Creating a positive school culture isn’t just about rules and routines. Your goal is to shape an environment where students feel safe, staff feel valued, and learning becomes meaningful for everyone.
Social and Emotional Learning plays a key role in making this happen, giving schools the tools to build stronger connections and increase engagement, helping students to feel like they belong.
Ori Learning’s upcoming webinar, How to Create a Thriving School Culture with SEL, will provide practical strategies to help you shape a school environment that supports your students and staff alike.
Join Dr. Lewis, an experienced educational thought leader, joins Dr. Gayle, VP of Operations at Ori Learning, for a conversation designed specifically for school leaders, support staff, guidance counselors, and directors of school counseling. Register for the webinar here.
Why School Culture Matters
School culture influences everything from student behavior to teacher retention. A strong culture makes students more engaged and reduces behavioral issues, helping to improve academic outcomes.
But if you don’t take the right approach, you may face roadblocks caused by a resistance to change among your teaching staff, issues relating to burnout, and being unable to keep your students consistently engaged.
SEL helps schools tackle these challenges by focusing on:
Building relationships
Strong connections between students, teachers, and staff create a more supportive environment. A study highlighted in The Times emphasizes that empathy, a core component of SEL, can be taught and is fundamental for cooperation and building relationships.
Encouraging Resilience
When students learn how to manage emotions and overcome challenges, they develop skills that help them inside and outside the classroom. Research published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found that a six-week Social–Emotional and Ethical Learning program had positive effects on resilience and social-emotional competencies among elementary students.
Fostering Inclusion
A culture that embraces diversity ensures that every student feels seen and supported. An article in The Guardian discusses how Morpeth School in London implemented “relational practice” to develop relationships with pupils, particularly those with diverse needs, leading to a more inclusive environment and a reduction in suspensions.
How to Shape a Positive School Culture
You don’t need to commit to a complete overhaul to improve school culture—it’s possible to make a big impact by implementing small, intentional changes.
Here’s where you can start:
1. Set Clear Expectations and Model SEL Skills
Your students and staff need to see SEL in action. When your school’s teachers and administrators demonstrate skills like emotional regulation and positive communication, students are more likely to adopt them.
Here are a few ways you can reinforce SEL every day:
- Encourage teachers to model self-awareness by acknowledging their mistakes and demonstrating problem-solving.
- Use class meetings or advisory periods to discuss emotions and challenges, and strategies for handling them.
- Provide professional development focused on SEL so your staff feel confident integrating it into their daily interactions.
2. Normalize Mistakes and Encourage Growth
If your school has a culture that views mistakes as part of the learning process, your students will be better supported to develop resilience. Instead of being afraid to fail, your students should see it as an opportunity to improve.
Research shows that creating a school culture where mistakes are viewed as learning opportunities can improve student resilience. A study referenced in Psychology Today found that students who intentionally made and corrected mistakes during study achieved better learning outcomes than those who used methods like copying, underlining, creating concept maps, or summarizing in their own words.
You can create this mindset by:
- Using positive reinforcement when students take risks in learning, even if they don’t succeed right away.
- Reframing mistakes as opportunities to learn rather than reasons for punishment.
- Encouraging your staff to reflect on their own challenges and growth, making it clear that learning never stops.
3. Strengthen Student and Staff Connections
Students engage more when they feel connected to their teachers and peers. A study published in Research Papers in Education found that positive teacher–student relationships significantly boost student engagement, including how they feel and behave.
Schools with strong relationships see fewer behavioral issues and higher levels of motivation. To build stronger connections, you can do the following:
- Assign students a trusted adult mentor they can turn to for support.
- Create peer mentoring programs where older students help guide younger students.
- Schedule regular check-ins between teachers and students to discuss academic and personal progress.
4. Address Resistance and Staff Buy-In
You can face pushback whenever you introduce new initiatives, especially if your teachers and staff feel overburdened.
To create lasting change, you or your school leaders need to involve staff in the process and provide clear support.
You can encourage staff buy-in by:
- Involving staff in SEL planning and decision-making.
- Providing training that shows how SEL benefits teachers, not just students.
- Offering ongoing support and resources rather than expecting immediate implementation.
Join the Conversation
Ori Learning’s webinar will explore these strategies and more, giving you a clear path to creating a school culture where students and staff feel supported, engaged, and motivated to succeed.
Webinar Details:
- Date: Wednesday, February 19, 12 PM EST
- Format: Live Webinar (Q&A included)
- Who Should Attend: School leaders, support staff, guidance counselors, and directors of school counseling
What You’ll Learn:
- How to align your school culture with your values and vision.
- Ways to build resilience and a sense of belonging in students and staff.
- How SEL impacts student engagement, academic performance, and behavior.
- Strategies for getting staff on board with cultural change.
- How to create an inclusive environment where diversity is embraced and bullying is addressed.
As an attendee, you’ll receive our free resource guide: a curated list of articles, books, and tools to further your learning. We’re also offering reflective journal prompts for fostering classroom and schoolwide discussions about culture-building.
Register now to learn how to transform your school culture with practical, research-based strategies that make a lasting impact.
