School Culture and Change: Comparative Perspectives

This winter I am teaching a Master of Education course on school culture and change. As I've developed the syllabus, I've tried to incorporate two perspectives which might not normally be seen in such a course in other universities. First, I've built in a focus on 21st century learning - one that focuses on shared building of ideas and new technologies. Second, I've incorporated perspectives from different contexts, including international (e.g. articles from different countries) and local (superintendent and principal guest speakers from local school boards). This comparative perspective will be interesting as we consider what school culture (or climate) looks like and feels like in different contexts. I am also hoping to examine whether there are common elements to healthy school culture which go beyond national boundaries.