School Culture: Approaching a Complex Concept
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15359/ree.19-2.16Keywords:
School culture, organizational culture, school environment, school grammarAbstract
Studies about school culture have made important contributions to understand what happens inside the school. Nevertheless, the way in which school culture is conceptualized varies significantly. Through a literature review from the 70s to the present day, this paper explores the different meanings adopted by the concept of school culture in the educational field. This paper is organized in four sections, and it begins with a description of the most common ways of defining school culture. This is followed by a review of the theoretical and methodological perspectives in which the concept is framed and used. Thirdly, the ways of organizing information on school culture used by researchers working from different theoretical perspectives are presented. Finally, two related concepts –school climate and school grammar, are reconsidered and compared to school culture. The information presented shows the different approaches used in studying school culture and the frequent overlapping with the concepts of school environment and school grammar. However, the ambiguity in the definition gives the concept of school culture a great theoretical potential by providing multiple tools to understand what happens inside schools.References
Allaire, Y. y Firsirotu, M. E. (1984). Theories of Organizational Culture [Teorías de cultura organizacional]. Organization studies, 5(3), 193-226. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/017084068400500301
Argyris, C. y Schön, D. (1976). Theory in Practice: Increasing Professional Effectiveness [Teoría en la práctica: Aumentando la eficacia profesional]. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Bower, M. (1966). The Will to Manage: Corporate Success Through Programmed Management [La voluntad directiva]. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Brown, R. (2004). School Culture and Organization: Lessons from Research and Experience. A Background Paper for The Denver Commission on Secondary School Reform [Cultura escolar y organización: Lecciones de la investigación y la experiencia. Artículo sobre antecedentes para la Comisión de reforma de educación secundaria de Denver]. Recuperado de http://www.dpsk12.org/pdf/culture_organization.pdf
Cavanagh, R. y Dellar, G. (2001). Secondary School Culture and Improvement: Teacher, Student and Parent Perspectives [Cultura de las escuelas secundarias y mejora: Perspectivas de docentes, estudiantes y padres]. Presentado en Annual Conference of the Australian Association for Research in Education, Sydney, Australia.
Deal, T. E. y Peterson, K. D. (1990). The Principal’s Role in Shaping School Culture [El rol del director en la conformación de la cultura escolar]. Washington, DC.: Office of Educational Research and Improvement.
Deal, T. E. y Peterson, K. D. (2009). Shaping School Culture: Pitfalls, Paradoxes, & Promises [Configuración de la cultura escolar: Dificultades, paradojas y promesas]. San Francisco: Josey-Bass.
Deal, T. E. y Kennedy, A. A. (1982). Corporate Cultures: The Rites and Rituals of Corporate Life [Culturas corporativas: Los ritos y rituales de la vida corporativa]. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Firestone, W. A. y Louis, K. S. (1999). School as Cultures [Escuela como culturas]. En J. Murphy y K. S. Louis (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Educational Administration: A Project to the American Educational Research Association [Manual de investigación en administración educativa: un proyecto de la Asociación Americana de Investigación Educativa] (pp. 297-322). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Fullan, M. (1995). The School as a Learning Organization: Distant Dreams [La escuela como una organización que aprende: Sueños lejanos]. Theory into Practice, 34(4), 230-235. doi: 10.1080/00405849509543685
Fullan, M. (2002). El significado del cambio educativo: Un cuarto de siglo de aprendizaje. Profesorado, revista de currículum y formación del profesorado, 6 (1-2), 1-14. Recuperado de http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00405849509543685
Fullan, M. y Hargreaves, A. (1999). La escuela que queremos: Los objetivos por los cuales vale la pena luchar. Buenos Aires: Amorrortu. Recuperado de http://www.entrerios.gov.ar/CGE/adminconsejo/DOCUMENTOS_PNFP/eje%203/EJE-3AMPL_LA-ESCUELA-QUE-QUEREMOS.pdf
Geertz, C. (1973). The Interpretation of Cultures [La interpretación de las culturas]. New York: Basic Books. Recuperado de http://monoskop.org/images/5/54/Geertz_Clifford_The_Interpretation_of_Cultures_Selected_Essays.pdf
Goodlad, J. I. (1975). The Dynamics of Educational Change: Toward Responsive Schools [Las dinámicas del cambio educativo: Hacia escuelas con capacidad de respuesta]. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Goodlad, J. I. (1984). A Place Called School [Un lugar llamado escuela]. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Hargreaves, A. (1996). Profesorado, cultura y posmodernidad. (Cambian los tiempos, cambia el profesorado). Madrid: Morata.
Hargreaves, D. H. (1995). School Culture, School Effectiveness and School Improvement [Cultura escolar, eficacia escolar y mejora escolar]. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 6(1), 23-46. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0924345950060102
Julia, D. (Junio, 2001). A cultura escolar como objeto histórico [La cultura escolar como objeto histórico]. Revista Brasileira de História da Educação, 1, 9-43. Recuperado de http://www.rbhe.sbhe.org.br/index.php/rbhe/article/download/273/281
Kowalski, T. J. y Hermann, K. (2008). Evaluating the Culture of High Schools in Relation to their Demographic Characteristics and Performance [Evaluación de la cultura de las escuelas secundarias en relación con sus características demográficas y su desempeño]. En W. Hoy y M. DiPaola (Eds.), Improving Schools: Studies in Leadership and Culture [La mejora de las escuelas: Estudios en liderazgo y cultura] (pp. 55-72). New York: Information Age Publishing.
Lieberman, A., Saxl, E. R. y Miles, M. (1988). Teacher Leadership: Ideology and Practice [Liderazgo docente: Ideología y práctica]. En A. Lieberman (Ed.), Building a Professional Culture in Schools [Construcción de una cultura profesional en las escuelas] (pp. 148-166). New York: Teachers College.
Maslowski, R. (2001). School Culture and School Performance [Cultura escolar y desempeño escolar] (tesis de doctorado). University of Twente, Enschede, the Neetherlands. Recuperado de http://www.ub.utwente.nl/webdocs/to/1/t0000012.pdf
Morgan, G., Frost, P.J., y Pondy, L.R. (1983). Organizational Symbolism [Simbolismo organizacional]. En L.R. Pondy, P. J. Frost, G. Morgan, y T. C. Dandridge (Eds.), Organizational Symbolism [Simbolismo organizacional] (pp. 3-35). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
Owens, R. G. (2001). Organizational Behavior in Education: Instructional Leadership and School Reform [Comportamiento organizacional en educación: Liderazgo instruccional y reforma educativa] (7a ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Schein, E. H. (1985). Organizational Culture and Leadership [Cultura organizacional y liderazgo]. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Schoen, L. T. (2005). Conceptualizing, Describing, and Contrasting School Cultures: A Comparative Case Study of School Improvement Processes [Conceptualización, descripción y comparación de culturas escolares: Un estudio de caso comparativo de procesos de mejora escolar] (tesis de doctorado). Louisiana State University, Louisiana. Recuperado de http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-01262005-072743/unrestricted/Schoen_dis.pdf
Schoen, L. T. y Teddlie, C. (Junio 2008). A New Model of School Culture: A Response to a Call for Conceptual Clarity [Un nuevo modelo de cultura escolar: Una respuesta al pedido de claridad conceptual]. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 19(2), 129-153. Recuperado de http://www.academia.edu/180057/A_new_model_of_school_culture_A_response_to_a_call_for_conceptual_clarity
Smircich, L. (Septiembre, 1983). Concepts of Culture and Organizational Analysis [Conceptos de cultura y análisis organizacional]. Administrative Science Quarterly, 28(3), 339-358. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2392246
Stoll, L., y Fink, D. (1996). Changing Our Schools [Cambiando nuestras escuelas]. Buckingham, England: Open University Press.
Stolp, S. (1994). Liderazgo para la cultura escolar. Clearinghouse on Educational Policy and Management. Recuperado de http://www.ericdigests.org/2003-3/escolar.htm
Tagiuri, R. y Litwin, G.H. (Eds.). (1968). Organizational Climate: Explorations of a Concept [Clima organizacional: Exploraciones de un concepto]. Boston: Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration.
Teddlie, C. y Reynolds, D. (Eds.). (2000). The International Handbook of School Effectiveness Research [Manual internacional de investigación sobre eficacia escolar]. New York: Falmer Press.
Tyack, D. y Cuban, L. (2001). En busca de la utopía. Un siglo de reformas de las escuelas públicas. México: Fondo de Cultura Económica.
Tyack, D. y Tobin, W. (1994).The “Grammar” of Schooling: Why Has it Been so Hard to Change? [La “gramática” escolar: ¿Por qué ha sido tan difícil de cambiar?] American Educational Research Journal, 31(3), 453-479. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.3102/00028312031003453
Van Houtte, M. (2005). Climate or Culture? A Plea for Conceptual Clarity in School Effectiveness Research [¿Clima o cultura? Un llamado a la claridad conceptual en la investigación sobre eficacia escolar]. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 16(1), 71-89. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09243450500113977
Viñao, A. (2002). Sistemas educativos, culturas escolares y reformas. Continuidades y cambios. Madrid: Morata.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
1. In case the submitted paper is accepted for publication, the author(s) FREELY, COSTLESS, EXCLUSIVELY AND FOR AN INDEFINITE TERM transfer copyrights and patrimonial rights to Universidad Nacional (UNA, Costa Rica). For more details check the Originality Statement and Copyright Transfer Agreement
2. REUTILIZATION RIGHTS: UNA authorizes authors to use, for any purpose (among them selfarchiving or autoarchiving) and to publish in the Internet in any electronic site, the paper´'s final version, both approved and published (post print), as long as it is done with a non commercial purpose, does not generate derivates without previous consentment and recognizes both publisher's name and authorship.
3. The submission and possible publication of the paper in the Educare Electronic Journal is ruled by the Journal’s editorial policies, the institutional rules of Universidad Nacional and the laws of the Republic of Costa Rica. Additionally, any possible difference of opinion or future dispute shall be settled in accordance with the mechanisms of Alternative Dispute Resolution and the Costa Rican Jurisdiction.
4. In all cases, it is understood that the opinions issued are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position and opinion of Educare, CIDE or Universidad Nacional, Costa Rica. It is also understood that, in the exercise of academic freedom, the authors have carried out a rogorous scientific-academic process of research, reflection and argumentation thar lays within the thematic scope of interest of the Journal.
5. The papers published by Educare Electronic Journal use a Creative Commons License:
The articles published by Educare Electronic Journal can be shared with a Creative Commons License: 
