ABSTRACT

Bertrand Russell once said, "The fundamental concept in social science is power, in the same sense in which energy is the fundamental concept in physics." Changing a school's culture, or reculturing, is the type of social science endeavor that requires an enormous amount of power-the type of power that is unlikely to ever be wielded by one man or woman. Reculturing involves deep and profound changes that require commitment and interna 1ization by those responsible for the change. Leaders can inspire change by providing compelling evidence for the effort, but reculturing cannot occur from the top down. Reculturing is a product of collectively internalized acceptance that engenders a motivation for change. As such, it must occur from the bottom up. Understanding this requires a bit of a change in perspective for so me leaders. However, that will be addressed later in the book. First it is important to ensure that it is clear what is meant by sclzool Clllture.