Week 26 - Professional Context
Stoll (1998) identifies organisational culture as the invisible powerful force that influences the members’ behaviour. A school’s culture is shaped by a number of factors such as the school history, the background of its students, national educational policies, and societal changes.
Because we are a state-integrated Catholic school we draw from a wide geographical location. This means that we don’t necessarily have data regarding the socioeconomic status of our families but we do know that they range from affluent families to those with very low incomes. The school’s maximum roll is 450 students, we are rated Decile 6, and the climate of the school is welcoming and busy. Being a multicultural school means that we have a very clear idea of the ethnic backgrounds of our children, with 45% of our children being European, 21% Maori, 22% Asian (mostly Filipino and Indian), 9% Pasifika, and 3% other. We celebrate our melting pot, and try very hard to ensure that each student feels valued, and ‘at home’. We fly the flags of their countries, and we have a number of school community groups - Whanau Ropu, Pasifika Fono, Filipino group and an Indian group - which allow us to build partnerships with these communities within our school, to understand what is important to them, and to ensure that we are meeting the needs of their children. 
It is our special character though, that permeates every aspect of our school. Our vision is “with Christ at our centre, we are a community of learners who are striving to develop confident, connected, actively involved life-long learners”. The special character is the very reason that many parents send their children to our school. Not only is it integrated into all aspects of our school’s learning, the daily timetable and its physical environment, but it is simply a part of us all. It is the lens through which we view the world, and it is “the way we do things around here” (Stoll, 1998). We begin and end the day with prayer, we attend school masses and liturgies and we see physical representations of special character everywhere - altars, crucifixes, holy pictures, and outside each classroom are inspirational words of our founder, Mary MacKillop, Saint Mary of the Cross. All of this contributes to the fabric of our children’s values based education. 
Our principal talks of striving for a culture of inclusiveness, where all children have the same opportunities as their peers, regardless of income, ethnicity and achievement levels. If a child is unable to afford sports fees or equipment, or camp fees, ICT devices or books, we somehow make it happen. The school owns a number of devices for use in classrooms, so that those children who do not own their own Chromebook are able to learn seamlessly with their peers. We are blessed with a community that generously helps each other out. If a family is in need, there is always an outpouring of food, funds or furniture to assist. As the school librarian, I can always find books to give to those children with few books at home.
Ed Dunkelblau, Director of the Institute for Emotionally Intelligent Learning says that culture and climate are largely created by the people within the school. Because the staff are a constant, relative to the students, they tend to have a far greater input into the culture and climate of a school, and as such greater responsibility for intentionally ensuring its positivity.
Within our school, the professional environment is one which values learning. We are all learners, and the staff, lead by the principal, strive to keep up to date and continue to grow and improve professionally. At times, I have seen our teaching staff feeling somewhat overwhelmed with learning and PD, and would appreciate more time to further embed any new learnings. But they are a dedicated group and usually rise to the occasion. Staff are very supportive of each other, and ‘rally round’ when the need arises. Our staff room is noisy and often full of laughter. At present the middle school operates in innovative learning environments, and by the end of next year the junior school will too. Added to this, with nine staff members studying through the Mind Lab, the culture of collaboration is growing strong with staff willingly sharing ideas, resources and successes.
I believe that the culture of our school plays an enormous role in its success - in its achievement rates, in its ability to attract students and in its capacity to create a very stable, productive and dedicated staff.
References
St Mary’s Catholic School Charter (2016).
Stoll, L. (1998). School Culture. School Improvement Network’s Bulletin 9. Institute of Education, University of London. Retrieved from http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Culture/Understanding-school-cultures/School-Culture
Hi Ruth, your blog certainly gives insight into the special character of your school. It is interesting how the Catholic values influences the culture of your school and impacts on the way professional practice is conducted in your school. I know what you mean when you say at times PD can be overwhelming. Staff need time to absorb the changes and new learning that is part of their practice. It certainly sounds as if you have a very committed staff with so many of you studying Mind Lab there will be no shortage of collaboration and communication.
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