School climate and school culture directly affect how successful
your students will be. As a result, it is crucial for the school and the
classroom culture to reflect, acknowledge, and celebrate diversity.
Schools must recognize not only the diversity evident between
broad ethnic groups (e.g., Asian or Hispanic) but also the diversity within these
groups.
Teachers also need to engage in an interesting balancing act.
They need to recognize how unique each student is. At the same time, they will
need to treat students equally and giving them equal chances for success and
equal access to the curriculum, teachers and administrators must recognize the
uniqueness and individuality of their students.
Teachers have a particular responsibility to recognize and
structure their lessons to reflect student differences. This encourages
students to recognize themselves and others as individuals. It also encourages
creates a sense of connection between students who have disparate cultural
heritages within one school culture.
Recognizing and acknowledging our differences is part of
treating students fairly and equally. School organizations and curricula are
based on the needs and values of the societies they represent. Approaches to
education emerge based on political and social structures and are replete with
heroes, values, symbols, rituals, and norms.
As the American social structure expands to include a more
diverse population, our schools must expand the curriculum to reflect a more
global community. Students today will live as adults in a society more
accepting of diversity, and one where global influences are more apparent. They
must be prepared to live in that world. American schools attempt to monitor
learning through nationally standardized assessment instruments such as the Criterion
Reference Competency Test (CRCT), American College Testing (ACT), and the
Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT).
Schools emphasize particular topics and fields of study and use
mastery of these subjects to determine grade progression and the ability to gain
admission to college. Schools also use age-level grouping, along with periodic
assessment of students’ skills and knowledge, to regulate class sizes and
progressions through a structured system of learning. Progress reports are
frequent. In addition to these academic learning activities, state-mandated
drills are held to learn school procedures for fire safety, inclement weather,
and other emergency situations.
Most school systems implement a district-wide policy controlling
disciplinary infractions with guidelines for truancy, suspension, and other
serious infringements. Each of these processes and procedures reflect certain
values of American society, such as the need for structure and order, the
desire to maximize potential, the desire to recognize achievement, and the
importance of multiple opportunities for individual success.
The customs and regular practices that reflect our beliefs and
value systems with regard to education make up a school’s culture. The
structure of school boards, districts, superintendents, and curriculum
committees resembles the structure of the national government. It also
parallels the values of a largely Protestant, capitalist population, with an
emphasis on individual accomplishments, competition, and equality.
School infrastructure also reflects the cultural inequities and
imbalances of the larger society. Even though the widely accepted values,
norms, assessments, and practices described here are indicators of school
culture, schools may have individual school climates. Educators have debated
about the definition of school climate but haven’t developed a single, accepted
definition. Some argue that the feelings and attitudes of teachers, students,
staff, and parents are influenced by a school climate that is based on intangibles.
Hunt and coworkers have suggested that school climate has four
domains and that to achieve a positive school climate, these domains must have
the following characteristics:
- Physical Safety. The physical
environment must be safe, and welcoming, and must support learning.
- Social Relationships. The school
must encourage positive communication and interaction among students,
teachers, and the wider community.
- Emotional Environment. Students
must feel emotionally supported to encourage high self-esteem and a sense
of belonging.
- Academic Support. The academic
environment must be conducive to learning and achievement for all
students.
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