Why School Culture Matters and Strategies to Improve It

Why School Culture Matters and Strategies to Improve It Why School Culture Matters I recently read a quote by Dr. Joseph Murphy, Associate Dean at Vanderbilt’s Peabody College of Education, which really spoke to me. He said, â€Å"Seeds of change will never grow in toxic soil. School culture matters.† This message has stuck with me for the past several weeks as I have reflected on the past school year and look to move forward towards the next.   As I examined the issue of school culture, I wondered how one would define it. Over the past few weeks, I have formulated my own definition. School culture includes an atmosphere of mutual respect amongst all stakeholders where teaching and learning are valued; achievements and successes are celebrated, and where ongoing collaboration is the norm.      Dr. Murphy is 100% correct in both of his assertions. First, school culture does matter.   When all stakeholders have the same goals and are on the same page, a school will flourish.   Unfortunately, toxic soil can keep those seeds from growing and in some cases create virtually irreparable damage.   Because of this school leaders must ensure that creating a healthy school culture is a priority.   Building a positive school culture starts with leadership. Leaders must be hands-on, willing to make personal sacrifices, and should work with people rather than working against them if they want to improve school culture.   School culture is a mindset that can either be positive or negative. No one flourishes in constant negativity.   When negativity persists in a school culture, no one wants to come to school. This includes the administrators, teachers, and students. This type of environment is set up to fail. Individuals are just going through the motions trying to get through another week and eventually another year. No one prospers in this type of environment. It is not healthy, and educators should do everything they can to ensure that they never allow this mindset to creep in. When positivity persists in a school culture, everyone thrives. Administrators, teachers, and students are generally happy to be there. Amazing things happen in a positive environment.   Student learning is enhanced. Teachers grow and improve. Administrators are more relaxed.   Everyone benefits from this type of environment. School culture does matter. It should not be discounted. Over the past few weeks as I have reflected on this, I have come to believe that it may be the single most important factor for school success. If no one wants to be there, then ultimately a school will not be successful. However, if a positive, supporting school culture exists then the sky is the limit for how successful a school can be. Now that we understand the importance of school culture, we must ask how to improve it. Fostering a positive school culture takes a lot of time and hard work.   It will not happen overnight. It is a difficult process that will likely come with immense growing pains.   Tough decisions will have to be made. This includes personnel decisions with those unwilling to buy into a change in school culture. Those who resist these changes are the â€Å"toxic soil† and until they are gone, the â€Å"seeds of change† will never firmly take hold. Strategies to Improve School Culture The following seven broad strategies can help guide the process of improving school culture. These strategies are written under the assumption that a leader is in place which seeks to change the culture of a school and is willing to work hard. It is important to note that many of these strategies will require modifications along the way. Every school has its own unique challenges and as such there is no perfect blueprint for refining school culture.   These general strategies are not the end all be all solution, but they can aid in the development of a positive school culture. Create a team consisting of administrators, teachers, parents, and students to help shape changes to school culture. This team should develop a prioritized list of issues they believe harm to the overall school culture. In addition, they should brainstorm possible solutions for fixing those issues. Eventually, they should create a plan as well as a timeline for implementing the plan for turning around the school culture.Administrators must surround themselves with like-minded teachers who fit the mission and vision the team has in place for establishing an effective school culture.   These teachers must be trustworthy professionals who will do their job and make positive contributions to the school environment.It is important for teachers feel supported. Teachers who feel like their administrators have their backs are generally happy teachers, and they are more likely to operate a productive classroom.   Teachers should never question whether or not they are appreciated.   Buil ding and maintaining teacher morale is one of the most important duties a school principal plays in fostering a positive school culture.   Teaching is a very difficult job, but it becomes easier when you work with a supportive administrator. Students spend the largest amount of their time at school in the classroom. This makes teachers the most responsible for creating a positive school culture.   Teachers help this process through a variety of ways. First, they build trusting relationships with students. Next, they ensure that every student has an opportunity to learn the required material. Additionally, they figure out a way to make learning fun so that students keep wanting to come back to their class. Finally, they show a vested interest in each student in a variety of ways including attending extracurricular activities, engaging in conversations about interests/hobbies, and being there for a student when they are having a hard time.Collaboration is critical to developing a positive school culture.   Collaboration enriches the overall teaching and learning experience. Collaboration builds lasting relationships. Collaboration can challenge us and make us better. Collaboration is essential in helping a school truly become a community of learners. Collaboration must be ongoing between every stakeholder within the school. Everyone should have a voice. To establish an effective school culture, you must consider every little nuance in a school. Ultimately, everything contributes to the overall culture of a school. This includes school security, the quality of the food in the cafeteria, the friendliness of the main office staff when there are visitors or when answering the phones, the cleanliness of the school, the maintenance of the grounds, etc.   Everything should be evaluated and changed as necessary.Extra-curricular programs can foster an immense amount of school pride.   Schools must offer a well-balanced assortment of programs to give every student an opportunity to be involved.   This includes a mixture of both athletic and non-athletic programs.   Coaches and sponsors responsible for these programs must provide the participants with everyone opportunity to be successful Programs and individuals within these programs should be recognized for their accomplishments.   Ultimately, if you have a positive school culture, every stakeholder feels a sense of pride when one of these programs or individuals is successful.

Information Systems in Project Management Reassessment Assignment

Information Systems in Project Management Reassessment - Assignment Example This paper illustrates that a number of organizations involved in the development of software products have still not resorted to the use of sets of vital signs in monitoring the status of different projects that they undertake. Similarly, other organizations never even use properly documented processes to discover half-baked project concepts at the early stages of a development process and others are not even in a position to discern or rule out a troubled project in a timely fashion. In addition, some organizations are fond of neglecting or treating with a little regard the need to train the targeted clients on the benefits attributed to successful projects along with the crucial success factors that surround the development processes. Some of the factors that often contribute to failure are issues like incomplete or vaguely stated business requirements and specifications, insufficient or lacking executive support, changing business specifications, insufficient planning, technologi cal incompetence and insufficient resources among others. On the other hand, success factors for different projects including but not limited to realistic schedules and estimates, clearly defined project goals, prior specification of the quality criteria of the anticipated deliverable, active support from top management, team competence, and proactive issue resolution together with the project manager’s level of competence. In the context of project management, a critical success factor is an important influence which can determine the success of a project. Thus, critical success factors refer to the series of conditions, influences or factors that contribute towards the outcome of a project. Examples of success factors regarding software projects include open communication, careful risk management, proper planning, and properly defined scope together with a selection of a competent staff.

Cultural presentation about the jewish customs in the healthcare Research Paper

Cultural presentation about the jewish customs in the healthcare environment - Research Paper Example Suppose a Jewish patient is terminally ill and has no chance of surviving, their spiritual statutes prohibit any active medical intervention meant to hasten death with the intention of reliving pain (Hollins 92). Since, they believe in natural death, whereby at this period any ethical question regarding patient’s final wish at deathbed family sand the medical practical should consult the rabbi. Additionally, Jews do not leave their patients alone while they are about to die, but they ensure there is always somebody to offer any assistance other than medical (Hollins 92). It is the mandate of the Jews to offer their patients the necessary pastoral care. This entails visiting and praying with the patient. The Rabbi with his council selects certain individuals (approximately nine people) who will be undertaking the responsibility besides their family members (Hollins 92). Since, visiting patients is a charity deed advocated by their religion, whereby nurses ought to be ready to accommodate it despite the healthcare facility’s strict rules. In addition, the aspect of fertility among the Jews is by far diverse from numerous global cultures where most of them have embraced contraceptives. Jews normally utilize same family planning method because their beliefs do not advocate contraceptives (Hollins 91). This is because they usually prefer large families where issues regarding contraceptives consult their Rabbis. This is before giving to the medical practitioners’ directives especially in critical conditions where the couple intends to have a reasonable child spacing. After death, Jews do not either touch or move their dead person’s body where they consult their Rabbi for further directives regarding end rites (Hollins 91). Therefore, the nurses ought to leave the matter to the Rabbi. All the fluids and other disposable paraphernalia connected to the patient, the Rabbi proposes be buried immediately with the body. Since, they are part of the body

Cultivation Theory Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Cultivation Theory - Term Paper Example It is one of the social theories of mass communication that postulate a kind of relationship between the mass communication and social changes recorded in the community (Aggarwal & Gupta, 2001, p.35). The media reports that appear to have been influenced in some way will give an image that is not typical of the real scenario. For instance, a series of television shows on sexual immorality in a given city may provide a negative image of the city to the public. A series of reports on the corrupt acts by a given company definitely reduces the reputation of the organization among the public. On the other hand, providing only the positive aspects of a given issue by the media houses is also likely to provide a false positive image on the public concerning this issue. The best approach is then to provide balanced and uninfluenced reports by the media houses. Using the skills required in public relations will enable the media houses to provide balanced information that is necessary for deve loping a true picture. Both the negative and positive aspects of a concept should be focused as they occur in the real setting. Thesis Statement Based on the Cultivation Theory, the reports by the media houses can create images on the public that are not typical of the real situation. ... The developments that were put into the theory during this original spot are also examined as well as the current application of the theory in the field of mass communication. Origin of Cultivation Theory The Cultivation theory, also known as the cultivation hypothesis or the cultivation analysis can be traced back to the 1960s and attributed to the research by Professor George Gerbner of Annenberg School of Communication, Pennsylvania University. He focused on the effects of different television programs on the perception of a given concept in a given society (Erlandson, Williams & Telles, 2009). The research project that was referred to as â€Å"Cultural Indicators† investigated into the impacts of media operation on the social life of the public. An analysis of the contents of television programs and their effects on the public led to a generalization of the theory that how the society perceive the reality of a concept is greatly influenced by the programs and reports provi ded by television. The theory developed in 1967 is ‘based on the assumption that mass media have subtle effects on audiences who unknowingly absorb the dominant symbols, images, and messages of the media’ (Aggarwal & Gupta, 2001, p.35). In his investigations, Gerbner divided the audiences under the study into three distinct groups based on the duration that the individuals spent while watching television. He found out that even those who spent long periods watching TV programs were not immediately influenced by the programs. However, it was observed that this long exposure to television broadcasts had long-term effect on the individual perception of reality. The individuals tend to be inclined towards the models provided by the

City Hunter :: essays research papers

The City Hunter is an action comedy movie starring international superstar Jackie Chan. This movie was made in Hong Kong in the early 90s. In this movie Jackie Chan played Hunter, a private detective with a good sense of humor and deadly kung fu skills. The story started out with a badly acted sketch of Hunter's partner being gunned down by four men with automatic weapons. With his last moment on earth, Hunter's partner made Hunter promise to take care of his little sister Carrie, and also not to seduce her. Seeing how the young girl was only about fourteen, Hunter gave his partner his word of honor to take care of the girl and also never seduce her.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The story took a quick turn with the young girl growing up to a beautiful woman. Hunter tried very hard to avoid a romantic relationship with Carrie, but the problem was that Carrie had romantic feelings for Hunter. This love story was interrupted with a group of women trying to kill Hunter for putting their men in prison. This was just a comic relief, so Hunter got out of the situation easily by fighting with all the women at once.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the next scene, Hunter excepted a case to find a runaway name Yoko. This runaway was the daughter of a rich Japanese businessman. The reason Yoko ran away was because her mother died a few years back, and her father was going to remarry a woman that she didn't like. So Hunter and Carrie set out to find Yoko. Hunter got lucky and he found Yoko at a skate park. Yoko did not want to go home to her father, so she told her friends that Hunter was trying to molest her, and tried to get away. She managed to get away after going into a department store to hide from Hunter. In this department store she managed to trick a man to follow her into the dressing room where she knocked him out and took his clothes, wallet, and ticket for a cruise.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  By some coincidence, Carrie got on the same cruise to get away from Hunter because he had not given her enough attention. Of course Hunter tried to come along with Carrie on the cruise, but he did not have a ticket for the cruise. The Captain of the cruise did not let Hunter on board, so Hunter stole away as a luggage.

Beauty: Wish and Jane Martin Essay

The play â€Å"Beauty† by Jane Martin was a great play as in it tells you of how there are some people out there that are not satisfied with whom or what they have. And wish to be someone else or have what someone else has. And the magic a Genie can bring to give them their wishes and let them see how it feels to change places with the person you admire most. Like the saying â€Å"the grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence.† The conflict that was going on in the play was between two women, Carla and Bethany. Bethany was the first to come forward with her feelings of inadequacies and wishing she was more like Carla. She then brings these feelings forward to Carla, who states her wish to be more like Bethany. Carla was beautiful and not too brainy, but care free with her life. Bethany was a not so beautiful woman but had a great head on her shoulders, and took life more seriously than Carla. Once Bethany and Carla brought forward their feelings about wishing they were the other, they had decided to make a wish with the Genie in the bottle that Bethany had found on the beach earlier that day. I believe at this time is where the rising action reaches its climax. The women make their wish to the genie, who then changes each one into the other. The women are now the other. They are stunned and happy at the same time. It was now time to live each other’s lives. Life went on for a few very long years with the women living each other’s lives. They then met up again. They had not been happy being the other. They missed who they had been. When Bethany had been Carla she found her new looks and less than intellectual ways had made people look at her differently, and not in a good way. Carla had seen that being as intelligent as Bethany was a double edged sword as well, not being very attractive and smart usually left you rather lonely and never considered the center of the males attention. I believe that before they met up and while they had lived one another’s lives is when the falling action began. I believe the falling action was them discovering that they should have appreciated who they were more before they had made this wish. The techniques that were used in the play was in how it was written and played out in a way that showed you important information and meaning in a very short amount of time by having the genie found and the wishes being known and acted on immediately, then showing them living each other’s lives and then them coming together to undo what they had done. This play accomplishes the meaning and the thought behind it by making you think from the very beginning what the actors were trying to portray to us and pushed right through to the actions that were going to take place and what would come of these actions. And lastly, the final thought on how their original feelings had changed and how they then were changed back into themselves, and tell of how they appreciated more now of who they had always been and didn’t want to be anyone else. Although the play is only ten minutes long, the events that happen in those ten minutes makes you see and maybe appreciate a little bit more of what you have and how changing places with someone else that you think you envy for whatever reason, may not be the way to go. Although it was only a ten minute play, during that ten minutes you were able to see what the women were feeling and what it was they had desired. It showed what their own insecurities about themselves were and the envy toward the others life and who they were. It’s amazing that Jane Martin could right all this and have it come across so clearly in a ten minute play. Jane Martin put the women that were total opposites together as friends and then she was able to show each ones strengths and weaknesses. As a whole person, they probably would have been Wonder Woman, each of them had a strength the other didn’t have and a weakness that the other didn’t have. But, when they were together as friends they completed each other. 1. The conflicts that were present were the two women who had wished to be the other and not satisfied with who they were as themselves. 2. The rising action was when the girls make their wish to change places with the genie. 3. The falling action begins toward the end of the years they spent being one another and seeing what the other’s life was like. 4. The techniques that were used to move the actions along were having the play begin with finding the genie and the fast way the women got into stating how they had wished to be the other and then showing how much they disliked being the other and meeting up and letting the other know their dislikes in having being the other and how they wished to be themselves again, and then making the wish to change back. The quickness of each spoken and acted out emotion and the clarity of what was being said and felt made this play able to be done in a ten minute time without taking anything away from what was coming across to the audience.

The Death Of The Cattle Cars - 1610 Words

â€Å"These optimistic speeches, which no one believed, helped to pass the time. The few days we lived here went by pleasantly enough, in peace. There were no longer questions of wealth, of social distinction, and importance only people condemned to the same fate-still unknown† (Night 20). Elie and the others Jews from his community lose some of their innocence when placed on the train to go to the camps. Overall, nobody seemed to think they would actually be doing this and at first still had hope. After being forced on the train they lost some of that hope they had, and because they didn t think of what would happen and had no idea what to expect as a result. â€Å"Life in the cattle cars was the death of my adolescence. How quickly I aged. As a†¦show more content†¦Having never seen this kind of cruelty Elie was especially surprised upon seeing this. He continues to lose even more of that innocence, sadly in such a horrifying way. Since before this he would have ne ver though possible that people were capable of doing such things. It is evident from his tone that he is shocked, and sickened by what he sees and gives the reader an overall impression of being disheartened by all of this. Not just in humans did Elie questions about, he despite his loyalty began to question his faith. Something that he had also been so devoted, and passionate about, †How was it possible in that cursed place, to praise the Eternal One for His supposed love of His people? How was it possible, without telling lies, to say in Auschwitz, Ashreinu, ma tovBalkann --how happy we are to bear our heritage? How and by what right can we peak of happiness in Auschwitz? As I have said elsewhere, Auschwitz is conceivable neither with God nor without Him†¦ II may someday come to understand man s role in the mystery Auschwitz represents but never God s † (All Rivers Run 84). Wiesel’s tone is very clearly accusatory, and disbelief because he just doesn†™t understand how this is all just happening and for it doesn’t seem like anyone is trying to stop. He believes that it was God’s place to do something about it, rather than letting all these Jewish people just suffer. That one night where he saw the children being burned in theShow MoreRelatedNight By Elie Wiesel Analysis1560 Words   |  7 Pagesrational human beings will become engulfed in the minds of irrationality when hunger is no longer bearable. Demanded to travel into the unknown, Wiesel embarks on a miserable trip in a train of several cattle cars in the beginning of his memoir. Confused and unaware, the Jews in Wiesel’s cattle car attempt to come up with the best plan to survive in case anything alarming occurs. Riding the uncomfortable vehicle for miles, the narrator explains, â€Å"There was some food left. But we never ate enough toRead MoreHorseman, Pass By vy Larry McMurtry1355 Words   |  5 Pagesfact that one of Homer’s cattle drops dead for no apparent reason. In order to ascertain what specifically killed the cow, the veterinarian, Newt Garrett is called. Garrett cuts open the dead cow in order to perform a biopsy which inadvertently contaminates the land and exposes the herd to an unknown disease. Unfortunately for the Bannons, the state veterinarian determines that the dead cow had developed hoof-and-mouth disease. In order to determine which strain the cattle developed, the herd is placedRea d MoreElie Wiesel s The Holocaust993 Words   |  4 Pagesshould never have to see such as frantic families lined up for a death in fire, bodies crushed all over as people ran them over, and babies being thrown into pits of fire. One day, police move the Jews, eighty per car, into tiny, dark cattle cars. The Jews did not know what was about to happen to them; however they let themselves be pushed into the cattle cars and sent to their death bed. Since there wasn t that a lot of area within the cars, they took turns sitting. They were told that they were nowRead MoreSarahs Key by Tatiana De Rosnay763 Words   |  3 Pagesstandards in a negative way. In the novel Sarah’s Key, Sarah frequently proves to struggle with both guilt and innocence. These specific themes are put on display when Sarah realizes she is not going back home, the scenario in which Sarah boards the cattle car to the camps, and the tragic event in which Sarah takes her own life. Innocence first proclaims itself when Sarah discovers that she is not returning home. Sarah’s behaviour and lack of understanding towards pressing information is a portrayal ofRead MoreHow Hitler Became Chancellor Of Germany1164 Words   |  5 Pagesget rid of un-German writings proclaiming the death of Jewish intellectualism all the way to the extremity of the mass murder of Jews. This process progressed rapidly, and it had lasting effects for the entire world. The holocaust was the systematic, state-organized persecution and murder of at least six million jews. 100 days after Hitler became chancellor of Germany, Nazis began having book burnings to get rid of un-German writings proclaiming the death of Jewish intellectualism. This was one ofRead MoreInhumane Treatment in Night971 Words   |  4 Pagesin trouble (Langer 5). â€Å"Are you crazy? We were told to stand. Do you want us all in trouble?†(Wiesel 38). S.S guards struck fear in their hostages, which means they will obey without questioning what the Nazis told them to do due to their fear of death. Sometimes, S.S. would punish the Jews for their own sin, but would not explain their sin to the other Jews. For example, Idek punished Wiesel for his own deed, which led to fear among the Jews (Langer 7). For witnessing Idek’s affairs, he gets punishedRead MoreImagery Of Joseph Wiesel s Night1453 Words   |  6 Pages Elie uses imagery of the cattle cars into which the Jews are forced in order to further this theme of dehumanization. On the day of Elie’s deportation, the Jews of Sighet are led into the cattle cars waiting for them at the station with, â€Å"eighty people in each car. We were left a few loaves of bread and some buckets of water [†¦] In each car one person was placed in charge. If anyone escaped, he would be shot† (Wiesel 31). Clearly, the way they are crammed into the cars is cruel and blatantly inhumaneRead MoreNight and Hotel Rwanda Similarities Essay1009 Words   |  5 Pageswagons or cattle cars. There was a horrific experience in Night when the Jews had to fit 80-100 people in the cattle cars with temperatures ranging from below zero degrees in the winter, and up to 108 degrees in the summer. Not only did they have to deal with the weather, they also had little to no room to use the restroom and had to go in the corner of the wagon to relieve themselves. When Elie stated, â€Å"The doors were nailed up; the way back was finally cut off. The world was a cattle wagon hermeticallyRead MoreHolocaust Upstanders: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Per Anger, and Oskar Schindler555 Words   |  3 Pagesvillage to help students. He helped the students get illegal parish posts. German synagogues and Jewish businesses were burned during Kristallnacht. Dietrich’s students thought Kristallnacht was because of the curse that haunted Jews since Jesus’ death on the cross but he said it was sheer violence of Nazism’s godless face (Braun par 11). He also helped form and anti-Nazi resistance with Hans von Dohnanyi. In April of 1943 Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Hans von Dohnanyi were arrested when the Gestapo foundRead MoreNight, By Elie Wiesel1372 Words   |  6 Pagesto return to Sighet to describe to [the Jews his] death so that [they] might ready [themselves] while there is still time† (Wiesel 7). Rather than listening to Moishe’s story, the Jews of Sighet wanted to remain optimist ic about their future and continued living their lives blissfully, completely unaware of what was happening and what was going to happen. In a matter of days, the Jews of Sighet were ghettoized and deported. All jammed into train cars enroute to Auschwitz-Birkenau. However, their optimism