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Building a Positive School Culture provides busy leaders with practical, tested approaches to consider and adopt in their various leadership settings. Chapters offer a common language for school leaders to assess and view school culture using the CPR framework and are informed by research and evidence from hundreds of school leaders and thousands of students. This guide serves as the foundation for connected professional learning options, such as masterclasses and school leadership formation programs, applicable from a system level to individual schools.
Stephen Brown and Andrew Fuller present a compelling case for the need for an unrelenting focus by school leaders and school communities to shape, enable, and nurture school environments in which everyone thrives—students, staff, parents, and the broader community.
It is difficult to overstate just how timely, necessary and compelling Building Positive School Cultures is and there are few people more qualified to write it than Dr Stephen Brown (whose work I know well) and Andrew Fuller. Having worked closely with Stephen for many years, I have seen first-hand the depth of insight, intellectual rigour and moral purpose he brings to every conversation about leadership and school culture. His contribution to educational leadership in Australia and internationally is not just significant, it is transformative.
Stephen possesses that rare combination of scholarly authority, vast system leadership experience, high relational engagement and an intuitive understanding of how culture actually works in the lived reality of schools and school systems. Long before concepts such as psychosocial safety and adaptive leadership became globally recognised imperatives, Stephen was already shaping practice and influencing leaders across education sectors to build school environments and cultures where people truly thrive. His leadership - spanning four decades, multiple jurisdictions, national roles, international appointments, and a litany of prestigious awards - translates into a wisdom and credibility that few in the field can match.
This book is the culmination of a career spent inside classrooms, boardrooms and system offices, guiding leaders through complexity with clarity, humanity and hope. The CPR framework—Connected, Protected, Respected—is quintessentially Stephen: elegant, evidence-informed, deeply practical, and grounded in what matters most for students, staff and communities. His partnership with Andrew Fuller brings together two of the most respected voices in school wellbeing and leadership, resulting in a resource that is both powerful and profoundly accessible for today’s busy school leaders.
What distinguishes Stephen’s work is not only the depth of research or the extensive professional reach but his unwavering belief that great leadership is ultimately an act of service. He understands, better than anyone I know, that culture is not a glossy slogan but a living ecosystem requiring care, courage and relentless attention. Connected, Protected and Respected offers exactly the kind of practical, dignifying guidance leaders are desperately seeking as they navigate the demands of a complex, post-pandemic educational landscape.
For any school or system leader seeking a blueprint for cultural renewal that is grounded, actionable and inspiring, this is essential reading. And for those of us who have long admired Stephen Brown’s work, this book is yet another example of his extraordinary generosity, insight and enduring contribution to the profession.
I endorse this book wholeheartedly and with genuine admiration and can’t wait to get my hands on a copy!
— Sue Kennedy-Brandford, Director-People, Leadership and Culture, Catholic Education South Australia
Stephen Brown is Managing Director at The Brown Collective and an internationally renowned thought leader, scholar practitioner, a highly respected education system executive and consultant. He is at the cutting edge of research, practice and development of school leaders. Dr Brown has an outstanding reputation for leading and supporting sustainable cultural change from whole system to individual schools.
Andrew Fuller is a clinical psychologist, family therapist, author, speaker and creator of Learning Strengths™. Andrew started working in mental health crisis teams with people who were at their last hopes and that inspired him to create with people, futures they can fall in love with. His work with over 5,000 communities and with more than 500,000 young people has identified the concepts of NeuroAdvantage, The Resilient Mindset, and also the three main components of resilience- connect, protect and respect (CPR). Andrew is an Hon. Fellow at the University of Melbourne and a scientific consultant for the ABC. He is the Chairperson of Generation Next, an ambassador for Adolescent Success, and Lion’s Wellbeing and is a regular presenter on Radio National, Australia.
Chapter 1. The Importance of school culture: Why does it matter?
Chapter 2. How do you know that a school is thriving? The CPR approach to school culture
Chapter 3. The CPR approach to school culture: Students, staff, parents, and community
Chapter 4. How can leaders build a positive school culture?
Chapter 5. Adaptive leadership: The essence of building positive school cultures
Chapter 6. ‘Tangling with your temple cats’: Challenging outmoded behaviours, norms and practices at the heart of leading cultural change
Chapter 7. Effective communication and decision making: Core capabilities for leading a productive school culture
Chapter 8. Persuading and influencing, the cultural change narrative-the power of storytelling
Chapter 9. Culture: Build one conversation and one interaction at a time
Chapter 10. The connected, protected and respected (CPR) approach to school culture: Final reflections