ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on school culture-one of the most important conditions for teaching to change the world. First, we discuss the powerful influence that a school’s culture has on the quality of teaching and learning. We then elaborate four key features of “good” school cultures-that is, school cultures that foster both high academic quality and social justice. These features include academic press, rich learning opportunities and resources, caring relationships and practices, and conditions that support teachers’ inquiry and activism. Chapters 10 and 11 address two additional essential characteristics of supportive, socially just school cultures: (1) flexible, heterogeneous grouping practices and (2) respectful partnerships between schools and the families and communities they serve. Together, these cultural features allow teachers and students to teach and learn in ways that can change the world.
