What is culture?
It’s a word we hear all the time, in lots of different places and contexts – but what does it really mean?
The culture of a group, I believe, is the ideas and behaviours that it accepts and rewards.
Culture permeates everything we do; what we believe in, what we support and what we stand up for.
The culture of a college must be clearly defined, and positive. This has prompted the beginning of a process in all high college classrooms at CCSC. The goal is for the students to create a framework to keep themselves accountable, that is, to define the behaviours they accept. To ensure ownership, we asked the students to define their purpose for being at CCSC, how they wish to be described and what behaviours they will accept.
The process began with students describing the behaviours they currently see within their learning space, and what they would like to see for optimal learning. This encouraged each student to think about and suggest some behaviours which would be required to achieve this optimum environment of learning.
The process is incredibly collaborative and the students have relished the opportunity to shape their own learning culture. The students initial suggestions have been collated and they are about to hone their purpose, trademarks and behaviours into one meaningful poster to be displayed within the learning space.
The next phase is for the students to nominate leaders within their space who demonstrate the behaviours and trademarks listed on their poster to form a student leadership committee.
Below are some pictures of the students in action and Stage 4 Behavioural Framework.
Stage 4 Final Product
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