The multi-faceted term school culture is gaining importance in the European debate about school and school development. However, the specific understanding of culture related to the construct often remains rather vague. Therefore, the Symposium approaches the construct school culture and its transition from tradition to modernity from different perspectives.

Following the notion that school culture can only be described if the foundations of a particular description of culture become apparent, Ulrike Stadler-Altmann and Julia Franz initially deal with different understandings of culture in order to approach the topic of school culture theoretically and empirically. On the basis of a longitudinal study, the term school culture is clarified and reflected. Moreover, relevant results of the longitudinal study are contrasted with considerations about the question of culture in other pedagogical institutions, based on Luhmann’s perspectives of observation.

Bettina-Maria Gördel approaches the concept from a historic-systematic perspective by discussing school culture as a concept dependent on the educational policies of a time. Thus, she poses the question how school culture is influenced by the state but also by private actors in order to foster school development processes. At the one hand, Bettina-Maria Gördel bases her investigation on a document analysis which illustrates the state driven development of school culture since 1945. At the other hand, she questions today’s strategies of educational policies by analyzing the practice of awarding school prizes. These findings are compared with the discussion in pedagogics and constitutional theory about the school’s educational mandate.

Susanne Schumacher depicts school culture as a governance device to improve cross-level school development processes in a multi-tier system. Her depiction is based on Rosenbusch’s (2007) concept of a pedagogical organizational culture as fundament for School Governance processes. She compares the new model of administration “New Public Governance” with Rosenbusch’s concept. Thereby, she shows possibilities how a pedagogical culture can be established within the German multi-tier school administration. As it is also important to consider the different perspectives of the participating actors, results of an interview study with teacher students on their implicit theories on school culture are presented.

These considerations on a pedagogically influenced administrative culture are contrasted by Masashi Urabe. He uses the characteristics of Japanese school culture as starting point for his contribution. It becomes apparent that school development processes are framed by the respective culture of a nation. This important aspect is clarified by means of a comparative study with German and Japanese teachers on lesson culture and teacher professionalism.

Oliver Hollstein finally presents a further international perspective. The theoretical background of his study is Luhmann’sconcept of culture as social memory of a society. A binational course for teacher studies is examined with the help of Luhmann’s cultural concept. By interpreting the photo of a French school it becomes apparent that French and German students interpret it with incompatible educational concepts of school culture.

These different contributions are summed up by Ulrike Stadler-Altmann who critically reflects the concepts of school culture in the conflicting field between tradition, present age and future.