A Study of School Culture in Secondary Schools of District Swat Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Abstract

Schools’ culture is a key indicator for schools’ effectiveness and
overall activities of the school. Its influence is much more significant at the level
of secondary schools that are having the duty for the provision of quality
graduates to institutions of higher education and skilled people to the job
market. School culture consists of norms, beliefs, principles, rituals and
behaviors which designs the rules of thinking, feelings and action inside an
educational organization and ultimately influences school performance. Having
the significant role of school culture in the background, the study aimed to
investigate the school culture at secondary level. The objectives of the study
were; to investigate the schools’ culture at secondary level and recommend
strategies for the improvement of school culture in secondary schools. The
design of the study was quantitative descriptive survey. The population of the
study was 162 male heads of secondary schools in District Swat. The researcher
selected a sample of 118 heads through simple random sampling, developed a
Likert questionnaire, validated it and pilot tested for the determination of its
reliability. The data were gathered through self-administered questionnaires
from the respondents and analyzed with mean scores, standard deviation and
Chi-square test. The study found a positive school culture with clear chalked out
visions and missions, heads of the school took initiatives for achieving the vision
of schools, teachers themselves prepared the rules for functioning of the schools
and the head and teachers had collegiality for achieving schools’ visions. The
administration of the schools were ambitious, friendly and supportive for the
students, democratic in decision making, resolved the problems of teachers and
students and were competent enough to satisfy the needs of the schools,
teachers worked for the academic excellence of their students, regularly assessed
students’ academic progress, focused on co-curricular activities and observed
positive human relationship. It further forwarded recommendations for the
improvement of the school culture at secondary level.