Another fascinating insight from Asha Alexander, Principal of The Kindergarten Starters, Dubai.
The school's 'Open Doors' initiative is having a huge impact and making some waves across the UAE!
Read more about this initiative
here.
Changing a Culture
A cultural change requires a deep understanding of what a
culture is and how cultures grow. When organizations embark on cultural change,
they often do not recognize the culture they presently have. People create
cultures. Some are deep-rooted and define everything that happens in the
organization. Others are transient and shift with changing leadership and
staff. To change a culture, one must have a vision of what that change would
bring.
Very recently our school decided to open its doors to the
parents in a way we had never done before. We welcomed them into classrooms to
evaluate lessons and give us their feedback. One of the reasons it met with the
success it did was that parents were eagerly waiting to be a part of this
process of teaching and learning. They wanted their kids to succeed even more
than we did and we were keeping at bay thousands of people who would actually
be able to help us achieve our goals.
There has to be buy-in if a culture has to change and there
must be a need that is felt by all the people connected to that organization.
As parents visited lessons, there were changes in perceptions. They began to
understand the teaching learning process that hitherto lay hidden. They
recognized challenges and above all they were helpful in providing constructive
suggestions because they wanted the school in which their kids were studying in
to become an even better place. We had placed our trust in them and they
returned that in ample measure. It became clear to us that changing a culture
meant that everyone who were associated with the organization had to embrace
that change. We were trying to effect changes keeping thousands of parents who
were integral to our organization with a limited understanding of what was
happening. Every person is key. Each one contributes to culture. We were not
trying to cobble together what worked for others but we were trying to make a
mosaic of all the patterns of thought that existed within our own organization.
At times, when leaders look at effecting a cultural change
they try to do what others are doing in the hope that similar results will
accrue. People have to live the behaviours that will result in the change and
it will not happen if they don’t understand how these behaviours fit in to
their organization. Every organization is unique and must create its own
culture; singularly different from all others and as distinctive as your finger
prints.
The other thing I learned about culture is that it changes
slowly and imperceptibly at times, it grows organically in pockets within a
large institution and sometimes it can engulf the entire populace because it is
so relevant. Open Doors is a wonderful step in growing our culture because we
have embraced the parent community as an integral part of our growth process.
Every parent’s thoughts and ideas are welcomed as we try to recognize how this
is helping to shape our vision of our school. Cultures need to stay open and
have outlets, else they tend to stagnate. Every person that comes into your
culture ‘contaminates’ the minds with new ideas and we begin to think in new
ways about old practices. This is a necessary part of growth in a culture. This
is what adds and revitalizes the life in the organization.
Finally, there is a need to sustain a culture even as it is
growing. There is a need to prune and trim and guide the growth so that its
shape inspires others to live that culture. When a culture is in place you look
at things differently. You search for opportunities that will help your culture
to grow further rather than jump into everything that looks like an exciting
opportunity. Cultures usually don’t develop if there is nothing within to
sustain that growth. You need challenge and opportunity. You need celebration
and recognition. You need to let go off some things and embrace some others.
Above all, you need to nurture that culture that is so unique to you. If you
understand that people make cultures, then you need to nurture the people. You
need to communicate ideas, be receptive to thoughts, reflect and refine. The
process is unending but definitely worth your while as you create an
organization that is singular- one that bears the collective stamp of its
people.
