And morale can go either way for people: groups of people can build it themselves or blame others, which ultimately feeds into toxicity. But there are avenues to be taken by teachers, students, and especially administrators to build toward a positive climate and a good change in culture.

How to Create a Positive School Climate: Understanding Positive Versus Negative Climates

So, what consists of a negative climate? While it may be easy to create imagery pertaining to educators sitting around in faculty rooms complaining about schedules and students, it is far more than that concept. This is not to be confused with having a bad day because who doesn’t every once in a while?

Research shows that negative environments affect students’ and teachers’ mental and emotional health. Often, graduation rates are lower, standardized testing shows decreased rates of achievement, and even more importantly, declining growth from year to year. Motivation decreases in all areas and feelings of hopelessness shortly follow.

Negative school climates create harmful situations of bullying, violence, and suicidal ideations due to damage to mental health. Students expect to be safe when they enter schools, but these types of environments do not promote the elements of a safe atmosphere. As well, in the categories of students with disabilities, higher depression exists due to alienation and disrespect that can easily build in students.

On the opposite end of that spectrum, a positive climate focuses on eliminating the negative aspects previously mentioned. Students are confident in their abilities, promote equality and equity among all stakeholders, and show improvement in achievement and growth. A lower amount of disciplines is recorded, and substance abuse is minimal.

Beyond the fact that this isn’t something that can be fixed immediately and because it is a massive system of ideas to identify and develop, what can administrators do to help build a positive culture among teachers?

Generating a Positive Climate in Collaboration With Teachers

The key to changing a climate is collaboration among teachers and administrators. Committees comprised of stakeholders, from the toughest critic to the most optimistic member, must be involved in order to narrow down the frustrations potentially causing issues. It becomes a root cause analysis, in which every member has a voice. When teachers feel heard by their administrators, only then can there be a buy-in that allows schools to move forward with change.

With the administrator being the school leader, they must be able to delegate responsibilities for a shared leadership among teachers. This fosters collaborative leadership, which stems from a shared vision and mission. It also develops from the root cause review; this can generate the different perspectives upon which the group would like to focus on changing. Allowing teachers to have the ability to facilitate change will be a significant step toward improving the culture.

Setting goals is another key aspect toward fixing a negative culture. But along with setting goals, administrators and teachers must also model the behaviors necessary to reach those goals. Teachers must set the standards and administrators must hold professionals accountable. Once teachers know they have a strong stake in equality with their peers, the quickest way to lose that momentum is not to hold others accountable for not meeting the standards.

Another integral component in building a positive climate for teachers is to allow them to take risks in order to grow. Too often our educators are limited by politics, parents, and legislation. Knowing they have a supportive administrator who will back them when they gamble on new lessons or experiments will enhance the attitudes of an entire group of teachers. As long as teachers and administrators also don’t lose their sense of humor when things don’t work out!

Ideas for Short Term Climate Improvement

Now, what are some fun and creative ideas that can help with short-term climate improvement?

Food and Treats

Any time a school administration can bring in something like a walking taco bar will be a success. Individual bags of cheesy tortillas with all the toppings will get any staff walking around with smiles.

Pushing around the “Woot, Woot” Wagon with goodies, such as sweet treats and/or hot cocoa or coffee and tea will ease the pain of a long day and build an excitement in culture. Random and planned trips throughout the halls will support teachers and not require an immense amount of money to supply.

Giveaways

How about random giveaways? There is nothing quite like the feeling of winning something, while producing a win for the administration in teacher attitudes. Putting together themed baskets or raffling off gifts throughout the year for no specific reason can build feelings of goodwill and excitement. Never knowing what could happen at school might lead to improved absence rates among teachers or at least help lessen the burnout rates.

Updated Professional Development Days

Another change in culture can arise from updated professional development days. Rather than the same old presentations (forgiving that several forms of legislation require certain professional development, there is still time that can be found), work on collaboration days by providing escape rooms or off-campus collaborative activities. Maybe there is a nearby ropes course or climbing wall in which teams can challenge each other. Possibly offer a whole school staff golf outing, with a final dinner at the end of the day.

For those not physically inclined, how about a video game tournament or old-school checkers/chess tournament? Any form of friendly competition can help soothe the soul.

Depending on the types of leaders that people want to become, there are always ways to build positive atmospheres within a school. It takes motivation, dedication, and the willingness to try new opportunities. Ranging from small, short-term activities to long-term modeling and accountability, a positive school climate is what we decide it should be every day.

A graduate degree in administration prepares you to lead as a principal, superintendent or other school administrator and help shape the future for generations of students. Check out our available administration and leadership graduate degrees and get started today!

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Fortunately, if school leaders have a guiding set of principles or ethics in place, decision making can get significantly easier. Creating and then cultivating a positive school culture can foster an environment where everyone – students, staff, and administration – are all working toward the same goal and with the same vision. Having a school culture can make decisions easier, can make goals more attainable, and can make the school itself feel like home.

What is School Culture?

School culture is the atmosphere in which we work. But school culture is more than just the building or campus; it’s how people feel when they are in your school. Have you ever walked into a school and felt energized and inspired right away? That’s a positive school culture in action. Or perhaps you’ve walked into a school where everything felt drab, dull, and grouchy; that’s a negative school culture, and it can make everyone who enters the building feel the same way.

Multiple factors can make or break school culture, including the history and community. Staff, instructors, administrators, students, parents, and other stakeholders can all contribute to school culture. It takes everyone’s support to create a school culture that will be positive, encouraging, and rooted in a growth mindset.

School culture can be created, nurtured, and cultivated throughout a school year and beyond. It should be something that is positive, lifting up the staff and students in your school. Unfortunately, when it is not managed well, school culture can also be negative and toxic. In this case, it creates an environment that demeans and makes others feel less than throughout their days at work and in school. For the purpose of this writing, we will focus on the positive and look to a growth mindset of school culture.

The Importance of School Culture and Climate

The goal of an effective school culture should be that when people come to work they know what to expect, have school wide goals that everyone can work toward, find purpose in their role, and know that what they are doing makes a difference in the lives of those around them.

The business manager at my school said something to me several years ago that has stuck with me as a school leader. She asked what brings me “job joy”? I found this to be a profound two-word phrase. The idea of “job joy” has been something that I have since been preaching to my staff. To me, “job joy” is simply loving what you do. Certainly, you will have hard seasons where nothing seems easy, but your joy for your role keeps you motivated to give your best to your school.

Creating a joyful and positive school culture can positively impact your school through higher staff retention or recruitment rates, enthusiastic students, more productive partnerships with the greater community, and even more trust from parents. One thing is certain: a positive school culture will benefit everyone.

Having a positive outlook about your position, your school, and your role as a change agent is paramount as you build school culture. The best way to begin? Lead with joy and help others do the same.

How to Build a Positive School Culture

Building school culture takes time, energy, and effort. It also begins with creating an environment of teamwork and collaboration throughout the entire building. Staff members need to know that they are part of a team. Decisions should never be made with a completely top-down approach. The same goes for developing a school culture.

While the leadership team may internally set the tone for the school culture, its success hinges on the buy-in of the staff. If the staff does not believe in the school culture, the culture (and the benefits) will never take root. You can begin developing a positive and joyful school culture by getting your staff involved as much as possible. After all, they are the ones in the classrooms and hallways – they know the current culture of the school and have excellent ideas on how to refine and reframe it to meet the end goal.

If you are a new leader to your school, don’t expect to come into your new role and completely revamp the school culture immediately. Change takes time. Staff need to get to know who you are as a leader and person before they will get behind you to become real agents of change in a school environment. Instead, seek to learn more about the current culture and the key players who could make the biggest positive impact. During your time, be transparent and clear with your what, your why, and your how so that your new team sees your dedication to positivity.

If you have been a leader in your school for a while and are ready to finally make a step in the direction of developing a positive school culture, get your team involved right away. Create an environment for collaboration and get your staff involved with the end result and goal. Then, use your new school culture goals as the guiding point in your decision-making process throughout the day. For example, when creating a strategic plan for your district, updating curricula, or creating a new e-Learning process, determine how you can incorporate your school culture into the final choices.

It takes time, energy, and effort to actively change a school culture. It’s not easy, but our jobs never are. Stay the course and keep your ultimate goal of a joyful school culture top of mind during your time with students, staff, parents, and partners. You’ll begin to see sure signs the culture is changing and blossoming sooner than you may think.

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