A quick review of the value statements from schools around Australia highlights one crucial similarity: they seem to adopt the same words. The value of Respect is mentioned in almost all schools.

Sure, Excellence, Integrity, Learning and Courage also fare well, but Respect is the quintessential priority.

How did this come about, and how do leaders capitalise on this value to improve the culture in their schools?

Understanding a personal core value might help clarify the purpose of values and why schools hold them so dearly.

Why Are Personal Core Values Important?

Let’s start with what a value is.

Values are intrinsic beliefs that motivate people to act in a certain way. They’re a cognitive priority system that guides individuals in directing their time, resources, and level of commitment.

While we’re encouraged to find specific personal values, our subconscious often defines them. Without awareness, we gravitate toward the activities or events that bring us the most happiness or prove most fulfilling and satisfying.

 A core value may be to sustain a high level of personal fitness. Perhaps you’ve witnessed a friend or relative wrestle with fatigue and vowed to take care of your vitality levels. You choose to eat well, exercise regularly and avoid vices that sap your energy.

But, sometimes, we try to maintain competing values.

What Happens When Values Are Misaligned?

In the example above, holding a core value of a high fitness level is at odds with lying on the couch while regularly eating McDonald's. 

This causes a misalignment of our personal values and creates a deep sense of unhappiness or stress.

One of my core values is being family-oriented. As the father of four grown adults, I enjoy watching them start their relationships and remain involved in their families as they grow. I look forward to spending time with them, celebrating their wins and condoling them in their losses.

Yet competing values can create disharmony. Another belief I value is achieving success in my career, and balancing this with being family-oriented can cause friction between myself – and my family.

I’ve learned that there are times when one value must take the back seat to the other. One example was leaving my home state to move my family to another for better career opportunities. Had the family not wanted to go, opportunities on the East Coast would have been ignored.

What’s the Purpose of School Core Values?

While personal core values are intrinsically adopted, organisational values (schools included) are intended to set behavioural expectations for their community. In essence, it sets the tone of interaction, a common factor of organisational culture.

This raises an interesting challenge for schools.

What happens when a community member’s values do not align with school values? For example, a parent who values their child’s importance over the student population.

This is why schools must define and retain core values. In these situations, values are either deep-seated cultural beliefs or mere words in the school’s marketing material.

The challenge for schools is ensuring that core values align with their community's values. If they do, the school's culture will continue to flourish. If not, there will be continual strain between the priorities and perspectives of your stakeholders.

How Many Core Values Should a School Have?

Generally, schools should have no more than six core values and no less than three. They’re considered essential words, hence the term “core”, so a list of 10 or more renders them irrelevant. And less than three means you might miss an opportunity to communicate what you value with your community.

Retaining what you have and adding more might be tempting when taking on a new school or reviewing your values. Instead, school leaders must courageously extract the values that have passed their due-by-date and instil fresh meaning to inspire.

Why Is Respect an Important Core Value?

The Oxford Dictionary defines Respect as “due regard for the feelings, wishes, or rights of others.” Schools commonly consider it this way.

Dr Nigel Newton touches on Mutual Respect in his article Three Important Values for School Culture. This is an important distinction – the addition of the term Mutual. It effectively highlights the part of the definition “…of others.”

It’s essential because respect can also be defined as “deference to a right, privilege, or privileged position.” However, this definition becomes less helpful when we try to align others' values with the school's. 

Heaven knows schools have not been the fastest change leaders in adopting the first definition in preference for the second. Yet parents seem eager to move the opposite way.

How Can Schools Embrace the Value of Respect

The word Respect has become passé – a victim of its success. And, because it’s no longer in fashion, it’s often passed off for a range of divergent meanings – inclusivity, diversity, and equity.

While these great values are nothing wrong with them, they may not convey the true essence of your community's values.

Schools often choose respect as a core value because it implies consideration of others.

So, why do they choose such an all-encompassing word, such as respect?

Possibly because it’s easy and less restrictive than a word like courtesy or considerate, it allows the community to interpret the value based on their preference. One person may view respect as esteem, while another considers it inclusive of others. Neither is wrong, and the value doesn’t alienate because it permits multiple interpretations.

But, it waters down your core values and makes it difficult to get the community on the same page. If your school plans to keep respect as one of its values, it must settle on an agreed-upon definition.

Then, it must communicate that definition regularly through words and actions.

The Challenge for Schools: Get Your Core Values Speaking What You Value

This is the crux: take the time to review and assess your values. If they don’t communicate the essence of your mission and purpose, then finding better words becomes your challenge. 

Words and their meanings are dynamic. They change through the generations to reflect the nuance of language and understanding. 

As with the school’s mission, leaders must remain vigilant to keep the core values fresh and meaningful to their community.