Great Cultures: Inspiring And Building Lasting Paradigms

Great cultures aren’t created overnight. As the saying goes, “Rome wasn’t built in a day, but they were laying bricks every hour”. For schools looking to develop or improve their current culture into a great culture, there are options out there.

K12 students generally spend most of their time in two places: at school and at home. The most important aspect to consider though when developing a great culture in either place is the message.

Great Cultures: Building a Better Environment

Every place has a culture. We have school cultures. We have home cultures. But what does one mean when they say, “culture”? Culture is how people actually behave and treat each other on

a consistent day-in and day-out basis. Culture is what you see, hear, and feel.

So our children spend most of their time in these two cultures. What are they seeing, hearing, and feeling in discussions, in the classrooms, and out on the playground? This is their school culture.

And what are they seeing, hearing, and feeling on the walls, in the living room, and around the dinner table and play area of their home? This is their home culture.

Do they feel loved, accepted, inspired, supported, validated, and understood? Are they trusted to make their own decisions? Do they have a clear understanding of expectations? Do they have opportunities to discover their unique genius?

Is there anything that is connecting our home and school cultures? Why would it matter? What are the benefits of making the connection, of providing consistency between cultures? I invite you to stop and think about this for a minute. How would creating consistency between the two cultures help you as a parent? How would it help your school and the teachers? How would it help your child?

These are all wonderful questions to ask yourself and to ask your staff. The answers given at school should give some direction to the message needed to promote a safe and positive school culture. The answers given at home should inspire the entire family.

Having consistency between healthy cultures promotes a feeling of safety, provides stability, offers consistent expectations of behavior and attitudes, and creates opportunities for success. It also creates added strength and support to these individual cultures. It creates an environment for synergy, where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

How can we as parents create a culture at home that appropriately aligns with the culture at school? No matter where we live, what school our children attend, or how old they are, they are all leaders in their own unique way because they have greatness within them. Parents have the opportunity to create a culture in their homes that reflect that paradigm. We can create a culture that inspires greatness—at home and at school.

Together, we can inspire greatness.