Deal and Peterson (1993) have offered the most succinct definition of school culture.They simply state it is an "inner reality."Robbins and Alvy (1995, p. 23) expand the definition by stating that "This inner reality reflects what organizational members care about, what they are willing to spend time doing, what and how they celebrate, and what they talk about. "

Gary Phillips characterizes school culture as the, "beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors that characterize a school in terms of:

How people treat and feel about each other;
The extent to which people feel included and appreciated; and
Rituals and traditions reflecting collaboration and collegiality." (1993)

School culture is NOT about religion, race, socio-economic status or the
size of the school.

In this context, culture includes a composite of the values, rituals, and beliefs shared and demonstrated by participants within the organization.

Culture influences everything that happens in a school. One definition of school culture submitted by Phillips (1993) states that it is “the beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors which characterize a school” (p. 1). People in any healthy organization must have agreement on how to do things and what is worth doing. Wagner (2000) conceptualizes school culture as shared experiences both in school and out of school (traditions and celebrations), a sense of community, of family and team. Staff stability and common goals permeate the school. Time is set aside for school-wide recognition of all school stakeholders. Common agreement on curricular and instructional components, as well as order and discipline are established through consensus. Open and honest communication is encouraged and there is an abundance of humor and trust. Tangible support from leadership at the school and district levels is also present.

REFERENCES

Deal, T. & Peterson, K. (1993). Strategies for building school cultures: Principals as symbolic leaders. In M. Sashkin & H.J. Walberg (Eds.), Educational leadership and school culture (pp. 89-99). Berkeley, CA: McCutchan.

Phillips, G. & Wagner, C. (2003). School culture assessment. Vancouver, British Columbia: Agent 5 Design.

Robbins, P. & Alvy, Harvey (1995). The principal's companion. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Wagner, C. (2000, October 20). School culture analysis. Address presented at the annual meeting of the Manitoba Association of Resource Teacher (MART). Winnipeg, Manitoba.

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