Cultural Hegemony: “The ruling-classes worldview becomes the worldview that is imposed and accepted as the cultural norm” Marxist philosophy
There is cultural hegemony all around us. Only 6 weeks ago I welcomed the arrival of my first born child. The advice of people around us varied (and everyone is willing to give advice). Naturally there were many contradictions and someone that raised a baby 20, 30, 40 years ago will have been brought up with different philosophies. “You only know what you know.” Rings true as a saying in this situation. Who’s to say who is right?
We see cultural hegemony in all our schools, every day. Because we are the only intermediate school in our district we pull students from all over the Wairarapa, from Eketahuna to Featherson. Students are leaving their full primary schools, travelling long distances, to be part of our school. If a zone was in place it would cut a quarter of our roll. Parents believe that what we do is ‘right’.
So why do they come?
On paper we are nothing special: Decile 5, 470 students, 64% European, 31% Maori, average National Standards results, in a semi rural town. The OPPORTUNITIES! Our school is renowned for opportunities. It is an ingrained belief within our staff that we provide students with as many opportunities as we can. Our school whakatauki: “E matahi ana, e matara” means to work together and be diligent-this applies to everyone.
“What I suddenly realised is that our current education system has been built on the goodwill and the sacrifice of educators” Murrihy, L. (Principal of Amesbury School) Blog post (2017)
This quote resides with the culture of our school. Most of our staff go beyond what is expected of them to provide the opportunities mentioned to our students. Coaching sports, dance, choir, rock bands, kapa haka on a Sunday, multiple supersport competitions, the list goes on. I would say that we have a ‘Collaborative’ (Hargraves, 1997) culture because we choose to share with each other. The students that leave their smaller schools to come to our school, make the transition because they are attracted by the opportunities we have on offer.
The socio-economic status of students at our school varies. We have sub-groups scattered around our school. Just this weekend alone I know of one student in my class that is going hunting on a big sheep and beef station with her father, and another student that will be down at the skate park till the early hours of the morning. It would be hard to narrow down how our school culture is affected by socio-economics. While students come from different background, one thing is true at our school, and that is that we try and provide equality. Everyone is provided with the same opportunities. I think a lot of this comes from the SMT, which it would be fair to say, come from humble beginnings.
Our PB4L slogan, ADMIRE (active brain, dependable, managing self, interactions, relationships, and excellence) is burning at the forefront of all our students and staff minds. It is part of the vocabulary of the school and is used all day, everyday. “Part of the PB4L is teaching the expected behaviours of students with positive reinforcement.” (Gargiulo, S. 2014) In short if you follow ADMIRE you will be fine in our school and in the outside world.
If we look at Stoll and Fink (1996) Norms of improving Schools, these are some of the aspects that I can highlight as culture within our school.
Shared goals- 1) Ensure that Maori culture is alive and well 2) Cater for the learning needs of all students to attain National Standards success 3) Promote the unique culture of MIS
Responsibility for success—We must succeed where we can
Collegiality—E matahi ana, E matara
Continuous improvement—8 teachers doing mindlab
Support—Generally a supportive environment where there is someone to help you
Mutual respect— ‘Campfire’ is our analogy to keep staff in a good space
Celebration and humour—Although it is hard work, the rewards are immense.
References
Gargiulo, S. 2014. Principal’s Sabbatical Report.
Hargreaves, A. (1997). From reform to renewal: A new deal for a new age. In A. Hargreaves and R. Evans (eds), Beyond educational reform: Bringing teachers back in.
Buckingham: Open University Press. p. 112.
Marxist philosophy
Stoll, L., & Fink, D. (1996).
