School Culture
Banks (1993b) suggests that a school is a social system that contains its own culture, which consists of "institutional norms, social structures, cause-belief statements, values, and goals" (p. 22). He states:
"The school culture...communicates to students the school's attitudes toward a range of issues and problems, including how the school views them as human beings and its attitudes toward males, females, exceptional students, and students from various religious, cultural, racial, and ethnic groups." (p. 24)
"The culture and organization of the school must be examined by all members of the school staff. They all must also participate in restructuring it. Grouping and labeling practices, sports participation, disproportionality in achievement, disproportionality in enrollment in gifted and special education programs, and the interaction of the staff and the students across ethnic and racial lines are important variables that need to be examined in order to create a school culture that empowers students from diverse racial and ethnic groups and from both gender groups." (p. 22)
