Reference no: EM133620304
Assignment: Education
Each writing assessment prompt is designed to focus on one specific aspect of this course. It is an opportunity to explore the topic in depth in a narrative response that integrates practical experience, research, and reflection. In your response, be sure to include at least three scholarly research citations, and one of those must come from the required course text.
Focus: School Culture and Climate
Role: Your principal unexpectedly won the lottery, and you were assigned the new building principal for your current (real life) school.
Problem: You must assess the current school climate and culture. There have been reports of parent dissatisfaction with the school culture, teacher responsiveness, and inclusiveness on the part of students and parents. You need to understand if these are true or just "office gossip".
Prompt: Respond to all the guiding questions below to assess the reality of the situation you have inherited. Create a 400-500 written narrative that clearly and comprehensively addresses all questions. Identify any gaps or areas of concern, and then develop a 90-day plan to address them. Your action plan can be a MS Word or Excel table included in your narrative.
Guiding Questions:
If you were a parent and walked into a school, what might you see or hear there that would cause you to say to yourself: "I would like my own child to attend this school"?
Looking at the school setting, do your goals include "what we want"? Explain your answer. What is "high-level learning"? What does it include?
Most educators recognize the subtle influence of institutional regulations on the school culture; with this in mind respond to the following questions:
Question A. How do teachers and other staff treat the students?
Question B. When students go to the office, are they kept waiting while the office staff talks?
Question C. Are student requests treated as unwelcome interruptions?
Question D. Are all students regarded as either real or potential troublemakers?
Question E. Are students permitted to assume genuine responsibility for their achievements?
Question F. Are the rules for attendance and homework sufficiently flexible to accommodate individual circumstances?
Question G. Are students permitted to establish and maintain a culture that systematically discriminates against peers?
Question H. Are bullying and its effects on its victims tolerated?
Question I. What types of beliefs might find their way into a school's philosophy and have the potential to drive practice?
Question J. What staff attitudes, if universally adopted, might set the stage for a school culture of learning and success?
Question K. As the school leader, how would you help staff and parents explore the school's beliefs and their impact on the school?