Have Your Say - Top Risks for Schools in 2024
Subscribe

How do I Create a Culture of Awareness? What Actions from the School Community can be Taken?

29/06/16
Resources

This is the third and final article in a three part series on culture in schools. In this series, Craig D’cruz, National Education Consultant at CompliSpace, explores how schools can create a culture of awareness regarding child sexual abuse, which is increasingly required by legislation. In Part Three of this series, Craig will be examining how a school community can develop a culture of awareness in a school. 

Actions that are expected to elicit cultural change within the whole school community need to be communicated through a variety of methods - to ensure that the message is captured by ALL members of the community.  The following lists set out actions that may be taken by teachers, other staff, parents, students and other members of the school community.

At teacher level

  • Teachers must emulate, enact and work to the standards set by the board and the principal at all times. They need to show the executive, their colleagues, the parents and wider community and above all the children, the behaviours that are expected and the positive outcomes that will result from these behaviours.
  • Lesson plans that will guide and instruct the students regarding their expectations and responsibilities.
  • Lesson plans that deliver developmentally appropriate protective behaviours curriculum to students - developed by experts in child abuse prevention.
  • Empower the children to know that it is acceptable and appropriate to report an issue of child abuse to a teacher, regarding themselves or a friend.
  • Development of teaching aides, posters and so forth that ensure that the message is displayed in all classes and that it is incorporated into lesson plans and into all aspects of day to day school life for all children.
  • Development of a reward basis for the display of the preferred behaviours (and to a lesser extent a punitive system for negative behaviours).
  • The children will often, if they are taught effectively, take the ideas home and stress their value to their parents. This further reinforces the home/school relationship.
  • Constant communication- and repetition.

At other staff level

  • There is no reason why all staff in the school cannot attend the same professional development sessions regarding expected behaviour changes and have the same levels of accountability.
  • Managers of non-teaching staff need to emulate, enact and work to the standards set by the board and the principal at all times. They too need to show their colleagues and junior staff, the behaviours that are expected and the positive outcomes that will result from these behaviours.
  • In addition, managers need to be prepared to work with their staff to ensure that the expected behaviours become part of their day to day work habits.
  • Cultural change involves everyone in the school community- it includes the cleaners, grounds staff, administration staff, nurses, education assistants, bus drivers and so on. Schools must ensure that no-one is missed. It is not appropriate for some staff, who by being excluded, think that this is not their responsibility.
  • Constant communication- and repetition.

At parent and community level

  • Involvement of the parent community and the wider local community through the Parents and Friend’s (P&F) Association through the attendance of meetings, presentation of the vision, mission and ethos and the policies and procedures that will direct and guide behavioural change- getting the parents to take these concepts home will further reinforce the cultural change. Having school and home on the same playing field means that cultural changes, if required, will develop faster and more effectively.
  • Having the P&F on board to ensure that the message get out to all parents.
  • Presentations at P&F Meetings by the board and the principal- to show that this issue is important right across the whole school.
  • Bringing in specialist speakers to discuss the changes required and the result in positive benefits.
  • Constant communication- and repetition.

At student level

  • Schools need to define their curriculum around their culture. The total curriculum is not just the syllabus for each year group. It is also what was sometimes referred to as the unseen or ‘hidden curriculum’ that helps to shape and define culture. This is also more appropriately referred to as the explicit curriculum and the implicit curriculum. A school's culture should not be underground and assumed. It should be uncovered, openly and purposely discussed, assessed, and developed. A total school culture of awareness must be as explicit as the school’s approach to teaching and learning.
  • Cultural change involves every student in the school community and it begins with the children in Kindergarten or Pre-primary. For example, if a school places great emphasis on ensuring that outstanding teachers are placed in these classes, then the children will quickly commence to understand the ethos and culture of the school. During their 13-14 year tenure at the school, the school culture will simply become a part of their norms, values and beliefs- it will be ingrained in the way that they act and react to each other and to the adults in their life and to their learning environment.
  • Culture develops and grows up through an accumulation of ‘actions, traditions, symbols, ceremonies, and rituals that are closely aligned with the school vision’ (Fisher, Frey and Pumpian 2012). The more often that children are exposed to these actions and traditions, the greater will be their adoption of and integration into the school culture.

In addition, a positive school culture of awareness must be based on a positive school climate. In 2007, the National School Climate Council spelled out specific criteria for what defines a positive school climate, including:

  • Norms, values, and expectations that support social, emotional, and physical safety.
  • All people (staff, students, volunteers, parents etc) are engaged and respected.
  • Students, families, and educators work together to develop and live a shared school vision.
  • Educators model and nurture attitudes that emphasise the benefits gained from learning.
  • Each person contributes to the operations of the school and the care of the physical environment.

Schools need to remember that children also bring their own cultural norms with them. The older that they are when they enter school, the more probable that they will bring their own beliefs or cultures from other schools into the school. How will they assimilate or will they simply form, with other like-minded students, their own sub-culture, clique or enclave? How does your school address student induction programs?

There have been many scholarly articles written about school culture, the development of school culture and the importance of having a positive school culture. However, if schools are serious about placing child safety as their first and foremost priority, then the development of a culture of awareness, if it is not already present, must become a priority. The changes in legislation regarding child protection are the government’s means of ensuring ongoing change. What will be your school’s means of ensuring lasting and positive cultural change in the area of child protection?

Share this
About the Author

Craig D’cruz

With 39 years of educational experience, Craig D’cruz is the Principal Consultant and Sector Lead, Education at Ideagen CompliSpace. Craig provides direction on education matters including new products, program/module content and training. Previously Craig held the roles of Industrial Officer at the Association of Independent Schools of WA, he was the Principal of a K-12 non-government school, Deputy Principal of a systemic non-government school and he has had boarding, teaching and leadership experience in both the independent and Catholic school sectors. Craig has also spent ten years on the board of a large non-government school and is a regular presenter on behalf of Ideagen CompliSpace and other educational bodies on issues relating to school governance, school culture and leadership.

Resources you may like

Article
Sextortion: A Growing Concern for Schools

Trigger warning: This article references sexual assault, child abuse, and suicide.

Read More
Article
Changes to the Australian Consumer Law – What Schools Need to Know

Many schools rely on standard form contracts to avoid the time and cost of drafting and negotiating...

Read More
Article
The SG Wrap: February 29, 2024

The information in the SG Wrap is aggregated from other news sources to provide you with news that...

Read More

Want School Governance delivered to your inbox weekly?

Sign up today!
Subscribe