Everyone is influenced by their work environment. At the same time, individual actions shape the environment in which we work. The rhythm and flow of the workday affects our commitment, productivity, motivation and mental well-being.

Culture is the DNA of the workplace. History, rituals, boundaries and beliefs determine how things are done. The pandemic taught us endless lessons about dealing with unprecedented events. History was upended. Rituals disappeared. Boundaries were erased. Beliefs changed. Untangling the knots ignited by the lockdown continues to impact our learning communities today. For many educators, moving forward has proven easier said than done.

The culture made us do it Sociologists have long recognized the importance of school culture. But it wasn’t until the late 1970s when Harvard scholar Ron Edmonds uncovered a direct link between culture and achievement. In describing a safe and orderly climate conducive to learning, Edmonds wrote, “[A] school’s atmosphere is orderly without being rigid, quiet without being oppressive, and generally conducive to the business at hand” (Jerald, 2006).

Following the 1999 release of “Shaping School Culture,” the topic became mainstream in education circles. In their bestselling book, Deal and Peterson made a compelling case that school reforms would continue to fail unless leaders examined ways to use stories, rituals, traditions and other vital elements to create caring and purposeful work environments. Over time, a rich sense of history, positive beliefs and assumptions about the potential of all learners, collective action, shared responsibility, a widely held sense of respect, rituals that reinforce cultural values and celebrations of success have come to symbolize affirming school cultures.

Since COVID-19, how many of us have taken the time to reseed our culture to grow a “new better?” Schools that are thriving have kept their teachers connected to a meaningful purpose and each other. And we know that an engaged and motivated staff leads to better student outcomes. However, engagement doesn’t happen naturally. In America, we function in a world of telling and selling. Logic and linear thinking are used to make our point and then get to work on what needs doing. Teachers have a mere 180 days each year to affect the lives of a student. Direct communication is considered the best and quickest way to teach what needs to be taught and test what needs to be tested.

Inside the lily pond To drive instructional practices that put students in a better position to achieve, principals have to look beyond what’s quick or easy. Foremost scholar Edgar Schein suggests that cultures operate on many levels. On the surface, it’s “how we do things around here.” But, for a staff to row together, one must go deeper.

Schein suggests that culturally driven practices should be viewed as a lily pond. “How we do things here” is the surface level. It’s all the leaves, starry flowers and aquatic tranquility of the top of the pond. But the explanation of why people do things a particular way requires us to look at the root system: What’s feeding the plants and flowers? What’s the history of the pond? And who planted what? Without probing at the reasons why teachers do things a certain way, principals maintain only a superficial view of instructional practices without understanding the underwater creatures and nutrients that are feeding them.