School Restructuring in Practice: Reckoning with the Culture of School

The realization that existing educational institutions do not adequately promote the ful l educational devel­ opment of children especially children who are poor, of color, and have a first language other than En­ glish has existed for several decades. Although strategies have been developed to address these issues, to further new ways of thinking about education, and to create alternative structures, the outcomes of these strategies appear less than effective. This failure is at least partly due to an underestimation of how the culture of school (Goodlad, 1975 ; Sarason, 1982 , 1990; Purkey and Smith , 1985 ; Deal , 1987) constrains school change. If the culture of school is a concept that helps explain the difficulty of altering norms and be­ havioral regularities in schools, then finding ways to alter a school culture should provide a foundation for restructuring schooling and education . To develop and explore ways o f overcoming the ob­ stacle of existing school culture, the author and col­ leagues are engaged in a collaborative, five-year proj­ ect ! with two schools serving one geographic area of a medium-sized southwestern city. Some project goals have focused on the local needs of the community served by the schools. Three-fourths of persons over 18 in the community do not have a high school diploma or GED, almost forty percent of the popula­ tion l ives at or below the poverty level , and many first­ grade students do not speak English . However, the project's research goals have focused on larger issues about . education and restructuring. When we began our work at the project school , we