Page 15 - CARING and SAFE SCHOOLS in ONTARIO

the Draft K–12 School Effectiveness Framework (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2009c), the findings in current and longitudinal research, and the recent Review of the Roots of Youth Violence (McMurtry & Curling, 2008).
There is evidence that recent ministry and school initiatives to support a caring and safe school culture have had a positive effect on student learning. According to findings in the Evaluation of the Ontario Ministry of Education’s Student Success/ Learning to 18 Strategy (Canadian Council on Learning, 2008), “there has been
an increased focus on a caring school culture at the secondary level through the Student Success/Learning to 18 Strategy”. For example, the report states that in one school, the school motto, “‘Take care of yourself, take care of each other, take care of this place’, influenced the behaviour of staff in all of their interactions with students, whether in the classroom or in the hallways” (p. 26).
The report confirms that in many schools teachers have also shown greater awareness of the out-of-school challenges – such as poverty, hunger, and insecure or unsafe living environments – that many students face (ibid., pp. 26–27).
The report also notes, however, that “there is still a significant variation in the extent to which schools have been successful in establishing a school-wide culture of caring and community” (ibid., p. 26) and that work still remains to be done in many schools to provide an optimal learning environment for all students.
The discussion that follows focuses on this last point by suggesting ways in which school leaders can determine the particular needs of their school in order to build on existing strengths and address areas where improvement is needed.
Assessing School Culture
▪ Before schools take action to build and/or strengthen a caring and safe school culture, they need to get an accurate picture of their existing school culture.
Assessment strategies such as cultural scans, surveys, or audits can help schools and systems understand and describe current school cultures while identifying areas for improvement and desired results. Assessment tools may offer a series of questions to help assess school culture with regard to a variety of characteristics. Because responses to surveys and other types of assessment will differ depending on who completes them, it is important to ensure that representatives from all sectors of the school and school community participate in assessment activities. There is much information to be gained by seeking out multiple perspectives. For example, to get an accurate picture of the school culture, it is essential to gather data from students, since research about bullying suggests that adults in a school do not witness the majority of this student behaviour.
Promoting Positive Behaviour
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