ABSTRACT
From an anthropological perspective, the culture of a school can be defined, broadly, as the language, knowledge, values, beliefs, symbols, rituals, and social norms that characterize a given school. Even from an anthropological viewpoint, however, identifying school culture can be challenging. Organizational culture, a term borrowed from business, can refer to the culture generated by the power structure of a given institution. A collaborative teacher culture, in contrast, is one in which faculty members interact frequently, sharing materials, exchanging ideas, and evaluating their own practices, all without being told to do so. School culture, then, is a complex combination of organizational, teacher, and student cultures, a web of meaning that informs and responds to everything that happens in and around a school community. With no disrespect intended, school culture is much like the Force of the Star Wars films: it surrounds us; it penetrates us; it binds the galaxyor school together.
