Culture Questions From Claude Part I

The Assistant Principal Podcast

Before we get started, I have two quick announcements

1. I’ve been hearing a strong interest in how to support beginning teachers. I went into some key practices last year in episodes 214 and 215, so if you are in the mode to think about how to support your BTs (and ECTs), give a listen to episodes 214 and 215

2. The July 22 episode of The Assistant Principal Podcast we feature a panel discussion with myself and five assistant principals. Some are national/state AP of the Year awardees and others are just wrapping up their first year as assist principals. The focus of our discussion is being a first year AP! We would love to hear from you. If you have questions, topics, advice, or stories, please consider sharing. Please email them to me at [email protected]. I would love to be able to name contributors but will only do so if you explicitly give permission for us to include your name and affiliation. We are recording on July 15, so don’t wait.

Okay, now onto the episode…

235: Culture Questions From Claude Part I

Show Description:

Two weeks ago, I did a show that described how school culture is a byproduct of the degree of alignment between people, purpose, structures, and resources. High alignment – good culture. Low alignment – poor culture. I also shared in that episode that I have begun working on my next book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Culture, so you are going to be getting a heavy dose of podcasts related to building a strong school culture. I think that is a good thing.
I had originally planned to do a more detailed podcast focused on the six dimensions of organizations, but I haven’t been able to get excited about that. So instead, I turned to my friend, Claude AI, with the following prompt:
Claude, I host a podcast for assistant principals. Many of my listeners are in years 1-3, so they are still inexperienced leaders. I want to do a show about how to influence school culture. I will be using the framework I've developed called the Six Dimensions or Organizations, which says that inner forces result from the alignment or misalignment of people, purpose, structures, and resources.
Instead of just laying out the frameworks, as I did in the Building Culture Whole Show Transcript (in the project knowledge), I'd like to do this show as a Q and A. I would like you, Claude, to represent my assistant principal (AP) listeners. Pretend you are a panel of several APs and you are interviewing me. Please come up with 12 questions related to school culture. Please include some questions that make it easy for me to give examples, and make suggestions for remedying common issues in a school's culture.
What questions do think Claude will ask on your behalf? Stay tuned.

Celebrations:

Snow days and giving ourselves permission to breathe and Gwen editing the pod.

The Big Idea

I am answering these questions cold, because I wanted to feel like I was being interviewed.

1. "Dr. Buskey, we hear a lot about 'culture' but it seems really abstract. How do you define school culture in a way that actually helps us understand what we're dealing with?"

1. "I'm seeing low morale among our teachers, especially the veterans. What are some warning signs of culture issues that we should be looking out for?"

1. "Can you give us a specific example of how misalignment between different parts of a school system creates culture problems? Maybe something you've seen in your work with schools?"

1. "As a new AP, I feel like I have very limited authority to make changes. What are some small but meaningful ways we can start influencing culture from our position?"

1. "We're dealing with a lot of new teachers who came through alternative certification. How does this impact school culture, and what can we do to support them while maintaining high expectations?"

1. "I've noticed that different grade levels or departments in our school seem to have their own micro-cultures. Should we try to create one unified culture, or is some variation okay?"

Summarizing (The big takeaway)

How I think Claude did with these questions…

If there is a question you have about school culture, that you think maybe Claude missed, I would love to hear it. If you think I got something wrong, please let me know. I appreciate you investing your valuable time with me, on our journey together. I have written the introduction to A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Culture and I’ve posted it on a hidden page on my website. If you are interested, you can go to https://www.frederickbuskey.com/culture and read it. It’s just the intro, so nothing earth shattering, but it is a way I can say thank you for listening.

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12.

IXL gives you meaningful insights that drive real progress, and research can prove it. Studies across 45 states show that schools who use IXL outperform other schools on state tests. Educators who use IXL love that they can easily see how their school is performing in real-time to make better instructional decisions.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Close

• Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.
• You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/
• I love hearing from you. If you have comments or questions, or are interested in having me speak at your school or conference, email me at [email protected] or connect with me on LinkedIn.
• If you are tired of spending time putting out fires and would rather invest time supporting and growing teachers, consider reading my book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose. The book is available on Amazon. You can find links to it, as well as free book study materials on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/reclaiming-purpose.html
• Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.
• Remember the secret to good leadership:
  • Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others
  • Be fully present
  • Ask reflective ...