Introduction

The book is based on the findings of a research project (The Whole School Curriculum Development and Staff Relationships in Primary Schools Project) funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC ref. no. R000231069) from June 1988 to August 1990. The research was founded on and grew out of a previous research

project (The Primary School Staff Relationships Project) which was funded by both the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC ref. no. C09250003) and the Cambridge Institute of Education. The main concept to emerge from this earlier research was that of ‘organizational culture’ where culture was loosely defined as ‘the way we do it here’, that is, as a set of norms about ways of behaving, perceiving and understanding underpinned by jointly held beliefs and values. The research team (Jennifer Nias (Director), Geoff Southworth and Robin Yeomans) found that each of the five schools involved in the project had its own culture embodying strongly held beliefs about the social and moral purposes of education. These beliefs originated with the headteachers. In three of the schools the heads had worked for over ten years to develop and sustain an organizational culture which enabled the teaching and ancillary staff to work closely together. The project team described this as a ‘culture of collaboration’. In the other two schools the heads were endeavouring to develop a similar culture but were impeded by conflicting values held by long established staff members. The culture of collaboration rested on four interacting beliefs: first, individuals should be valued; second, because individuals are inseparable from the group of which they are a part, groups too should be fostered and valued; third and fourth, the most effective way of promoting these values is by developing a sense of mutual security and openness.