Effect of school culture on school improvement in a secondary school in Maldives Aminath Moosa

Abstract

The main objective of the research was to explore the relationship between school culture and school improvement in a secondary school of the Maldives. It also aimed to identify the culture practiced in the school and whether school culture has any impact on school improvement. This study was a qualitative design. To get an effective result for this research, in depth data was obtained and the data collection of this research was based on the epistemological belief of the inductive approach which make sense of a perspective without having magnificent beliefs or expectations about the study. In this study data was collected using in-depth interviews. The data was collected from six staff of the school through in-depth interviews. After that the interviews were transcribed and the data was analyzed by inductive content analysis. The data analysis indicated that there were main six factors which affect the school culture and school improvement of the school studied in the research. These six factors are the main themes of the study. They are leadership, teamwork, communication, motivation, qualification and stakeholders. The sub themes for leadership were principal and leading teachers. Moreover, the sub themes for teamwork were cooperation, unity, relationships, taking responsibilities and personal traits. Additionally the sub themes for stakeholders were parental relationship and political issues. The study also found out different ways to improve school culture and school performance. Those ways are by having a strict principal who can take firm decisions, energetic leading teachers and teachers who can take their own responsibilities and cooperate with each other. School culture can be improved through different activities which motivate teachers like gatherings. The study provides implications for the school, policy makers, educationists and to the community.