Practices in different school cultures and principals’ improvement work

Abstract

This article deepens the knowledge of practices within school cultures and their dynamics in relation to improvement work. It investigates: Which practices can be identified in school improvement among principals at upper secondary school level? How are these practices shaped? How do they promote or prevent the improvement work of the principals? Three of six identified practices challenged the planned improvement. The significance of the study is the practice perspective which visualizes and concretizes the complexity within school cultures in relation to the dynamics of improvement work; it illuminates changes and subcultures as well as external factors shaping the culture. The practice perspective used in the study avoids descriptions of general culture types and results based on experiences, which are common challenges within school culture research. The study suggests researchers conduct practice analyses to illustrate complexity within school cultures and improvement.

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Assessing Organizational Culture: An Important Step for Enhancing the Implementation of Junior High School-Based Pesantren

“…Perspektif praktik yang digunakan dalam penelitian menghindari deskripsi jenis budaya umum dan hasil berdasarkan pengalaman, yang merupakan tantangan umum dalam penelitian budaya sekolah. Studi tersebut menyarankan para peneliti melakukan analisis praktik untuk menggambarkan kompleksitas dalam budaya sekolah dan peningkatan (Nehez & Blossing, 2020). Isyarat-isyarat yang ditunjukkan dalam paparan teori perilaku organisasi antara lain budaya organisasi terbentuk sebagai penguat nilai dalam mencapai tujuan organisasi, oleh karena itu dibutuhkan keselarasan tujuan dan strategi, adanya persamaan asumsi dasar, sehingga organisasi berjalan stabil dan menjaga life cycle organisasi atau kelompok (Birnbaum, 2000).…”

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