Nowadays, globalisation, urbanisation, immigration, environmental changes, public health crises, and digital governance have affected organisations, both private and public, and their organisational culture. Organisational culture is a source of collective identity, emotion, and commitment (Schneider et al., 2017) that leads members’ thoughts and actions.

Schools are typically viewed as organisations because they have key elements such as individuals (e.g. students, teachers, and principals), objectives (e.g. educational and pedagogical goals), and organisational structure (e.g. hierarchy and linear power) (Saitis, 2008). Thus, in the educational context ‘organisational culture’ is considered a particular form referred to as ‘school culture’ (Deal and Peterson, 2016). This study adopts Maslowski’s (2006) approach, defining school culture as a set of basic assumptions, norms and values, and cultural artifacts shared by organisational members that influence educational functions. In Maslowski’s definition basic assumptions, norms and values, and cultural artifacts refer to Schein’s (1985) three-level culture classification (similar to an iceberg). The first superficial level includes visible, audible, or tangible characteristics and behavioural norms. The second, less superficial level includes common values. Αt the third deepest level, members’ basic assumptions and unconscious beliefs shape the organisational culture.

As educational policies have created new requirements, pressuring public educational organisations to upgrade (OECD, 2020), school culture is becoming vital for supporting educational changes and reforms to improve school effectiveness. As reform-implementers, school principals and teachers (Kovačević et al., 2020) play important roles in changing and improving schools (Fullan, 2007) by incorporating reforms into school culture. However, system centralisation, which regulates school autonomy, is one of the main determinants of the effectiveness of reform efforts.

Therefore, this comparative study empirically assessed the prevailing and preferred organisational cultures in Greek public secondary schools from teachers’ and principals’ perspectives. The similarities and differences in their views on organisational culture were also examined. The Greek school system is the most centralised among 68 countries, with rates of school autonomy and accountability at 26.4% and 31%, respectively (OECD, 2016). Thus, Greek schools are characterised by formal rules and regulations, bureaucracy, and principals’ limited decision-making authority and responsibility for implementing changes. Consequently, the results of this study could enrich the literature and research on how school autonomy influences schools’ possibilities and challenges in developing their own internal educational policies and organisational culture.

The main research questions (RQs) are:

RQ1: According to principals, what are the prevailing and preferred organisational culture types in Greek public secondary schools? Do they differ based on demographic data?

RQ2: According to teachers, what are the prevailing and preferred organisational culture types in Greek public secondary schools? Do they differ based on demographic data?

RQ3: Referring to prevailing and preferred organisational culture types, are the differences between principals’ and teachers’ perceptions of Greek public secondary education statistically significant?

This study applied the Competing Values Framework (CVF) developed by Cameron and Quinn, 2006, 2011). This framework includes four theoretical perspectives: internal processes, open systems, human relationships, and rational goals. These four perspectives are organised into two axes which refer to competing values. The vertical axis reflects flexibility (adaptability, discretion, dynamism) and stability (predictability, order, control) continuum in organisational structure. The horizontal axis distinguishes internal organisational focus (integration, unity) from external orientation (differentiation, competition). These two axes create four quadrants, with each corresponding to a type of organisational culture of the CVF: Clan culture (friendly and collaborative working environments that promote loyalty, cooperation, commitment, high morale, and solidarity), Adhocracy culture (workplaces that promote openness, creativity, adaptability, innovation, and flexibility), Market culture (workplaces that focus on efficiency and productivity), and Hierarchy culture (structured workplaces that promote uniformity, coordination, control, and stability through hierarchy, formal rules/regulations, and processes).

Organisational culture can be understood through two key theoretical approaches: ‘sociological’ and anthropological’. According to the sociological approach, culture is an existing feature of organisations that may be functional or dysfunctional. In contrast, the anthropological approach asserts that organisations are cultures (‘systems of meanings’) (Cameron, 2004; Maslowski, 2001). The ‘functional’ and ‘semiotic’ perspectives of organisational culture provide the basis for these theoretical approaches, respectively. The functional approach asserts that culture reflects collective behaviour that can be empirically measured, and differences among organisational cultures can be identified. However, the semiotic approach focuses on individual interpretations and cognitive patterns, asserting culture as the only defining aspect of organisations (Cameron and Quinn, 1999). This study adopts a functionalist perspective, using quantitative research techniques to examine and measure school organisational culture. This study was conducted throughout Greece (Pan-Hellenic study) using a systematic sampling method to select schools from a larger population list. The sample comprised teachers and principals from 357 schools (1,050 educators) selected from 3,437 secondary schools in Greece. The final sample comprised 579 participants (response rate: 55%), including 444 teachers and 135 principals. This study applied the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) based on Cameron and Quinn’s (2006) CVF. The OCAI provides a fixed-sum scale of 100 points to measure an organisation’s prevailing and preferred culture types while simultaneously calculating discrepancies. Firstly, participants acknowledged the prevailing organisational culture by completing the first questionnaire. Subsequently, the same members completed the same questionnaire a second time to specify the culture types that they believe should be developed in the next five years to respond to the field’s modernisation requirements. Individual and school demographic data was also collected to create a comprehensive participant profile (e.g. gender, age, professional experience, and school size). A pilot study was also conducted in the area. Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient for OCAI was 0.868. The data analysis used descriptive (mean and standard deviation) and inferential (independent sample t-test) statistics. Statistically significant differences were determined using an independent sample t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA). PASW Statistics 28.0 was used for data coding and statistical analyses. Questionnaires created using GoogleForms were sent electronically to 357 Greek public secondary schools via official school email addresses. An informed consent letter was included to ensure the voluntary and anonymous participation of interested teachers/principals. The principal of each school sent the questionnaires to the teachers, who then returned the completed questionnaires to the researchers anonymously.

The findings revealed that teachers perceive hierarchical followed by clan culture, whereas principals perceive clan followed by the hierarchy culture. Both teachers and principals preferred clan culture, while placing hierarchical culture second, with a mutual desire for its decline over the next five years. The prevailing and preferred hierarchy culture of public secondary schools confirms the centralised and bureaucratic nature of Greek public education (OECD, 2020). Clan culture might function as an ‘antidote’ for educators to the dominant hierarchical culture in secondary schools, providing a collaborative and friendly workplace. However, hierarchy and clan cultures being the dominant and preferred types implies that secondary schools are characterised by an internal organisational focus and function as ‘closed’ systems. Furthermore, the lower dominance of and preference for adhocracy, and especially market culture, indicate that educators avoid or show hesitation towards school openness, changes, innovations, and a market-oriented perspective. Ideological and political aspects should also be considered. Comparing principals’ and teachers’ perspectives indicates that principals perceive higher levels of the clan and adhocracy cultures than teachers, and vice versa for the hierarchy type. To some extent, these discrepancies reflect how self-perceptions and role positions in the workplace influence the development of school culture. Examining the individual and school demographic data, this study reveals that school culture is influenced by micro-context conditions, thus raising implications for policymakers in providing the appropriate freedom to educators to regulate their school’s functioning and operations according to their personal and organisational needs (Bush, 2020). Overall, our results could serve as a valuable tool for educators seeking to improve school effectiveness, as all structural changes (e.g. reforms and innovations) should occur alongside cultural shifts to ensure that they are meaningful, thorough, and lasting (Sergiovanni and Starratt, 2002). Implications arise for policymakers (enhancement of autonomy), principals, professional development advocates, and researchers.

Bush T (2020) Theories of Educational Leadership and Management. London: Sage. Cameron K (2004) A Process for Changing Organizational Culture. Michigan: University of Michigan Business School. Cameron KS and Quinn RE (1999) Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture: Based on the Competing Values Framework. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley. Cameron KS and Quinn RE (2006) Diagnosing and Changing Culture: Based on the Competing Values Framework. (Rev. ed.). San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons. Cameron KS and Quinn RE (2011) Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture. Based on the Competing Values Framework (3rd ed.). San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons. Deal TE and Peterson KD (2016) Shaping School Culture (5th ed). John Wiley and Sons. Fullan M (2007) The New Meaning of Educational Change. NY & London: Routledge. Kovačević J, Mujkić A and Kapo A (2020) Examining school leadership in a transitional context: A mixed-methods study of leadership practices and school cultures as mechanisms of educational change. Educational Management Administration & Leadership 51(3): 219–244. Maslowski R (2001) School culture and school performance. Doctoral dissertation, University of Twente, the Netherlands. Maslowski R (2006) A review of inventories for diagnosing school culture. Journal of Educational Administration 44(1): 6–35. OECD (2016) Education at a glance 2016: OECD indicators. Paris: OECD Publishing. DOI: 10.187/eag-2016-en. OECD (2020) Education policy outlook: Greece. Paris: OECD Publishing. Available at: www.oecd.org/education/policy-outlook/country-profile-Greece-2020.pdf Saitis C (2008) The Principal in the Public School. Athens: Ministry of Education-PI. (In Greek). Schein EH (1985) Organizational Culture and Leadership (1st ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Schneider B, González-Romá V, Ostroff C and West MA (2017) Organizational climate and culture: Reflections on the history of the constructs in the Journal of Applied Psychology. Journal of Applied Psychology 102(3): 468–482. Sergiovanni TJ and Starratt RJ (2002) Supervision: A Redefinition (7th ed). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.