This module is designed to introduce educational leaders to an organizational assessment tool called a "culture audit." Literature on organizational cultural competence suggests that culture audits are a valuable tool for determining how well school policies, programs, and practices respond to the needs of diverse groups and prepare students to interact globally. Data gathered from culture audits can guide school and community-wide strategic planning efforts to close achievement gaps, promote prosocial behaviors, and develop global competencies.
We offer the collaborative inquiry-action cycle as a framework for principals’ practice and principal preparation. The cycle is a pragmatic tool that does not prescribe behaviors or contexts. Moreover, the cycle does not represent another programmatic solution or model for leadership. Rather the power of the cycle is that it drives collaboration, inquiry, and action as anchors for improving teaching and learning. The cycle uses these anchors to advance the knowledge, skills, and dispositions of principal candidates so they become inquiry-minded and action-oriented. Finally, this framework can be used by pre-service principal preparation educators to fulfill three important functions: (1) provide a realistic educational experience for future school principals, (2) move away from a strict adherence to standards (what is taught) toward advances in the pedagogical experiences for students (how curriculum is taught), and (3) to meet external accreditation mandates.
Although educational leaders may be optimistic about initiating change, lasting reforms are rare. The group polarization literature, although dated, provides an important explanation for a very current problem. The theory holds that when there are differences of opinion to begin with, a counter-conformity effect works among members of groups. Rather than descending upon some group consensus, individuals and factions within the larger group become more divided with time. Such ‘group polarization’ works against maintaining the critical mass that any reform requires and offers at least one explanation for why educational reforms at the local level fail.
This manuscript has been peer-reviewed, accepted, and sanctioned by the National Council of Professors of Educational Administration (NCPEA) as a significant contribution to the scholarship and practice of education administration. In addition to publication in the Connexions Content Commons, this is published in the International Journal of Educational Leadership Preparation, Volume 4, Number 1 (January - March 2009), formatted and edited by Theodore Creighton, Virginia Tech. See Supplemental Links. This publication aligns with the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISSLC) Standard 6: "An education leader promotes the success of every student by understanding, responding to, and influencing the political, social, economic, legal and cultural context."
The need to redesign principal preparation programs for increasing student achievement has been realized by universities across the nation. This example of the design and implementation process of a new school leadership program contributes to the knowledge base. The reality check is in the lessons learned and challenges faced.
The professional knowledge base is replete with theoretical postulations, research findings, and practitioner reflections on school improvement, school climate, and school culture. However, surprisingly little has been written that explains the complex ro
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