Organizational Culture in Educational Institution Essay

Introduction

The concept of organizational culture involves sharing ideologies, philosophies, and values that help the school to serve as a single unity and reach the most viable solutions. The stronger culture an organization has, the more productive its work is. Several statements support positive collaborative cultures within schools. It is necessary to analyze the applicability of these statements to the university’s organizational culture to find out whether or not it is developed to the required extent. The analysis of whether different dimensions are applicable or non-applicable will be based on the premise of insufficient first aid knowledge and skills of GEMS World Academy teachers.

Culture as a Means of Increasing the School’s Productivity and Effectiveness

Currently, the level of GEMS World Academy teachers’ preparedness to offer first aid to their students is insufficient. In this view, culture should be used to foster the school’s effectiveness in the dimension of giving first aid. One of the most viable approaches to reach this aim is introducing first aid lessons for teachers. According to Cacy and Smith (1992), such lessons can promote educators’ knowledge about first aid and enhance the overall culture of the teachers. Cacy and Smith (1992) suggest that with the inclusion of conversational skills, it is easier to instruct employees on both giving first aid and calling for it. Particularly, scholars find the skills on the following topics crucial for obtaining injuries, burns, minor wounds, poisoning, choking, and broken bones (Cacy & Smith, 1992).

With the help of the suggested educational program, it is expected that the school’s culture will grow, increasing the effectiveness of teachers’ first aid skills. As a result of such training, each of the employees working in the school will not panic in case of an emergency and will be able to provide the initial medical help to a student or a colleague. Although at present, the required statement does not apply to the organization, the situation can improve significantly as soon as the instructional project is launched. When every teacher learns the basics of first aid, the organizational culture will evolve, which is likely to increase the school’s productivity.

The Role of Culture in Improving Collaborative Activities

Another important aspect of organizational culture is the collaboration between various stakeholders. In schools, they are represented by students, teachers, and parents. All of these groups need to communicate and cooperate closely to reach the highest outcomes (Gregory, 2009). Teacher-student communication at GEMS World Academy occurs much more frequently than teacher-parent communication. However, it is evident that by improving these ties, the organization will enhance its productivity. Therefore, it is crucial to employ culture in the process of making relationships between all stakeholders closer and more effective.

One of the approaches of arranging friendly and trusting relationships between school and students’ parents is demonstrating how much educators care about their student’s health and safety. Research indicates that instruction on disaster preparedness has a high degree of effectiveness against unexpected situations (Hoffman & Muttarak, 2017). Thus, the school might arrange a session of lessons where teachers could demonstrate their first aid skills to parents. At such lessons, parents will observe that their children are in reliable hands. Moreover, students’ caregivers will be able to learn important facts and issues related to emergencies. The school’s culture plays an important role in this process. It is relevant to say that there are numerous options for GEMS World Academy to arrange collaborative activities to foster better communication. Thus, the second statement related to organizational culture applies to the school.

Fostering Successful Change with the Help of Culture

Another paramount statement regarding organizational culture is that it can promote successful change within the organization. Examples from research findings show that training students on first aid are highly important (Berry, Seitz, & Payne, 2014; Popp & Berry, 2016). In its turn, such education is not possible without training teachers previously. Therefore, it is crucial to increase the overall organizational culture, which would lead to a raised feeling of responsibility.

Scholars emphasize that without the regular applicability of first aid skills, they decay. Popp and Berry (2016) note that even in specialized athletic training programs, students are likely to forget what they have been instructed on if they do not meet with the problem within several months. Berry et al. (2014) emphasize the need to be able to provide first aid before an injured student is taken to the hospital. Both of these studies indicate that without regular brushing up of knowledge, learners and educators are likely to lose the grasp of their skills on first aid. Hence, organizational culture might help to eliminate such complications and increase the readiness of teachers for accidents. Currently, teachers working at GEMS World Academy do not engage in the educational process regarding first aid often. However, it is necessary to alter this practice by elevating the employees’ levels of readiness to change. The leader needs to explain to every teacher that change is a positive measure that helps to improve the level of students’ lives while at school.

The Role of Culture in Building Commitment

The next dimension in which culture may be employed with usefulness is the development of commitment. The findings of scholarly studies show that it is easier to increase the level of dedication of both teachers and students if the organizational culture is developed at the necessary level. Particularly, research indicates that by saving students with emergency healthcare needs, teachers, feel more responsibility, as well as commitment and satisfaction.

Students with such health problems as asthma, seizure disorders, diabetes, allergies, or cardiac arrest, attend schools on the same basis as their healthier peers. The presence of learners with the mentioned healthcare issues in a classroom poses a higher degree of commitment on the part of a teacher (Ergenekon, 2012; Urso & Rozalski, 2014). Moreover, it is not enough only for educators who have children with specific needs in their classrooms to learn about first aid. A child may develop some previously unknown symptom at school, or a teacher may be substituted for a colleague. In any of such or similar cases, it is highly useful for school employees to know how to cope with the most common healthcare problems. Organizational culture at GEMS World Academy promotes inquiries of the kind and encourages teachers to keep notes about their students’ illnesses. By doing so, the school builds up teachers’ commitment to their work and children.

The Use of Culture to Focus on Important Issues

Finally, there is also a statement related to the power of culture to help the organization focus on truly meaningful values. This aspect is not yet applicable to GEMS World Academy because teachers in this organization do not engage in first aid education to a sufficient extent. At present, not enough time is dedicated to instructing employees on how to help their students in emergencies or disasters. However, it is crucial to change the course of action since emergency preparation is acknowledged by specialists as a highly relevant aspect of teachers’ work.

Research performed by Sapien and Allen (2001) indicates that the level of preparation for an emergency at school is rather poor. Not only teachers but also school nurses do not have enough knowledge of the most common emergencies and ways of dealing with them. Frequently, schools lack such necessary emergency equipment as cervical collars, oxygen, artificial airways, and splints (Sapien & Allen, 2001). Given these data, it is recommended that GEMS World Academy should revise its policies and concentrate on what is truly important. Specifically, it is crucial to educate teachers on first aid and obtain enough equipment.

Conclusion

GEMS World Academy has a rather good reputation, but it should change its policies regarding first aid education of teachers. Only a few of the five statements on the organizational culture can be applied to the school. What concerns the rest of them, the organization needs to pay more thorough attention to its employees’ emergency skills. That way, the preparedness of teachers will increase, which will lead to enhanced levels of commitment. It is highly important to arrange the collaboration with parents since they should participate in the school’s activities and projects especially focused on life-saving issues. The school also needs to teach students the basics of first aid after all teachers are properly instructed. Every community member must use the organizational culture to develop each stakeholder’s opportunities for productive work and learning.

References

1. Berry, D. C., Seitz, S. R., & Payne, E. K. (2014). Use of advanced bleeding control mechanisms in athletic training: A shift in the thought process of prehospital care – Part 1: Tourniquets. Athletic Training Education Journal, 9(3), 142-151.
2. Cacy, R., & Smith, P. (1992). First aid lessons. Correlated conversation for use with “You can give first aid.” Workplace curriculum.
3. Ergenekon, Y. (2012). Teaching basic first-aid skills against home accidents to children with autism through video modeling. Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice, 12(4), 2759-2766.
4. Gregory, R. (2009). The art of collaborative leadership: Practices and Disciplines. International Journal of Educational Leadership Preparation, 5(2).
5. Hoffman, R., & Muttarak, R. (2017). Learn from the past, prepare for the future: Impacts of education and experience on disaster preparedness in the Philippines and Thailand. World Development, 96, 32-51.
6. Popp, J. K., & Berry, D. C. (2016). Athletic training students demonstrate airway management skill decay, but retain knowledge over 6 months. Athletic Training Education Journal, 11(4), 173-180.
7. Sapien, R. E., & Allen, A. (2001). Emergency preparation in schools: A snapshot of a rural state. Pediatric Emergency Care, 17(5), 329-333.
8. Urso, A., & Rozalski, M. (2014). Developing training programs to save lives: Serving students with complex or emergency healthcare needs. Physical disabilities: Education and Related Services, 33(1), 39-52.