Abstract:
This qualitative case study examined the school culture of an urban elementary school
and the implementation of a school-wide positive discipline program. Focus groups, interviews,
observations and document review were used to understand the existing culture and gather
perceptions from staff members and students regarding their opinions of the adopted program.
The study used Schein’s (2004) theory of organizational culture and Nodding’s (Noddings,
2005) theory of educational caring as the theoretical framework. The staff members and
principal desired to implement a positive discipline program in order to find a better way to
discipline students that would preserve student dignity and teach students alternatives to
inappropriate behavior. The Effective School Discipline program was chosen to be implemented
schoolwide, and all staff received training in the use of this program. Although teachers cared
about students and voiced their desire to respond to student misbehaviors in a positive manner,
the implementation of Effective School Discipline was not successful due to a school culture
which did not allow for professional dialogue or risk-taking to occur. A significant level of
distrust existed between the principal and the teachers which hindered the program’s
effectiveness. Although the implementation of Effective School Discipline did improve some
teacher/student interactions on a limited scale, the programs misuse or nonuse by most staff
members reflected the underlying assumptions which existed at the school’s deepest cultural
levels. The findings of this study suggest that a healthy school culture is cornerstone to
successful school reform. School leaders should work towards creating schools which have
collaborative professional learning communities, distributed leadership models, and a high level
of trust among all stakeholders in the organization.
