Lately I have been trying to understand the culture of a
school, my school, your school, my wife’s school. I don’t fully understand the
one at my school even though I have been here 37 years. I think that hurts me and it hurts my interaction with all
the people walking the halls of “my” school. And that right there may be a big
part of the problem, it is NOT “my” school. It is the students' school.
Let me try to explain more. I found myself getting
frustrated with some of the questions I was being asked. As I reflected back on
those questions and who was asking, I started realizing that the people asking
were newer to the school, newer to the diocese as well. While they were in some
cases seasoned educators, they were not seasoned at our school or the diocese.
With that in mind I am now trying to better think about how
we can help to enculturate newer people in to the school’s culture. That then
means I have to fully understand our school’s culture and what exactly that
might be for someone.
For a school in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas there
are things which people look for such as “Catholic Identity.” What makes our
school Catholic? And are we Catholic with a big C or catholic with a little c.
Is being Catholic our culture? Is being well versed in the use of technology
our culture? Is being service oriented our culture? Is being an inner city
school our culture?
As a result of some of this thinking I now have more questions
than answers and would appreciate any input you might have. How do you define
your school’s culture? Is the culture of a school important? How can we help
newer people to our school understand and participate in that culture? Do you think about school culture are am I way off base? Let me know.
So much to learn and so little time.
