School Improvement, Innovation, and Toxicity

Curriculum and instructional expertise are absolutely critical in educational leadership. When I went to work on my second master's degree, and I received it in curriculum and instruction. There is ample evidence to assert that educational leaders must be highly confident as instructional leaders.

However, it's not necessarily the curriculum and instruction that makes school improvement last. Actually, an excellent curriculum and instructional program can exist without schools improving. Improvement requires more than curriculum and instructional expertise.

School Improvement is About People

When people are engaged, learning, and focused on shared goals, they have collective purpose. There's an energy in the building that's not present otherwise. Collective purpose enable teams to function at high levels. 

Teacher teams and leadership teams are the engines of improvement with the find a shared purpose. Continuous improvement is the result when people, not programs, are the center of our efforts.

We can have unstoppable progress. But only when we focus on people.

Yes, the curriculum and instruction lies at the heart of education. It is our business just like Exxon-Mobil, Chevron, or Shell have oil at the heart of their business. However, it is not the oil that makes those organizations great. It is the people.

When teams are involved and committed to shared goals and work towards those goals, it creates a culture. The routines and work habits that are developed collectively begin to define the campus. The people are the culture, and the culture defines a school's success.

Innovation Makes a Healthy Culture

More than other important factors, innovation is a leading contributor to a healthy culture. Innovation is the great intrinsic motivator. It is the anchor of commitment, the wellspring of passion.

When teams within schools work towards goals, they seek to find solutions to the challenges holding them back. It is the role of leadership to create a culture where innovative solutions can flourish.

There will be risk and failure. Mistakes will be made. Such is the messiness of innovation. A leader or principal who understands this can be prepared to support this "messiness". (Read here how Fear of Failure can Destroy a Campus).

Teachers and staff will, in turn, find excitement and fulfillment in collaborating and finding solutions that actually work! They will be enthused by the freedom to be creative and overcome challenges. All without the fear of failure, because they know it is part of the innovative and learning process.

Toxicity

On the flip side, a toxic school culture is evident by fear, conflict, resentment, and a lack of school improvement. In Transforming School Culture, Anthony Muhammad explains it this way:

"...teacher relations are often conflictual, the staff doesn't believe in the ability of the students to succeed and a generally negative attitude prevails...Educators create policies and procedures and adopt practices that support their belief in the impossibility of universal achievement."

When a culture goes toxic, it does not matter what curriculum or instructional program is implemented. It will fall short. People are at the heart of school improvement, they deserve a healthy culture.

Read more on school improvement and culture:

• School Improvement is More than Curriculum and Instructional Expertise
• Buy-In is Cheap: Involvement Creates Lasting Success

It's hard work, but a principal can get a campus back on track if it is on the path to toxicity. Here are 23 Tips to Boost Staff Morale!