Reviving the Professional Culture

Reviving the Professional Culture

Gabriel Gonzalez

Grand Canyon University: EAD 513

June 30, 2021

Scenario Summary:
Reviving the Professional Culture

As an outsider coming into the school, I tried to be objective in assessing the existing

culture and climate. If I were to sum this up in one word, it would be “divided”. In terms of staff

morale, it's low. This can be evidenced by the mass exodus that took place throughout the year.

Not only did the school administration change mid-year, but the school lost seven of its forty-

five teachers. There is not a strong sense of community or school loyalty, which reflects a

disconnect between those within the school. “A culture will be strong or weak, depending on the

interactions between people in the organization.” (Shafar, 2018) In order to revive the school, we

must first work on enhancing these interactions and work to build a TEAM rather than just a

collection of employees. In the past, the school lacked cohesiveness. They did not utilize

professional learning communities and collaboration. There was no push for fidelity to the

curriculum. Most importantly, the administration did not participate in completing evaluations.

The biggest setback from this was that there was no push for teachers’ professional growth, no

support given to these teachers, and expectations were consequently very low. However, this

school itself is newly established. There is room to grow, with nine entirely new positions

allocated in the budget. Additionally, there are seven positions to fill behind the teachers who

resigned. This amounts to sixteen new positions, which in turn will make 30% of the faculty

new. This freshness does present an excellent opportunity for change. We can implement

systems which promote collaboration and professional growth. We can use the expertise of the

incoming teachers to inspire those who are already here. “To build a strong team, it’s important

to define roles and relationships of team members. This starts from understanding everyone’s

strengths within the department” (Serviss, 2021). In order to create this, there must be a clear

plan of action. In the past, this school has not given a push for professional development. While

there is a published PD plan for the school, actual opportunities have not been offered.
Reviving the Professional Culture

Additionally, district directed development days are unstructured and have no focus on

collaboration. In order to move forward successfully, the Maynard High School will need to

adopt a new climate and culture which prioritizes collaboration, community, and achievement.

Mission, Vision, and Outcomes:

I have accepted the position as principal of Maynard High School. As such, I am taking

on the responsibility of creating an environment where both my staff and my students will thrive.

In order to do that, there needs to be a plan of action to guide us. This can be summed up in the

following mission, vision, and outcome statements:

Mission Statement: At Maynard High School, we strive to cultivate lifelong learners by

providing a healthy, equitable learning environment, promoting
positive relationships, and embracing personal growth.

Vision Statement: Every student will be fully prepared, emotionally and academically, to
be a productive, successful, and future ready citizen.

Intended Outcomes: Short-Term Outcomes:

1) Provide an adequate learning experience for each student by
filling all staffing gaps with qualified teachers.
2) Develop a positive school culture through the implementation
of professional norms.
Long-Term Outcomes:
1) Adopt student-centered teaching practices which embrace
student differences in order to provide a personalized learning
experience for each student at Maynard High School.
2) Establish systematic, evidence based social-emotional learning
practices for every student to foster their success as learners,
community members, and citizens of the world

I believe that these statements represent the culture I am trying to promote as a principle. The

mission statement represents the standards we will hold ourselves to as a school. It describes

both our objectives as well as the approach to reaching these objectives. The vision statement

describes the aspirations or goals of our school. While these statements are very important to our
Reviving the Professional Culture

plan, they are a bit broad in their reach. This can be narrowed using specific outcome goals.

These goals are meant to represent actionable attributes (University of Wisconsin-Madison,

2021), items that can be measured and evaluated.

Plan for success:

It is one thing to have goals for success, but in order to see these to fruition, there must be

clear and immediate actions taken. In an effort to create a culture for success, I plan to

implement a few changes.

1. Establish an adequate, qualified, and unified faculty.

The first and most crucial step in cultivating a positive culture is ensuring that the school itself

can be both safe and effective. The biggest barrier here is the major staffing shortage within the

school. Of the fifty two teaching positions at the school, sixteen are still unfilled. Hiring qualified

educators to fill these positions needs to be the first priority. This is also a fantastic starting point

for setting the tone of the desired culture. As I am searching for candidates through interviews, a

guiding focus will be how their philosophy meshes with the culture I wish to create. Through the

process, I will focus on scouting candidates who value collaboration and development on a

professional level. As this is happening, I will begin to deliver this same message to existing staff.

I would first introduce stakeholders at every level to the mission and vision I have established.

From here, I would ask for feedback and input on implementation of these items. I will then use

this feedback as data to sculpt professional development planning for staff. During the beginning-

of-year PD sessions, I will put an emphasis on training staff in our mission, vision, and goals.

This will ensure that we begin the year with qualified, prepared, and unified classroom leaders.

2. Create programs/policies that compliment the unique demographics within the school.
Reviving the Professional Culture

The second critical action I plan to take is to embrace and support the unique demographics of

our students. I will send out a student needs survey in order to gather this data. From there, I will

look at the existing programs and policies that our school has, and decide which best fulfill these

needs. I would then evaluate which programs are not serving a necessary purpose and use the

return of investment planning model to select new programs that would bring more benefit to the

students. This will create a student-centered environment which ensures that each student is

supported and feels valued. This in turn will enhance student achievement because their more

basic needs are fulfilled and they can more wholeheartedly embrace academia.

3. Support partnerships to embrace the values, cultures and opportunities within the

community.

The goal of the education system is to create citizens who are able to function in and contribute to

their society. In order to do this, I plan to integrate more of the community that these students are

part of in our school planning. The community offers a lot to these students. Not only are students

given an opportunity to immerse themselves in the cultures around them, but the community

provides real world opportunities a school can only simulate. I will do this by supporting job

training and career oriented events. Additionally, I will begin initiatives to integrate work-study

programs within the academic plans to encourage career path oriented on the job training. For

example, if a student is an inspiring mechanic, they could apprentice with a community mechanic

and earn school credit while they do it. This will increase student achievement because it will

enhance relevance and engagement.

4. Maintain transparency in advocating for students' needs.

A school exists to serve its students. In its time so far, this school has lost sight of that. I plan to

counteract this by maintaining transparency with our motivation. Every decision will tie back to

our mission and vision and will be made with student well-being in mind. This will begin with
Reviving the Professional Culture

the needs survey. In this, I want to make it clear to every single student that they are valued and

that we are here for them. I will explain during our staff PD days that professional learning

communities, evaluations, and the push for professional development are an effort to ensure that

students are getting the best version of them. This includes the need for staff development and

support as well. Teachers can never know what teaching works best for their students unless they

are given the freedom to try out new strategies.(Miller, 2020). As the principal my job is support

staff in supporting students and I will do this by showing trust in my staff to do as they see best

fit. I will publicly share our mission, vision, and outcome goals with the community and embrace

any support, input, and suggestion that they are willing to give. In the end, this will support

student achievement because it will embrace their specific needs and ensure that each student

feels included, important, and valued.

Reviving the Professional Culture

References

Miller, A. (2020, January 04). Creating Effective Professional Learning Communities. Retrieved
June 30, 2021, from https://www.edutopia.org/article/creating-effective-professional-learning-
communities

Serviss, J. (2021, May 13). 4 benefits of an active professional learning community. Retrieved
June 30, 2021, from https://www.iste.org/explore/professional-development/4-benefits-active-
professional-learning-community

Shafer, L. (2018, July 23). What Makes a Good School Culture? Retrieved June 30, 2021, from
https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/uk/18/07/what-makes-good-school-culture

Writing Student Learning Outcomes. (n.d.). Retrieved June 30, 2021, from
https://assessment.provost.wisc.edu/student-learning-outcomes/writing-student-learning-
outcomes/