The Cultural Jigsaw

Abstract

The concept of culture as applied to schools is difficult to define and even harder to operationalize in research terms. This article focuses on sixth formers’ perceptions on school culture and seeks to develop a model that will enable researchers to move away from the semantics of organizational culture and to explore more easily the concept of school culture through an analysis of the fragmented forces that help to shape the culture of schools. The article starts by examining these complexities and the extent to which they have produced inherent weaknesses in much research on school culture. It goes on to propose a new model of school culture: five key elements that, when fitted together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, promise a more comprehensive and coherent approach to school culture research. The model is then tested using a small case study of school culture based largely on sixth form student perspectives of the culture of one school. Data is collected on the five parts of the cultural jigsaw through interviews, observation and questionnaires. The subsequent analysis considers both the insights that emerge from the use of the cultural jigsaw model to explore student perspectives on school culture and the efficacy of the model itself as a way forward for research in this area.