Clear Source Living Water - School Culture Innovation Practice Case

Author: Chen Lei
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-09-01
Features: In the course of communication and dialogue, the teachers' unintentional expressions of their feelings about "ways of doing things" should be the narration and earnest aspirations for school culture phenomena. These were relatively overlooked in our preliminary research and need to be strengthened and focused on in the subsequent process. After deep reflection, we decided to shift the research focus of the original topic. Making culture "happen" Research indicates that teachers' educational behaviors are primarily influenced by three aspects. First is concepts. Advanced educational ideas lead to advanced educational behaviors, but having advanced ideas does not necessarily guarantee advanced behaviors. Second is strategies and techniques, which is our research expectation for teachers to achieve professional growth through certain methods. Third is organization. Teachers are people living within an organization, and their behaviors are inevitably constrained by it. Among these three aspects, the constraints of the organization are particularly important. Therefore, to study how teachers can transform their concepts into actions, simply focusing on improving strategies and techniques is clearly insufficient. Starting from their own life sentiments, teachers have many demands regarding the organization they are part of, such as intellectual exchanges, emotional communication, and life dialogues. Administrators should pay more attention to the living conditions of teachers and take corresponding management responsibilities. The "going off-topic" during the Qingpu Diagnosis Group meeting expanded our rethinking and re-cognition of the role of administrators, and it seemed to me that I found the focus of management: in the process of achieving the transformation of teachers' concepts into actions, strive to cultivate a suitable soil for teachers' professional growth, allowing it to start from learning, life, and spiritual dimensions, continuously stimulating teachers' intrinsic motivation for growth in the maintenance of a shared mission, providing teachers with nurturing, reflection, and experience, thereby shaping the unique school culture of our middle school. What kind of school culture is truly beneficial for teachers' professional growth? It should appreciate and trust every teacher, giving them opportunities to succeed and experience the joy of success; it should provide a platform for self-expression, helping teachers gain educational wisdom and experience the joy of growth, clarifying their direction forward; it should enable teachers to become independent individuals, putting their thoughts into action, and continuously improving their ability to think and act in practice; it should also provide opportunities for collaboration, making collaboration a platform for reflection, as it seems that teachers' reflection is more effectively realized in a group setting. So, how can this kind of school culture be formed and cultivated? "Culture is the way things are done; it integrates the values, beliefs, and activities of teachers, staff, and students, forming through interpersonal relationships and experiences, binding people together, influencing the behavior, thoughts, and perceptions of people in the school." I have seen similar explanations and descriptions in many materials, but I always feel they are a bit abstract, leaving one unsure of how to start. To build school culture concretely and authentically in the school, making it take root and grow—in other words, to make culture "happen"—for us, it is indeed a bit vague. But we firmly believe: culture must be attached to specific behaviors and phenomena.