Culture Is Built, Not Inherited: How Schools Actually Change

Summary Gene Tavernetti examines the familiar explanation that school improvement is difficult because “it’s just the culture.” Drawing on work with schools across the United States and Canada, he argues that culture is not fixed atmosphere—it is the residue of daily decisions, habits, and follow-through. The practical path to change is to change what people do. Gene lays out a focused approach: choose one or two specific instructional practices, support them through consistent coaching, use common look-fors in leadership walkthroughs, and protect the commitments through follow-through. The goal is a shift from isolated classrooms to a shared identity around how “we teach here.” Chapters 0:00 — Welcome to Better Teaching 0:37 — Why “it’s just the culture” becomes an excuse 2:13 — Culture is built from daily decisions 3:08 — Change behavior before trying to change beliefs 4:12 — Make coaching and walkthroughs consistent 5:26 — From “I teach here” to “we teach here” 6:42 — Protect the culture you want through follow-through Show Notes Guest/host: Gene Tavernetti Gene’s professional site: tesscg.com Gene’s books include Teach Fast: Focus, Adaptable, Structured Teaching and Maximizing the Impact of Coaching Cycles. Better Teaching is part of the BE Podcast Network: bepodcastnetwork.com Production card: Basecamp This podcast sponsored by: The Bell Ringer, a weekly newsletter providing news, tools, and resources on the science of learning, written by education reporter Holly Korbey. Subscribe here.