Abstract

This Australian case study explored the implementation of strategies to support the development of a positive school culture among whole school staff. A participatory action research approach was used to involve leadership staff in the development of a mixed method assessment of the school organisation. Baseline data from the School Organisational Health Questionnaire (n = 28) and qualitative data from focus groups (n = 15) were collected and presented to the leadership team who identified four foci for the study: appraisal and recognition, participative decision-making, professional growth and supportive leadership. After a range of interventions, findings from both post-test surveys (n = 22) and qualitative data (n = 30) suggested a change in leadership style was a key factor of school cultural change across all factors. The case study highlights a number of visible strategies that were employed to increase morale and improve staff wellbeing.

RAS ID

29189

Document Type

Journal Article

Date of Publication

2020

Funding Information

Edith Cowan University’s Industry Collaboration Scheme

School

School of Education / Edith Cowan Institute for Education Research / School of Arts and Humanities

Publisher

Sage Publications

Comments

This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of: Morris, J. E., Lummis, G. W., Lock, G., Ferguson, C., Hill, S., & Nykiel, A. (2020). The role of leadership in establishing a positive staff culture in a secondary school. Educational Management Administration & Leadership.48(5), 802-820. Available here

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Link to publisher version (DOI)

10.1177/1741143219864937