I have been in and out of many schools in my current position, and school culture definitely plays a role in teacher attrition/retention and school morale.  After reading the chapter, I no longer believe that school culture is top-down.  I always believed that ”attitude reflects leadership” (Remember the Titans) but now I’m not so sure that’s the case.  Anyone can make a difference and if I don’t model this with my own students, who will?  I have to practice what I want them to do, don’t I?  It’s like Gorski, it’s up to us to make the changes occur.  I’m not saying that we can do this alone, but we need to foster a community of learning and growing within our schools.  My capstone is on mulitcultural literature analysis and my hope is that with the sharing of the analysis, there will be a greater sense of inquiry and a change in my school culture.  Sure, my school is in a middle to upper middle SES but that doesn’t mean that we have the most qualified teachers or the richest curriculum.  There’s always room for improvement.  My school still has “tracking” so are we believe that all students can learn and be challenged?  I think we’re heading in the right direction with more team taught classes for students with special needs, but we have leaps and bounds to achieve.  “School cultures help shape what people see, how they feel, and what they think is possible” (p. 340).  The school culture dictates the caring ability of the school, the staff, and the parents.  My hope is that we continue to inquire and challenge the way it is and practice what we preach so that our school culture is a nurturing one that challenges everyone who walks through the doors…children and adults alike.