The Role of the Principal in Shaping School Culture

Author: Deir
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-10-01
Features: Jefferson High School's Innovative Initiatives
In the late 1990s, the popular way to address underperforming school districts was to rebuild—radically transforming schools by keeping the original buildings but making large-scale layoffs and recruiting new staff. Sometimes, this approach worked, but the original culture had already taken root in people's minds. History always finds ways to influence new endeavors, especially buildings, campus environments, alumni, and lingering fragments of culture, all of which affect the rebuilding process. However, while there is no one-size-fits-all model to follow, school leaders can still learn from examples. Jefferson High School was once a textbook case of failure, but later developments showed that the situation could still be turned around. The school was in a truly dire state at the time. To completely transform the school, the principal and the transition committee invited an advisor from nearby to visit the school and observe, promising that the meeting would have 20 attendees. However, when the meeting started, all 70 teachers and staff in the school demanded to attend.
When the advisor began describing potential reform strategies, an elderly teacher who liked to criticize stood up and demanded that the advisor leave their school. The advisor immediately retorted that she was actually glad to leave. The people in the room had no idea what to do. Another teacher said, "Well, since you're here for the money, you might as well stay a bit longer. Making money is always a good thing."
Throughout the morning and afternoon, the advisor chaired the meeting, listening to everyone's opinions, which were mostly complaints about how everything had been handled so poorly. Storytellers recounted all the bad things that had happened at the school. An elderly teacher handed the advisor a card that read: "There is no Santa Claus in this world."
By the end of the day, the transition committee agreed to proceed with the second step. They decided to have the advisor meet with each teacher, staff member, administrator, and student individually to understand the school's situation. During these meetings, everyone had the chance to express their dissatisfaction, concerns, and the small hopes and dreams they still held. After the meetings, the advisor shared her findings, telling everyone that the situation was not optimistic. As she listed the various problems the school faced, the same unfriendly elderly teacher who had disrupted the first meeting stood up again and spoke harshly. This time, the advisor, who had already dealt with this behavior before, cut him off and waved her plane ticket in front of everyone, saying, "See? I have this. I can leave here anytime. But none of you can."
Silence fell over the room. After a moment, the school's pastor stood up and spoke with rare passion, saying, "I still don't know what these two are trying to do, but I support them. You people, for 15 years, you've done nothing but complain. You whine about everything, dissatisfied with everything." Gradually, others began to express their support.
With that, the meeting resumed, and everyone wanted to take