Written by As a Residential Head of House I have the unique privilege of living with 27 girls from all over the world. We share stories, our lives, laughter and lots of great food. We learn from each other and we work to form a cohesive house culture and community.
After 14+ years living and working in residence I am left wondering what truly is house culture? How does it evolve, grow and rebuild? What happens when students change year to year? Who creates house culture?
My questions seem to have multiplied rather than diminished with years of experience.
I set out to ask questions of the girls in my house to get their understanding of house culture and what it means to them. I got some insightful answers:
“It’s a group of people who live together and do something unique that other houses don’t do.”
“It’s a belief in our home and the things we do together as a family.”
“It’s a feeling of tradition, community and a loving environment.”
and a common answer, “I don’t know.”
I dove down with some more questions about what they believed it meant to be a part of our house. From tea to pizza, to responsibility and trust the answers varied and identified things about the house each person enjoyed. Some described it as a “big family” where others identified specific things they enjoy – i.e. games in the common room, lots of laughter, close to the school block, singing, and “always people to talk to.”
When asked what houses at our school had great house culture I was surprised that most girls could not name another house they believed had great house culture. They talked a bit about things other houses did but couldn’t specifically pinpoint house culture in other houses. I was surprised by this and definitely want to do more digging into their understanding of how they see other residences.
My final question surrounded the concept of who creates house culture. While a few students identified the staff and seniors-in-charge as the creators of house culture, the majority said “everyone.”
My takeaways from this process are:
- house culture isn’t easily defined
- students understand they have a role in creating it but have not clearly identified other houses’ culture
- house culture is not tangible or measurable by students, more of a feeling
One of the pieces of art hanging on the wall in our residence reminds us of the importance of fun. It’s a word I often use to describe boarding life. While no one used the word ‘fun’ to describe house culture they mention fun activities.
Curious to know if fun factors into further discussions.
@khansler I think “culture” is a powerful tool and worthy of your investigation. Especially if you want to be intentional about growing it and stewarding it and being attuned to the things/element that can erode it. What role does trust play in a group living situation? How do you establish and maintain it?
Justin – great points about trust. I think it’s absolutely a critical part. Trust is essential for all healthy relationships and definitely factors into all areas of boarding life.
@khansler,
Having had lived on campus at a boarding school and been a house parent, I can somewhat relate to your use of the term, “unique privilege”. The connections you make with students in a boarding environment are very different to the ones you make when you only see students in class.
I often think when culture works best it is because no one is able to articulate it. As schools have a revolving door of new and fresh additions to this culture every year, that means the only true constant is change.
These thoughts might certainly lead to a unique cohort21 action plan this year. Definitely worth exploring.
Thank you Eric. Yes I do agree that often it’s a feeling rather than something you can articulate. Change is absolutely the only constant. Looking forward to exploring it further.