The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that conflict, change, and deviance in school board behavior can be effectively studied and examined within generalized models of culture. In the first section, problems in studying educational cultures are identified and the biased views of educational anthropologists are discussed. Section II presents information on role and myth in the politics of education and discusses differences in interpretation of an institution which arise with different observers. Section III focuses on relationships between culture, conflict, and school boards. Three basic premises underlie successful use of a general conflict model to explain school boards and their operation: (1) that there exists a worldwide culture of education; (2) that the United States has a national culture of education; and (3) that the school board can be considered a unique culture. Categories for understanding culture and conflict within an educational institution are identified in section IV, including individual motives of school board members, changing expectations of society, and balance between the processes of cultural stability and change. Section V presents a brief summary of the paper. References are included in the document. (Author/DB)