When It Rains While the Sun is Shining: School Climate as an Echo of the (Future) Social Climate (original) (raw)

Considering that a society is a 'particular grouping of humanity with shared customs, laws etc.', school meets all these criteria and, given that, it may be called a society within a society, a miniature society that exists within a larger society. Schools provide a social context for a broader and more complex social world. Hence, school is more than a context for academic learning, it is also a place where children learn to build positive social relationships, gain independence and develop emotionally, behaviourally, and cognitively. School attendance involves navigating peer interaction, solving social problems, developing the socioemotional and relational skills essential to build and maintain relationships. What happens in the social life of children is central to the sense of comfort and safety in school and to participation in school tasks and their school results. The school climate involves the quality and consistency of interpersonal relationships, the sense of belonging to the school community and the perceived safety that the School conveys and seems to be reflected in the socio-emotional adjustment and mental health of children and young people. In addition, school and behavioural outcomes also appear to be associated with the school climate. There has been a significant and rising interest in improving the school climate in recent years. This is due to the following three factors. First, there is a growing number of empirical researches that support the notion that context is important. Second, there is an increasing perception that a better school climate supports the effective prevention of violence in general. Third, there is an upward interest in the promotion of transversal skills such as moral values, socio-emotional skills, mental health promotion efforts, and the promotion of citizenship through community engagement. This growing interest in research on the school climate has also been seen at the political level. This is considered an essential aspect in the development of programs to promote socio-emotional skills and to prevent behaviour problems. It is intended that school climate and safety can be non-academic indicators for classifying schools. The present study aims to analyse the school leaders' perceptions about the school climate. It is intended to describe their conceptualizations about the subject, as well as their reflections on the utility and implications of the concept. Through content analysis it will be possible to reflect on the trends, challenges and implications of this concept, presenting the implications for practice and for research.