Reviving the Professional Culture 1

Reviving the Professional Culture

Anthony Medina

EAD 513

February 16, 2022

Reviving the Professional Culture 2

Current Culture

The current school culture at the school is not positive. The school currently has over

1,100 students who are not receiving proper guidance from school administration. The school

morale is low and high expectations have not been established for students and staff. Seven

school staff members have requested to not come back to teach at the school next year most

likely because of the lack of leadership. Teachers have not been able to collaborate with

school administrators for evaluations. Teacher’s not receiving evaluations can lead to a low

school culture because they provide benefits such as feedback, suggestions on how to

improve strengths and weaknesses, and provides an opportunity to improve relationship with

staff and administration through open discussions on school related topics. The current school

culture does not have a vision and mission goals that are being implemented. The school is

not educating based on district policies with not all staff members teaching according to the

standard curriculum. Professional development plans have not been followed up with by

school administrators. Professional development plans can build on a school culture because

they provide goals for teachers to work on and improve which help to benefit the teachers and

students. The school culture is suffering from a lack of staff professional development

opportunities. Staff are not provided effective professional development which can help them

to improve teaching strategies. The current school culture does not provide staff with

consistent professional learning communities which help staff to collaborate, learn from each

other, and build teamwork amongst school staff.

Mission & Vision Statement

The mission statement for my school will be to provide students with a fair, trustful, and

supportive learning opportunities, through collaboration with all stakeholders in the school

community giving their best efforts to support students academically with realistic high

expectations. The vision statement is that all students enjoy learning and are engaged in their

education in a positive learning environment, and with the support of all school stakeholders
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students will build an appreciation for learning and continue to learn through their academic

careers.

Outcomes

In order to ensure that individual student needs inform all aspects of schooling I will

implement two short term outcomes. The first will be for each teacher to support students by

implementing social and emotional learning. Social and emotional learning will help students

to achieve academic success by working to improve social and emotional skills. In the current

school setting which is struggling to build a positive school culture social and emotional

learning will help students who are struggling with behavior issues and need emotional

support. This support will result in improve the school culture. The second short term outcome

will be for teachers to develop a positive relationship with parents through consistent

communication to help students achieve academic success. Developing a relationship with

parent’s will create a relationship of trust and respect and help to improve the school culture. I

will also implement two long term outcomes the first will be to maintain a positive learning

environment. The focus will be for teachers to treat students fair and with respect and ensure

they are showing respect towards each other in the classroom. The second will be to establish

high expectations for students and staff. The current school does not have high expectations

that are being followed. As an incoming Principal my goal with be to establish high

expectations for students and staff that will help to create a positive school culture.

Collaboration

As an incoming principal with the task of leading a school that currently has a low staff

morale and school culture I will focus on developing teamwork amongst school stakeholders. I

believe teamwork is important especially when transitioning into a new position as principal.

“The key to successful school performance is heart and spirit infused into relationships among

people, their efforts to serve all students, and shared sense of responsibility for learning”

( Peterson 2011). Team work will lead to collaboration which will result in improvement of the
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schools educational environment and student centered culture. I will collaborate with staff

through professional learning communities, staff meetings, and professional development

which have been nonexistent the previous school year. I will also have an open door policy for

staff members to come in and discuss any concerns or suggestions or just provide

conversation for staff members who need a mental break. I will also collaborate with staff

members in the classroom to work together to develop strategies to best educate students. I

will make sure to be an active participant in student daily activities. I will collaborate with

students in the classroom, during lunch, and before and after school. Frequent interaction with

students will allow me to gain a sense of the school culture and develop ideas on how to

improve it. I will interact with and collaborate with families and community events by being an

active member of the community. I will make sure to get involved in the community and

volunteer which will help to develop relationships with community members who can provide

useful resources for students. I will also collaborate with families and community members by

creating school wide events. School events allow the opportunity for community members to

get involved with the school and develop positive relationships with school staff.

Interest from School Community

I will respond to the interests of students, families, and the community by letting them

know that their interests are valued and appreciated. I will try my best to implement interests

when possible as long as they are ethical and are supportive of students. I believe it is

important to first focus on the interest of students because they are our main priority. Students

can provide interest and recommendations on how they feel the school can improve or how

the school can best support them. They can also make recommendations on implementing

new ideas that the school does not currently have. As the school principal I would collaborate

with students to implement their interest and help to build the school culture. Family members

also provide important feedback and interest that will help students succeed academically and

socially. Families interest are compassionate because it is based on what will help their
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children best. As a school principal it is important to pay attention to family interest because it

can help the school improve in certain areas that might not be focused on. As the new

principal I will collaborate with community members that would like to provide interest for the

school and discuss how the interest will support students. I would then discuss the community

interest with a team of school faculty members to develop ideas on how we can implement the

interests and suggestions.

Advocating

In order to advocate for students, families, and the community a principal must be an

active member of the school community. “All students should be able to realistically aspire to

high academic achievement” (Martin 1998) .When a principal is an active member of the

school community he understands the challenges and difficulties students face daily. By

being an active member of the school community a principal will also know the disadvantages

and missed opportunities students are facing. As a principal I will advocate for students to

have the opportunities they do not currently have. I will advocate for resources to provide

families who are struggling to support students at home. I will advocate for a fair education for

all students and ensure they receive the same support and resources offered throughout the

state.

Rationale

The decisions made in this plan will help to create a positive school vision for the school that

is currently suffering from a lack of leadership. The plan focuses around the vision and mission

statement I created. “A school's culture--positive or negative--stems from its vision and its

established values” (Jerald 2006). I believe my vision and mission goals will help to create a

positive safe learning environment for students and staff to enjoy. The plan also focuses on

building a collaboration with all members of the school community. Collaboration will allow to

build teamwork and positive relationships between students, staff, and families. The decision to
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implement high expectations will set the standard for students and staff to follow which will help

to improve the current school culture. As a new principal the decision to get involve in the

community will show that I am passionate about making a change.

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References

HOUSE, REESE M., and PATRICIA J. MARTIN. "ADVOCATING FOR BETTER FUTURES
FOR ALL STUDENTS: A NEW VISION FOR SCHOOL COUNSELORS." Education, vol. 119,
no. 2, winter 1998, p. 284. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A53985384/AONE?
u=anon~956ed4ba&sid=googleScholar&xid=2f9c789d. Accessed 16 Feb. 2022.

Peterson, K. D., & Deal, T. E. (2011). The shaping school culture fieldbook. John Wiley & Sons.

Jerald, C. D. (2006). School culture. Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement.