Transforming School Culture: How to Overcome Staff Division Kindle Edition

This is must read book for any administrator serious about understanding the reasons behind toxic school cultures and using strategies to transform them into positive environments. Anthony Muhammad identifies 4 key types of educators and explains how each impact school culture. This typology was very helpful and intensely intriguing. It has given me a much more profound understanding of the needs of staff members that I didn't know how to identify in a productive improvement model previously. Yet, a critique I have of Muhmmad's descriptors is that I suspect staff can sometimes fall into different categories depending on the issues facing them. For example I could see how someone could be both a philosophical believer and a tweener if they're a veteran educator who is new to a school. Muhammad overlooks this possibility. The author also provides useful strategies on how to transform school cultures while keeping the needs of the 4 groups of educators in mind, all with the goal of minimizing the impact of the group, fundamentalists, that contributes most to school toxicity. I highly recommend this book for school and district administrators who impact school and district cultures. Teachers who seriously want to understand school cultures will also find this book valuable, especially teacher leaders. This book is one of those books that has the potential to have enormous impact on our schools; I encourage educators, especially administrators to take Muhammad's suggestions to heart as you evolve your professional practice to better shape schools that seek to enhance doing what is best for students.

The subtitle of Anthony Muhammad's new book Transforming School Culture is "How to Overcome Staff Division." This is a note of caution for all those contemplating the adoption of commercial Professional Learning Communities (PLC). If PLCs are so important in helping students learn at high levels why are they producing staff division?Well, according to Muhammad, "Cultural change is a much more difficult form of change to accomplish. It cannot be changed through force or coercion" (p. 16). Muhammad here affirms cultural changes cannot be had through force or coercion yet he later claims that it can be used against those he calls "Fundamentalists." "Once the transformation takes shape at these levels, leaders should be able to isolate the Level Four Fundamentalists and use monitoring and coercion to force a change in behavior or a change in scenery" (p. 96). Muhammad cannot have it both ways. Staff division comes as a result of coercive application of PLCs.Muhammad's book is typical of the commercial PLC genre in which the mantra is students learning at high levels ought to be our moral purpose. Those schools who do not adopt this mantra are "toxic" (p. 13-14). Teachers who steadfastly resist this mantra are labeled by the author as Fundamentalists.He cites the work of Dan Lortie (1975) who asserts that traditional teacher socialization may start as young as 5 years old through an "apprenticeship of observation" (p. 62). Traditional teachers may change but not by coercion. Muhammad accuses those who do not change as Fundamentalists even though their personal and professional socialization was well out of their control. His description of Fundamentalists becomes shrill with statements like, "Fundamentalists thrive in a culture of slander and defamation" (p. 107).He is critical of teachers' unions (p. 10) and says that teachers are in "...institutions that have been established to buffer educators from change and accountability"(p. 16). Muhammad has also conjured up new terms such as Old Contract/New Contract (p. 63), Educational Pathology (p. 84). He also traffics in the tragedy of firefighters in Mann Gulch Montana and South Canyon Colorado (p. 85) to explain what he believes is the illogical resistance of Fundamentalists (p. 96).The chief value of this book is that it demonstrates the fuzzy thinking within the commercial PLC genre and the contempt held for traditional teachers.Dr. John MerksTeacherRiverview High SchoolRiverviewNew BrunswickCanada

It seems necessary to review this book as I work with new groups. When building a plan, it useful to think of the categories to anticipate issues and when the team is familiar with the book, the plan is easily developed and patience is anticipated.

This isn't ivory tower blather. This book is honest to goodness reality for leaders in education. The research executed to create chapter 7 is practical and thoughtful. It is easily the most impactful chapter I've read in my career. Whether or not you want to be an administrator should not limit your selection of this book. If you want to help make an impact and understand other colleagues with different perspectives and how to reach them - this is THE definitive book I've read thus far.

I read this for my masters degree program. It was well organized and clearly outlined many of the personnel struggles that Educational leaders face.This book was clearly written and I thought he offered good in sight to the different folks that are educators.I recommend this for current and future leaders in education. It is an easy read that I completed in a couple of nights

Book presents a structured view of essential problems of teaching in today's environment. It is a bit anecdotal at times, and seems to slant anti-union. Also tends to ignore some of the realities of being human and trying to educate others at the same time.

Very helpful resource as to the awareness of the impact a positive or negative school culture has. Also provides good examples of how to work with, as opposed to in opposition to people in schools. Really, great read!