ABSTRACT
The idea that society exerts a force upon individuals has a rich history. Early philosophical views of human nature such as John Locke's tabula rasa, stressing the importance of context on child development, and the classic nature/nurture debates within developmental psychology are two important examples of thinking about environmental influence in psychology. The fields of organizational psychology and social psychology have also supported the idea that organizations have a powerful influence on the individuals that constitute them (e.g., Robbins, 2002). Because schools are organizations, it is not surprising to find that the categories of school culture and school climate have been examined across several fields including school psychology. This chapter seeks to review the school culture and climate constructs within a social justice framework for school psychological practice. Specifically, the chapter has three sections and (a) discusses the current state of school culture and climate literature (“The Status Quo of School Culture and Climate”), (b) articulates a vision of social justice practice (“Social Justice Transformation of School Culture and Climate”), and (c) describes what social justice practice might look like (“Social Justice Practice of School Culture and Climate”).
