Shaping School Culture: Pitfalls, Paradoxes, and Promises

A Guide for Shaping Your School's Culture

In this thoroughly revised and updated edition of their classic book, Shaping School Culture, Terrence Deal and Kent Peterson address the latest thinking on organizational culture and change and offer new ideas and strategies on how stories, rituals, traditions, and other cultural practices can be used to create positive, caring, and purposeful schools. This new edition gives expanded attention to the important symbolic roles of school leaders, including practical suggestions on how leaders can balance cultural goals and values against accountability demands, and features new and powerful case examples throughout. Most important, the authors show how school leaders can transform negative and toxic cultures so that trust, commitment, and sense of unity can prevail.

Praise for Shaping School Culture

"For those seeking enduring change that is measured in generations rather than months, and to create a legacy rather than a headline, then Shaping School Culture is your guide."
—Dr. Douglas B. Reeves, founder, The Leadership and Learning Center, Englewood, CO

"Deal and Peterson combine exquisite language, vibrant stories, and sage advice to support school leaders in embracing the paradoxical nature of their work. A 'must read' for all school leaders."
—Pam Robbins, educational consultant and author

"Once again, the authors have presented practitioners, researchers, professional developers, school coaches, and others with a tremendous resource for renovating and reinvigorating schools."
—Karen M. Dyer, Ed.D., group director, Education and Nonprofit Sector Office, Center for Creative Leadership, Greensboro, NC