Blogs

Culture: Do you know what you believe in?

If you cannot decide what your beliefs are, you should give up trying to create a culture in your school. Katharine Birbalsingh explains how they went about creating the culture of Michaela Community School


When visitors come to Michaela they often comment on our distinctive school culture. As they walk through the corridors, observe lessons and speak with staff, it is clear to them that the culture in our school is quite different from schools elsewhere.

They often ask me how they can achieve a similar culture in their own schools. But, as I speak with them, it quickly becomes clear that one of the reasons why they struggle is because they are not sure what a “culture” really is.

I completely understand why this happens: we have repeated the word so often that we now do not know what it really means.

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