The Creation of a successful organisational culturein an independent school

Abstract

According to the available literature, schools with a positive organisational culture are more effective and will probably achieve better results. This study investigates the way in which a positive school culture is formed. It focuses on the role of the leadership of the principal in developing an organisational culture of an independent school. This qualitative study scrutinises one specific school in a group of several independent schools in South Africa and compares the school culture of the original school (between 1971 and 1974) to the current school culture as manifested in the last four years (2009- 2012). Data was gathered through interviews with the founder of the school, interviews with current teachers and the current principal, document research of artefacts as well as observations made by visitors to the school in a professional capacity. The data recorded was analysed in terms of a "levels of culture" model proposed by Edgar Schein (1985) by looking at what “the school” said about itself, what “the school” and the principal did, and what things look like. Furthermore, a study was made of what is seen as acceptable behaviour and unacceptable behaviour followed by what is regarded as important and not important in the school. The answers to these questions were used to determine the assumptions that members of the school community hold about the nature of the school. The analysis of the school’s culture aimed to determine how this school’s past is living in the present and what role the leadership of the principal played in shaping the school’s culture. All of this was done to determine how school culture is formed, so that other schools can also use the methods identified in this study to identify their own school’s culture and find ways of changing it. The researcher concludes that the formation of a school culture can be controlled and manipulated towards a positive outcome and ways of doing this are identified. It is also found that the culture of the specific school in this study seems to have been well-defined and positive throughout its history and that the leadership of the principal plays a significant role in the success of the school.