Principals’ Perceptions on the Notion of Organizational Culture: The Case of Greece

Abstract

Organizational culture constitutes a fundamental characteristic of the educational organism, because, it contributes to the shape of its character and of its members’ way of thinking and behavior and, it is also connected to the employees’ productivity and the students’ academic performance. It is commonly held that leadership and organizational culture are in a constant process of interaction and heteronomy, constituting two sides of the same coin. Therefore, one of the most important tasks that the educational leader undertakes is to create and manage organizational or school culture. We conducted research by subjecting a number of secondary school principals within Attica Prefecture in Greece to semiconductor interviews regarding the way in which they perceive the notion of organizational culture investigating the circumscription of culture, its contribution to the development of the school, its differentiation from the school climate, the principals’ vision for the culture of their school. It is clearly evident by the results that the notion of organizational culture is neither perceived nor defined by everyone in the same way resulting in it being frequently identified with the Organization and Administration of the school unit, while confusion with the notion of school climate is also observed.