The term school climate is not easy to define. It refers broadly to the feelings and attitudes that are evoked by the environment and the atmosphere in the school as experienced by the educators, the learners, the parents, and any other persons (Loukas 2007). According to Sebastian and Allensworth (2012:4), the school climate refers to the beliefs, values, and everyday interactions among the school personnel, the parents and the learners. It includes the basic needs, such as order and safety at the school, which can have a strong effect on the motivation and the learning of both the educators and the learners. The concept of school climate is not meant as a tool for judging the quality of a particular school, even if some climate profiles may seem more appealing than others. The value of the conceptualization of school climate is in its usefulness for analyzing a school, for understanding how to introduce new ideas to the school and how to encourage the educators to engage in more goal-related behavior. The principal plays a dynamic and vital role in creating and nurturing a positive school climate.
Loukas (2007:1-2) identifies three important dimensions of the school which affects the school climate, namely the physical environment of the school, the social environment and the academic environment. The physical environment refers to the attractiveness of the infrastructure, orderliness, safety and comfort. The social environment refers to the quality of the relationships
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among the stakeholders, and fair treatment and participation in decision-making. The academic environment refers to the quality of instruction, assessment and the reporting of learner progress. The school principal as instructional leader is responsible for a positive climate in all three domains.
Daresh (2001:96) identifies the following kinds of school climate:
• Open climate – a dynamic school that is moving towards its goals while its staff members are satisfied in their personal needs.
• Autonomous climate – the school in which leadership emerges primarily from different groups and the formal leader exerts little control over the staff members.
• Control climate – a highly personal, but over-controlled environment in which the personal needs are satisfied, but with little attention being paid to task-accomplishment. • Paternal climate – the school in which the formal leader tries consistently to constrain
leadership emerging from the group; the leader tries to do it all.
• Closed climate - the school that demonstrates considerable apathy by all its members. Creating the right kind of school climate is essential, as the school climate has a strong directive influence on the motivation and achievement of the educators and the learners. The principal as instructional leader of the school should therefore consciously strive towards creating a positive and open school climate. According to Tienken (2010:31), an environment that promotes strength and possibility is better able to deal with the problems that may occur in the school. The principals should anticipate problems before they occur, realize that problems have solutions, and see themselves as part of the solution.
2.4.1.1 The principal’s role in creating a positive school climate
Mullen (2007:100) argues that a principal can change the school climate but cannot create an entirely new climate in the school. He suggests that the school principals should reshape school climate by firstly understanding the school’s history and current culture. Then the principals should identify the core values of the school and identify the aspects that are healthy or
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unhealthy. The positive elements of the school should be reinforced and the negative aspects should be addressed.
The following points are regarded as the basic components of the principal’s task as initiator and caretaker of a particular positive school climate (Van Deventer & Kruger 2003:11-12).
The principal should:
Ensure that there are professionally-oriented school structures in place to increase the educators’ job satisfaction and an open atmosphere.
Formulate and articulate the school’s mission and vision by means of the participative engagement of all stakeholders to establish a positive and sound climate of cooperation in the school.
Ensure a balance between teacher autonomy and responsibility so that the educators are both accountable and empowered. Although the professional status of an educator depends on a number of factors that are often outside a principal’s control, the most essential of these is in his/her hands, namely the capacity to regard the educators’ contribution as meaningful both to him/herself and to the school.
Mullen (2007:99) maintains that the school climate powerfully influences the educators in how they dress, what they talk about, their willingness to change, the practice of instruction and the emphasis given to the learners for learning. Van Deventer and Kruger (2003:12) identify the following educator behaviors which may lead to a positive school climate, namely respectful treatment of colleagues and learners, a high educator morale and commitment to teaching, and openness among the educators, and the establishment of friendships. Conversely, where the educators are not committed to the task of teaching or do not get along with their colleagues, it may lead to a negative or closed-school climate.
Kearney, Kelsey and Herrington (2013:318) elaborate that any leader striving to change an organization benefits from working on the areas of identified needs collectively, continuously and thoughtfully. The ability of the principal as instructional leader to lead intentionally and
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thoughtfully has a powerful effect on the school and the educators’ ability to take risks. Where the educators and the learners are secure, they enjoy optimal opportunities to teach and to learn. Despres (2008:121) stresses the need for a safe and supportive environment. If the staff members feel safe to take risks and to be creative, individual strengths and abilities emerge and they feel empowered to make personal choices about pedagogy.
Based on this discussion, the principal as instructional leader should make the school climate one where the educators enjoy teaching and the learners feel at home and enjoy learning.