Sociology Review: Leadership, Culture & Positive School Environments

This literature review examines the importance of promoting positive school environments from a sociological perspective, drawing on the works of Madhlangobe & Gordon (2012) and Prokopchuk (2016). It highlights the increasing cultural diversity in schools and the necessity of culturally responsive leadership. The review emphasizes the role of school leaders in fostering harmonization, tolerance, and positive interpersonal relationships. It also discusses the impact of school culture, including artifacts, espoused values, and assumptions, on student development. While acknowledging the contributions of both articles, the review suggests further exploration of curriculum content, extracurricular activities, infrastructure, and communication strategies to enhance the overall school environment and promote student well-being. The review concludes by noting the importance of sports and group activities in schools and their impact on child development.

Sociology
Importance of promoting positive school environment in
diverse contexts

SOCIOLOGY 1
Madhlangobe & Gordon (2012) have essentially highlighted the trends of increasing
cultural diversity in the schools and the importance of the responsive practices and
behaviours on the part of the leaders. An individual’s thinking process is shaped as per the
mix of his own cultural beliefs, family values and the interactions carried out with the
surrounding environment. The authors very well highlighted the importance of the
multicultural education and the vitality of the same while serving the children, parents and
community as a whole. According to me cultural responsiveness towards the varied
individuals further inculcates the values like harmonization, higher tolerance for other
religious beliefs and would less likely to be indulged in disruptive behaviour when grown up.
The role of the principal has been comprehensively highlighted and the work regards them
the equal to creators and facilitator of the opportunities in the society, not only for the
students and stakeholders but also for the teachers. Some of the essential components that
form the efficient leadership are the caring for each other, sharing information, caring for the
perspectives of the parents, and building of interpersonal relationships among students and
teachers. In addition, the importance of communication has been highlighted among the
principal and parents and students. However, according to me, the authors could have further
related their work to the various leadership styles and management context for the better
understanding. The same was missing from the work.
The work of Prokopchuk (2016) was more detailed and in line with the management
theories and literature to shed light on the impact of school culture in the overall functioning
and development of stakeholders. A significant component as highlighted by the author was
the various levels of organizational culture namely the artefacts, espoused values and the
assumptions. The description and importance of each of the above levels is highlighted. The
same is correlated with the vision and missions of an organisation. I believe the school
construction and infrastructure also has an essential role to play in the overall interaction. For
instance classrooms with large seating capacities allows less meaningful interactions among
teachers and among classmates as well. The leader has a role to play in the same as well. The
same has been slightly touched by Prokopchuk in form of first level of organisation. The key
elements on which the author has also worked is the leader’s capacity to take the risks and the
vitality of the teacher’s beliefs while imparting knowledge to the children.
However, I feel a more stress could have been given on what is to be included in the
curriculum, the extracurricular activities and their role in child development and interactions
and the overall infrastructure scenario in both the works. Both the articles failed to highlight

SOCIOLOGY 2
the same. In addition, the importance of and impact of communication, sports and other
group activities in school on the development of children could have studied in more detail in
both the works.

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References
Madhlangobe, L., & Gordon, S. P. (2012). Culturally responsive leadership in a diverse
school: A case study of a high school leader. NASSP Bulletin, 96, 177–202.
Prokopchuk, J. (2016). Unpacking the Impact of School Culture: A Principal’s Role in
Creating and Sustaining the Culture of a School. Research Review Journal,
University of Saskatchewan, 1 (2) 73-82.