The principal's arrival in each classroom was, of course, a big event to both students and teachers. Although principals are enormously influential, they alone cannot shape the culture of a school, Peterson said. Culture is the accumulation of many individuals' values and norms. It is a consensus about what's important. It's the group's expectations, not just an individual's expectations.
Teachers are especially important in influencing the direction of a school's culture.
Teachers connect with other teachers, with their students, and with the parents of their students. When teachers are sending a shared cultural message, that message reverberates throughout the entire school community. As a veteran principal, Vydra believes no school can improve unless it has a culture that supports improvement and collaboration and a shared vision for what it wants to achieve. She also believes fervently that a school will improve only if it has a culture of caring. If teachers don't feel cared about, they can't perform at optimum levels.