SUNDAY NIGHT BLUES

“Culture is how our hearts and stomachs feel on Sunday night about Monday morning…”

I could never think of a truer statement. I guess the other way it could be said would be “the Sunday night blues.” A friend of mine, former colleague, recently posted this quote on social media and it took me back to my doctoral dissertation research. Prior to launching myself into a three year journey to earn my EdD in Educational Leadership and Administration, I worked at a school campus where culture, climate and teamwork were just words, but never lived out in action. Quite the opposite, honestly. I am grateful, though, for that experience for it encouraged me to dive into the doctoral journey and conduct my own research.

I have always been passionate about education. Equally, I have been passionate about retaining quality teachers within the field to ensure that our students have the best of the best. If we are hiring for every position year after year, we are starting over year after year — constantly retraining the team. At this specific campus, I watched hundreds of teachers come and go between several years. I knew something was not right — there had to be a secret ingredient. Valentine (2004) defined school culture as the guiding beliefs, assumptions, and expectations that are evident in the way the school operates, whereas school climate is the feeling and attitude that is elicited by a schools' environment. These, collectively, impact motivation, sense of belonging, and ultimately retention.

Theodore Roosevelt once said, “[people] do not care how much you know until they know how much you care.” What I found in my research is that people want relationships deeply rooted in trust where they are empowered and have autonomy. But, they are also recognized for their contributions and value added. They want to be seen, heard, valued, and respected. This is met with high expectations and accountability for all. The leader is present and visible. It’s a team effort and collaboration is championed, feedback is welcomed, and disagreements do not end in turmoils.

When this type of space is created, individuals have a sense of belonging, unity, and direction championed behind one common goal, but there is a collective positive school culture and school climate. 

A 2004 study found that spaces that have the best culture and climate had the following components:

(1) principals that viewed themselves as collaborative leaders, as did their teachers. (2) principals and teachers shared a common core of values and beliefs that guided programs and practices, including high expectations for all students, education of the whole child, all students will be successful, and a dedication to a coherent curriculum, student-centered instruction, and the effective use of formative and summative student data. (3) Teachers were also strongly committed to collaboration, fulfilling school-wide roles as decision-makers, coordinators of professional development, and leaders in the efforts to improve classroom instruction across the whole school. (4) School structures, such as student and adult schedules and physical arrangements of classrooms, were designed to foster collaboration and relationship building among students-teachers, students-students, and teachers-teachers. (5) Principals and teachers indicated that building “relationships” among adults was a major factor in creating their effective school cultures, with principals and teachers regularly discussing the importance of relationships and the part relationships play in the difficult decision-making, problem-solving tasks that a faculty/staff must address.

Culture is not a compliant checklist. I explain it as the 5 pillars: relationships, trust, empowerment, autonomy, and recognition. It takes all of these components, collectively, to create a positive space. If you only focus on recognition, you only have the tip of the iceberg. The hard work comes at fostering those relationships deeply rooted in trust by getting to know individuals at the core level, appreciating things that you may not understand, and seeking to understand by listening. Our school spaces are a sense of family. Our teachers and students want to be seen, heard, valued, and respected.

Let us move away from the spaces that encourage the Sunday night blues, but instead, let’s foster spaces of hope and belief that yield high motivation and high teacher retention, but also incredible student outcomes and student experiences/opportunities. If we cannot find the light, we must be the light.

Go shine, friends!

Dr. C