| Summary: | Culture appears to be an overused, yet elusive term applied to a variety of different situations within various disciplines. The main aims of this research are to seek the perspectives of various stakeholders within a school organisation with regards to their understanding of what school culture is and how it is built. Using qualitative questionnaires, this research aims to put participants’ perspectives at the forefront of this case study to produce context-specific, rich responses. Whilst there is copious literature available concerning how organisations obtain a particular culture and various definitions of culture based on theory, experience and knowledge, this research aims to address the lack of research that considers the perspectives of those involved within an organisation when it comes to what culture is and how it is built.
The findings state that culture, a concept that is the sum of its parts, is built by various components, none more so than the Head and leaders of an organisation. The research offers a definition of culture as the ethos, values, beliefs and relationships that underpin the operations of the school aided by the history and traditions that precede it. Given its all-encompassing nature, this research concludes that to avoid overuse and confusion of the term culture, each component ought to be referred to individually and specifically. Additionally, given the nature of the methodology, this case study may be used to compare and contrast studies from other contexts harbouring similar research aims.
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