In Part 1 of this series, we wrote about how the concept of tribal leadership, from the book Tribal Leadership, can help school leaders looking to implement the Next Generation Science Standards. (If you missed the first post, click here.)
According to the authors of that book, we are all members of several tribes. We may belong to a political tribe that favors one party or another. We may be a member of another tribe defined by its religious belief, it's preference for a particular sports team or one's chosen profession—soldier, factory worker, teacher, or lawyer. Tribes form naturally around ideas and values. They have a central culture, ideas, and values in common.
Within a school building, there might be one tribe or multiple tribes. The researchers defined a tribe as being between about 10 to around 150 people, made up of like-minded people with shared values. Every tribe has a dominant culture, which falls on a scale of one to five. Each of the five stages has overarching views of the world and speaks a common language.
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