Over a quiet evening cuppa last week I engaged in a little channel surfing on TV and discovered one of my favourite movies of all time, The Castle.
Amidst some of the great lines in Australian cinematic history like “Tell him he’s dreamin’” and “Dad, I dug a hole” there’s also one scene with some hilarious relevance to School Leadership.
Asked to describe the Australian Constitution, bumbling lawyer Dennis Denuto, battles to eke out “You know, it’s the vibe”. You laugh out loud, but you also manage to feel somewhat sorry for poor old Dennis. Unfortunately, he just has no idea what he’s talking about.
Sadly, there’s a little bit of Dennis in us as School Leaders when it comes to School Culture. We know School Culture matters but when we’re asked to define it we bumble along using vague, ethereal terms like “vibe”, “atmosphere” and “feel”.
This has to stop. After all – how do you develop, enhance, design, transform or sustain something as important as School Culture when you don’t even know what it is … and specifically what yours is.
As such, we have a completely free opportunity for you to define your culture and see a pathway forward. Our Real Schools Cultural Survey is designed to let you know where your cultural defaults are, what AITSL Standards are appropriate to focus on and what whole school foci can take your school forward. And you’ll have your school’s tailored cultural report in your hand with just 15 minutes of your time.