KAI YU, XIANGYUN DU & XIAOJU DUAN，School Culture Development in China-Perceptions
of Teachers and Principals，River Publishers，2014
School culture is playing an
increasingly important role in school performance and educational development. Within
the national campaign in China for the innovative and sustainable development
of education, local governments in Beijing Municipality have encouraged and
facilitated educational innovation toward better school culture. In recent
years various initiatives have been undertaken by a select group of schools to
develop strategies and further action toward innovation and change.
This book documents an investigation of how
teachers and principals perceive school culture development in China. A survey
was conducted among 1,992 informants from 37 schools(located in four different
districts) in Beijing Municipality. The
results of this study indicated that the respondents had overall positive perceptions
of school culture construction and development in the educational change
process. In general, they showed a positive attitude toward the school culture improvement
initiatives, reported satisfaction about their current school culture and held
confidence in the direction their school culture is heading. The study demonstrated
that certain factors, such as school geographical location and respondents’ job
duty, job title, and gender, make a difference in how participants perceive
their school’s culture. Teachers and principals from a
less economically developed district had less awareness of, involvement in, and
understanding of school culture development in all its aspects. A notable gap
between teachers and principals was identified in their perception of the core
values and norms of the school and of communication between teachers and
principals. This study suggests that for educational development to be further carried
forward successfully, there is an urgent need for better distribution of
educational resources (both financial and leadership), common understanding,
agreed –upon goals, and efficient communication between
principals and teachers.
