Trending Leading a Narrative of Collective Efficacy Now more than ever, leaders need to be purposeful in fostering positive school culture. Although current conditions present a unique set of hurdles, leaders Christine M. Anderson can build and reinforce school identity and culture by intentionally discussing positive collective efficacy contributions. One way to do this is through the use of narratives. Everyone in the school creates narratives to find meaning in processing positive and negative experiences, and they are communicated continuously through words and actions. Especially during challenging times, teams look to their leaders’ narratives to help them process and resituate adversity as well as to inspire future courses of action. Both leaders and teachers can use narratives in their practice to purposefully strengthen the school climate and culture. The idea of using narratives is not new. In fact, people have been using narratives as long as they have been using language itself, and the brain has evolved to seek narratives to create meaning in interconnected experiences. Anthropologist Clifford Gertz suggests that “culture is the story we tell ourselves about ourselves.” Even in schools, narratives are cultural artifacts that speak to our emotions as well as have the potential to build confidence and hope while navigating uncertainty. The current instability can make it challenging to find the traditional hallmarks of success in the classroom, and the search for significance can be isolating in the absence 6
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