Page 86 - EdViewptsSpring2020

Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast

By Janet Ciarrocca, Supervisor of Curriculum, Instruction, and Technology,
North Brunswick Public Schools

Munch, munch, crunch Don’t Let Culture Eat Strategy

crunch. That is the sound of your for Breakfast; Have Them
new school initiative being eaten Feed Each Other.
alive by your school’s culture. Without School culture, according to Dr. Kent
combining work on strengthening D. Peterson, a professor in Educa-
culture into any new initiative, the tional Administration at the University
work is often doomed to failure. of Wisconsin-Madison, is “the set of
Many school leaders jump into new norms, values, and beliefs, rituals and
initiatives with the thought that they ceremonies, symbols and stories that
can implement new things easily and make up the ‘persona’ of a school.” It in your school can begin to build a
they simply need staff “buy-in.” They refers to those written and unwritten strong foundation of a positive culture
imagine that they can impact school rules that influence how a school or in which ALL stakeholders, both staff
and student growth with positive organization functions. For instance, and students, are actively engaged
messages and well planned initiatives many veteran teachers will just avoid in a culture of learning and working
so that all of the teachers will jump on any new initiative and might passively together for the best of the school.
board. However, the phrase, Culture resist it, waiting for they time that “this
eats strategy for breakfast, should too” goes away, as most other initia- You will not and cannot expect to
be a guiding one for any school or tives seem to do eventually. change a school’s climate and culture
district leader planning the rollout of overnight. Be aware of the power of
any new initiative or work. The phrase This is not to say that a leader cannot culture. With strategic planning and
was first used in the business world, make changes in their organization’s concrete steps to build a positive
but it has strong implications for culture. Awareness is the first step. culture that brings your staff into the
schools. Start by conducting surveys of staff, work through shared leadership and
Every school has a culture — good, students, and parents. Many school reflection, you can truly begin to shift
climate surveys exist that can be found
your school’s culture. You must help
bad, or indifferent. It is imperative that find through your state or by doing a drive the change by changing the way
leaders, and that includes teacher quick internet search. The schools in people in the organization think and
leaders, take a reflective view on our district have been using the CAR work. This is not easy work and cannot
the existing culture in their building. framework to drive school improve- be done alone. It is imperative for
Because as a leader, you need to real- ment. Rather than looking at work on school leaders to SHARE leadership
ize that any time your hard planned many different priorities as “new initia- in their building and to use that shared
strategy conflicts with existing culture, tives,” the CAR framework connects leadership with staff as an element to
the culture will win every time — them all together into one cohesive build a positive school culture.
EVERY TIME!! Whether that means framework to drive school improve-
having teachers let students into their ment efforts. The three sides of this Such work will ensure that any initia-
classes upon arrival or getting buy triangular model focus on school tives you hope to see implemented
in for teachers to visit one another to culture: 1) a climate for learning - for are part of a collaborative, strategically
observe lessons, or reach out more students and adults in the building; 2) planned strategy, and ensures that the
often to parents, your school’s culture a climate of communication of connec- culture of your organization doesn’t
will have a strong impact on whether tions and high expectations; and 3) a “each your strategy for breakfast!”
or not planned initiatives succeed. culture of shared leadership. Focusing Plan for it and make it work for you.
in on those three key cultural elements

About the Author
Janet Ciarrocca is the Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Technology, North Brunswick and was
formerly the principal at Livingston Park Elementary School. Throughout a 30 year career in education,
she has moved from classroom teacher, to library media specialist to principal. She has worked in both
urban and suburban districts. A lifelong learner, she is a proud graduate of the NJ EXCEL program. Janet is
currently participating in the Learning Forward Academy program, a 2 ½ year cohort focused on a specific job
embedded problem of practice, in this case, the CAR process. She is passionate about professional learning
and figuring out ways to reach every learner.
Educational Viewpoints -84- Spring 2020