempt to develop a rival informal leader within the group who could possibly lead the group in a direction that would be more compatible with the overall purposes of the organization. The social science literature provides few clues as to how the administrator might accomplish this, but it would appear that the key to a solution lies in identifying and nurturing some individual in the group whose personal qualities are liked and respected by colleagues but whose values and ideals are more congruent with the administrator’s. By encouraging the administrator-approved informal leader to exert leadership within the group and then rewarding such efforts, an administrator may be able to change the group norms of a subculture to make them more consistent with the overall purposes of the organizational culture.

Page 172

Keeping the School’s Mission in the Public Eye

In attempting to shape the culture of an organization, it will be important for the administrator to articulate at every opportunity those values and ideas being promoted. This needs to be done in such documents as student and teacher handbooks and at meetings with faculty, students, and parents. For example, Brookover and his colleagues suggest that in an effective school the administrator and faculty should develop a statement of purpose and beliefs that would include the following:

1. The purpose of the school is to educate all students to high levels of academic performance.

2. To fulfill this purpose, the members of this school staff believe that 3. All students should have a challenging academic program. 4. All students should master their grade level objectives. 5. Teachers are obligated to prepare all students to perform at mastery level on the

objectives for the course.

WINDOW ON DIVERSITY

Steps to Build a Culture of Diversity

1. Establish a structure. Dedicate time and resources for enacting change. 2. Build a better network. Encourage mentorships. 3. Have clear policies. Set clear guidelines about what is acceptable behavior and what is

not. 4. Get buy-in. Communicate the benefits of diversity. 5. Be fair. If your organization is able to provide benefits, make sure it is beneficial to all. 6. Accommodate. Every group of people is not alike—make it equitable. 7. Welcome difference. Diversity is about listening and engaging in different

perspectives by establishing value.

8. Measure. Monitor diversity progress with internal surveys or internally set objectives and milestones.

Source: N. Alcide, “8 Steps to Building a Culture of Diversity,” Business in Greater Gainesville (October 2017). Accessed online, https://www.businessmagazinegainesville.com/8-steps-to-building-a-culture-of-diversity/, July 12, 2021.

Whether a school administrator and faculty should adopt this particular statement of purpose and beliefs, or some other, is not the issue. The important concept is that if the administrator is to shape the organizational culture of the school, a clear statement of purpose and beliefs must be formulated and communicated.

Page 173

Communication: A Tool for Shaping Culture

Formal communication will be essential, but an administrator needs to use informal and symbolic communication as well to shape the future of the organization. Some researchers have discovered that informal and symbolic communication, which takes the form of stories, rituals, and slogans, can influence the culture of an organization. For example, the slogan, “Academic excellence—no sweat, no gain,” communicates symbolically the value that a school places on hard work. Anecdotes retold to new personnel about how students and teachers have invested extra efforts to improve themselves and to help achieve certain organizational goals symbolically emphasize the types of values and ideals that a school promotes. What a principal talks about, pays attention to, and reinforces while walking around the building or conducting school activities will greatly influence teachers’ behavior, and thus the organization’s culture, according to Peterson.

In addition, rituals or ceremonies that an administrator initiates and supports provide an opportunity to stress the values and ideals the administrator is trying to emphasize while providing an occasion for rewarding behavior exemplifying these values and ideals. For example, one high school that is attempting to promote academic excellence has established a comprehensive program of rituals and rewards for students and teachers. Examples of this program include the following:

1. Academic superstar recognition: Each week the school honors a student for outstanding performance in a particular academic area by displaying on the office bulletin board a picture of the student at work.

2. Homework recognition: The school honors students who have completed all their homework assignments in all their classes with a grade of B or better, providing them with special certificates and rewards—for example, tickets to a movie.

3. Average-raisers recognition: The school honors students who raise their grade point averages from the previous term by 0.5 on a 4.0 scale by presenting them with special certificates and rewards.

4. Teacher of the month recognition: One teacher is selected monthly by a PTA committee to receive a special certificate and a night’s dinner and entertainment for the teacher and a guest.

Although the total program of this school is much more comprehensive than is revealed in the examples, the four illustrations are intended to give a sense of communicating symbolically the values and ideals that are important to an organization. As Iannaccone and Jamgochian point out, “When symbol and ceremony fit student perception that teachers care about their achievement and the perception of teachers that administrators place improved student performance foremost in their orientation in their jobs, then a strong and consistent school cultural consensus [will emerge].”

“School leaders from every level are key to shaping school culture,” write Peterson and Deal, summing up their point in the following description of the part leaders play:

Their words, their nonverbal messages, their actions, and their accomplishments all shape culture. They are models, potters, poets, actors, and healers. They are historians and anthropologists. They are visionaries and dreamers. Without the attention of leaders, school cultures can become toxic and unproductive. By paying fervent attention to the symbolic side of their schools, leaders can help develop the foundation for change and success.

Page 174

SCHOOL CLIMATE

When asked to distinguish between school culture and school climate, Christine Emmons, coordinator of program evaluation at the Comer School Development Program, replied that climate may be viewed as a “subset of culture.” Whereas school culture consists of “the belief systems that undergird the patterns of activities that characterize the functioning of the school,” school climate relates to human interactions. “School climate,” explained Emmons, “is the quality and frequency of interactions between staff members in the school and students, among the students, among the staff members themselves, and between staff at the school and parents and the community.” Whether a school climate is positive or negative can be ascertained by the atmosphere set up through such interactions.

Haynes, another author concerned about school climate, suggests that “school climate is the sum total of, and dynamic interactions among, the psychosocial, academic, and physical dimensions of the school’s environment.” The academic and psychosocial dimensions cannot be separated, according to Haynes. “They must be addressed together consistently.”

Measuring School Climate

The question arises, “How can school climate be effectively measured?” Perceptions provide an important gauge. “Perceptions held by stakeholder groups (e.g., students, parents, teachers) about the physical, social, and learning environments of a school may influence both the processes and outcomes that occur,” say researchers at Western Michigan University’s Evaluation Center. Because of the impact of perceptions on processes and outcomes, it is important for educational leaders to know what those perceptions are. One way of finding out is to conduct a survey asking people not how they personally feel about a school, but their opinions about what “most people” perceive to be true about the school in its various aspects. For this purpose the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) School Climate Survey was developed. The survey questionnaire is designed to find out what each stakeholder group perceives most people to believe about 10 areas: teacher–student relationships, security and maintenance, the effectiveness of the administration, student academic orientation, student behavioral values, academic and career guidance and counseling services, student–peer relationships, relationships between the school and parents/community, instructional management, and student activities. The value of these data is summed up by the Western Michigan evaluators:

The shared perceptions of climate represent what most people believe, not the individual’s personal reaction to the environment. These shared perceptions tend to be persistent over time. Just as meteorological climate is largely unaffected by daily shifts in temperature, the climate of the school is a relatively stable phenomenon.

They go on to point out that by comparing the perceptions of the various stakeholder groups, school leaders can become aware of areas that need appropriate interventions to improve the school’s environment.

One educator who has devoted much attention to school climate is H. Jerome Freiberg. He points out many different ways that school climate can be raised, such as student concerns surveys, entrance and exit interviews, and even “ambient noise checklists” that pinpoint areas where excessive noise levels cause stress and distraction and where changes need to be made. “School climate can be a positive influence on the health of the learning environment or a significant barrier to learning,” writes Freiberg.

Page 175

Why Climate Is Important

In the physical world, climate can determine whether plants thrive or fail to grow. The climate of a school can similarly have a major influence on morale, learning, and productivity. A welcoming, safe, and supportive environment can help students believe in their potential and provide motivation for success—particularly if they feel they are respected in all their diversity, including differing types of talents and learning styles. Establishing such a climate also requires dealing with school safety issues, as discussed in Chapter 5, including protecting students from intimidating tactics such as bullying and harassment. Banks has written that many students frequently stay home because of bullying. “Victims often fear school and consider school to be an unsafe and unhappy place.” Such an assessment of the school environment is completely opposite the positive climate that fosters academic achievement and social development.

A FINAL NOTE

An organizational culture is a complex entity, one that is constantly evolving. Unless there is a positive organizational climate and culture, it is unlikely that the necessary technical improvements that benefit students in teaching and curriculum will be implemented.90 For example, the rapidly increasing cultural diversity of students in the schools can create serious misunderstandings among students, teachers, parents, and administrators and further diminish or erode a positive climate. Principals and staff must be able to recognize and resolve culturally based school and community problems.91 A guide from the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights and the Bias Crimes Task Force of the National Association of Attorneys General urges educational leaders to examine the school environment regularly for any evidence of harassment:

Regular, focused observation of school activities and environments, especially less structured settings like school hallways and school buses, will identify harassment that staff may neglect to report. It is possible that, in some instances, harassment may be so widespread that no one actually reports it. Periodically examine the school site and furniture for racially and sexually derogatory graffiti. Monitor possible trouble spots in the school for incidents of hostility and harassment. For example, ensure that students of racial and national origin minority groups and both sexes who drop out of courses and activities in which they are under-represented have not been subjected to harassment.

Sellers and Hall have explored the role that school counselors can have in assisting administrators and teachers “in creating a school culture that empowers all individuals to succeed and reach their fullest potential.” Counselors can help (1) provide training in multicultural competencies, (2) encourage sensitivity to individual differences and understanding of oneself and others, and (3) provide knowledge and skills necessary to work with special populations. These authors go on to say that school counselors can “respond proactively to pre-judicial attitudes and values that influence assessment and treatment with multicultural students.”

Page 176

An administrator should not be intimidated by the challenges of creating an effective school culture and climate. Instead, the focus should be on maintaining an accurate understanding of the school’s culture and direction and on those factors influencing its development. Educators are advised to place less attention on reform initiatives and more on creating a clear vision and mission to provide direction for the school. The administrator can then try, with the assistance of others, to shape the culture toward desirable ends.94 Fullan recognizes that the keys to effective change involve reshaping the school culture and also providing time for teachers to develop professionally.95 In the process of pursuing positive results, the administrator will be involved in school change, the subject of the next chapter.

Although many of the case studies, suggested learning activities, and simulations presented in Part II of the text require the appropriate use of the ideas in this chapter on organizational culture, the following exercises should provide the best opportunities for testing understanding and effective use of the concepts about organizational culture: Cases 22, 26, 29, 45, 52, 56, 57, and 65; and the midyear and end-of-the-year in-basket exercises.