Educational institutions such as schools have widely used academic performance to measure their success, and while this may reflect the level students are performing at, it neglects the environment in which they learn. School culture, defined as “created by (their) beliefs, values, goals, and behavioral norms” by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), is a big part of a student’s environment, and should be included as a measure of a school’s achievement.

What is Perceived

Educators and staff members could probably make many comments on their own school’s culture, but how accurate would these reviews really be? In a lot of cases, teachers and administrators may consider their schools to have a well rounded and respectful student body, and therefore a nurturing and positively impacting culture. However, staff often tend to miss certain details, as it would be impossible to notice every little thing that goes on between hundreds or even thousands of students.

This on its own would be fine, as long as students have the initiative to go to a staff member if something is wrong, but in several instances, students fear going to educators with their issues due to pressure from their peers, a lack of action by staff in the past, or other potential circumstances.

What Goes Into School Culture

This is not specific to bullying, even though that may be the case in some situations. A lot of it pertains to the disregard of a school’s behavioral norms and the use of certain language, such as slurs, inappropriate or insensitive jokes, and/or the casual use of hateful comments against multiple different groups of people.

School culture also comes down to the goals of the staff and that of students. Often in our current educational system, grades and academic achievement are the defining factors for tons of unique kids. Learning becomes an unimportant notion in favor of performing well, and then forgetting concepts as soon as a task is completed becomes the norm. This, as well as the inconsiderate way teachers and students alike treat those with low grades, creates a potentially toxic environment, where the few succeed and the rest fade into the background.

How Do We Improve

This difference between the expectation of culture and the actual reality of a situation seems to appear commonly in schools, but there are steps that can be taken to combat this. Getting feedback from students and staff on what they see and think could change, analyzing how different traditions and policies impact students and educators, and most importantly, not succumbing to ignorance.

Many staff members seem to praise their culture, even when they know there are underlying issues. This not only makes students think certain problematic behaviors are okay, but it also encourages the thought that staff will not be truthful, leading to distrust.
Insight cannot be all it is claimed to be if those that possess it, refuse to use that knowledge to better themselves, and their circumstances. When feedback is provided, it should not be ignored, even from a student who some might think “don’t understand the full scope of a situation.” Kids are not dumb, and most of the comments they make can be taken at face value. Administrations of schools should be listening to their full team, from their students, to teachers, or any other staff member in the building. Improvement will come, and school culture will benefit from it.