Method:

We use a combination of one instrument and a series of observations to assess school climate.

1.  We administer a climate questionnaire developed by the Caines at irregular intervals during our work with a school.

2.  We observe the extent to which the practices and protocols of our small group, process learning circles, becomes natural within the group, and the extent to which core practices such as deep listening become natural in classrooms and the school.

3.  We observe the degree of staff participation in, control of and initiation of procedures, programs and protocols in a school.

4.  We use a mix of our own observations and teacher/administrator reports to assess

• The interactions between students and teachers and non-teaching members of staff;
  

• The interactions between teachers, school staff and parents;
  

• The behavior of students (such as the degree of orderliness and the absence of frantic rushing) between classes;
  

• The stories students tell of what happens in and beyond their classrooms;
  

• The extent to which students both initiate changes and are invited to participate in changes to and maintenance of procedures in a school;
  

• The degree of positive affect ( a general sense of well being and lightness) in the school as a whole.
  

Rationale:       

The capacity of educators to grow and of students to take risks and learn in depth depends on there being a climate of relaxed alertness in a classroom and in a school.  This is a stimulating and challenging climate where risks and mistakes are assumed to be natural aspects of learning for meaning and competence, and where learning itself is both demanding and joyful most of the time.

Objective: 

Develop and sustain a climate of relaxed alertness in classrooms and thoughout a school.

School Climate

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