Creating a Positive School Culture

Principals and teachers have very different perspectives, pressures, and struggles. As a result, problems of negativity, isolation, or censure often develop among staff members. This may cause principals and teachers to spend a tremendous amount of energy addressing these issues instead of focusing on their primary goal—improved student achievement.
Creating a Positive School Culture provides strategies for understanding and solving staff problems, preventing conflicts, and enriching school climates. By combining therapeutic knowledge with day-to-day educational experience, the authors offer innovative solutions for overcoming many energy- and morale-sapping problems, including gossip, cliques, negativity, and competition.
To help engage and inspire readers, this volume includes:
- Teacher and principal interview excerpts
- Concise case examples of school culture problems
- Step-by-step guidance for school culture interventions
- Best practices culled from the authors' extensive research
- Ready-to-use tools, including school culture surveys and staff development exercises
Based on more than 200 surveys and interviews with principals and teachers, this practical guidebook clearly explains how administrators, teachers, parents, and staff can all work together to solve problems and build a culture of caring and respect.

Marie-Nathalie Beaudoin: Marie-Nathalie Beaudoin, Ph.D. is the Training Director of the Narrative Therapy program at Bay Area Family Therapy Training Associates (BAFTTA) where she supervises the counseling of doctoral interns in schools from three school districts in Silicon Valley, California. She has published numerous professional articles, has been featured in several magazines such as the California Educator and Educational Leadership, and is known internationally for her entertaining, thought provoking, and inspiring workshops. She lives in Silicon Valley, CA.
Maureen Taylor: Maureen Taylor is an educator in Northern California. Her background includes teaching preschool through sixth grade and being an environ­mental educator. Her main interests lie in teaching science and writing, two subjects that gently unfold for the learner. Taylor is currently devel­oping a program for children blending art, environmental education, and social issues.