Product Description

Just as culture is critical to understanding the dynamics behind any thriving community, organization, or business, the daily realities and deep structure of school life hold the key to educational success. Reforms that strive for educational excellence are likely to fail unless they are meaningfully linked to the school's unique culture. In Shaping School Culture, Terrence E. Deal and Kent D. Peterson show how leaders can harness the power of school culture to build a lively, cooperative spirit and a sense of school identity.

The authors draw from over twenty years of research on school improvement as well as from their own extensive work with school leaders across the country to identify viable new strategies for effective school leadership. They describe the critical elements of culture—the purposes, traditions, norms, and values that guide and glue the community together—and show how a positive culture can make school reforms work. Deal and Peterson also explore the harmful characteristics of toxic cultures and suggest antidotes to negativity on the part of teachers, students, principals, or parents.

Using real-life cases from their own research, Deal and Peterson provide concrete, detailed illustrations of exemplary practice in different school cultures. They reveal the key symbolic roles that leaders play in school change and identify the specific skills needed to change school culture successfully. Shaping School Culture provides an action blueprint for school leaders committed to transforming their schools for success.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #25985 in Books
• Published on: 1999-02-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

Review
"Nothing is more important about a school than its culture. No one occupies a more influential position from which to influence a school's culture than its principal. And no guidebook presents a better, more approachable path toward understanding and building a school culture than this one. I wish I had had Shaping School Culture beside me during my own turbulent years as a school principal!" —Roland S. Barth, educator and author of Improving Schools from Within

"Every successful school leader knows that culture is everything! Deal and Peterson offer principals and other school leaders a genuinely useful guide to recognizing, nurturing, and reshaping the cultures of their schools. This practical book demonstrates the many cultural roles that school leaders play and provides clear, helpful examples of how effective leaders apply their knowledge of culture to improve their schools." —Laraine Roberts, director of research and development, California School Leadership Academy

"Deal and Peterson 'marinate' the reader in a wealth of stories, anecdotes, case studies, and strategies--all of which vividly illustrate how school leaders can shape the culture of their schools in order to make an impact on student learning and achievement. This book is a must read for school leaders at all levels." —Karen M. Dyer, executive director, Chicago Academy for School Leadership

From the Back Cover
"Nothing is more important about a school than its culture. No one occupies a more influential position from which to influence a school's culture than its principal. And no guidebook presents a better, more approachable path toward understanding and building a school culture than this one. I wish I had had Shaping School Culture beside me during my own turbulent years as a school principal."
— Roland S. Barth, educator and author of Improving Schools from Within

"Every successful school leader knows that culture is everything! Deal and Peterson offer principals and other school leaders a genuinely useful guide to recognizing, nurturing, and reshaping the cultures of their schools. This practical book demonstrates the many cultural roles that school leaders play and provides clear, helpful examples of how effective leaders apply their knowledge of culture to improve their schools."
— Laraine Roberts, director of research and development, California School Leadership Academy

"Deal and Peterson marinate the reader in a wealth of stories, anecdotes, case studies, and strategies— all of which vividly illustrate how school leaders can shape the culture of their schools in order to make an impact on student learning and achievement. This book is a must read for school leaders at all levels."
— Karen M. Dyer, executive director, Chicago Academy for School Leadership

About the Author
Terrence E. Deal is clinical professor at the Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California, and consultant to business, health care, military, educational, and religious organizations worldwide. He is author or coauthor of numerous book, including the best-selling Leading with Soul and The Leadership Paradox.

Kent D. Peterson is professor in the Department of Educational Administration at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and founding director of the Vanderbilt Principals' Institute. He is author or coauthor of many books including The Leadership Paradox.

Customer Reviews

Very Insightful
This book was used in a graduate class I was attending while pursuing a Master of School Administration degree. It is very easy to read and is a resource that every school administrator should have. Schools are a community and have a culture all their own. The authors provide a wealth of information that enables one to understand what "school culture" is and how to build a positive school culture. I highly recommend this book to anyone who works in a school or other organization that serves children and adolescents.

Interesting Read
In Shaping School Culture: the Heart of Leadership, Terrence Deal and Kent Peterson illustrate that nothing is more important in schools than culture. They believe that school culture is vital to the success of schools. The authors state that "the culture of an enterprise plays the dominant role in exemplary performance" (p. 1). At first, I was skeptical. I did not believe that culture was more important than structure, strategy, goals, or management. I believed that culture was something that played a role in atmosphere and changed from year to year with the staff. I quickly came to realize that culture is the heart of schools and is a stable element.
The reason I was skeptical is because I did not believe that my school had much of a culture. I thought about a few traditions and pondered the high turnover among staff. This book opened my eyes to the fact that our school does have a relatively strong culture and that many of the changes that were made were based on our core norms.
In the first part of the book Deal and Peterson examine the components of school culture including values, beliefs, assumptions, and norms (p. 26).The authors expand upon this and include rituals, ceremonies, stories, architecture, artifacts, and logos in school culture. The authors use examples to distinguishing positive cultures from toxic cultures. This was interesting to me because I could see that the last two principals at our school did a great job of building school culture. They had revised our school motto, mission statement, and value statement. They had established rituals and ceremonies. They had started programs that included year-long rituals and ceremonies. These were all positive steps towards a better school culture. I was also better able to understand the toxic cultures within our school and how these subcultures create negative school environments for the students and the staff.
The second part of the book shows principals how to create a positive culture in their schools. The key components discussed are examining, reflecting, and reflection on events that have shaped culture in their schools. The final and most crucial component for establishing school culture is executing a plan of action. The last few chapters of the book are filled with advice on how to improve school culture such as developing student-centered mission and value statements, building upon established traditions and values, recruit staff that share values, and sustain core norms (p. 116).
The authors forced me to think about the relationships between school rituals, artifacts, ceremonies, symbolism and our school culture. I realized that our school has a great foundation on which to base school culture. I enjoyed this book because it challenged my previously held beliefs about my school. I was also impressed with the author's strategy for changing school culture and the components they outlined for a positive school culture (p. 117).
After reading this book I believe that nothing is more important about a school than its culture.

Excellent Resource
I found this to be an excellent resource for any educational leader who is looking to create a positive school environment. The authors give many real life examples of leaders who changed the culture of their school and detail how they went about making this change. There are many practical ideas that any leader could begin incorporating right away.

In addition, the book is well written. This is not "heavy" reading, but nonetheless I have found myself returning to it time and time again for ideas and inspiration.

If you are wondering how one person could possibly make a difference in a school, this book will help show you the way.