The focus of Chapter 2 is on the role of the principal - how it is changing, and how perceptions of what the role should be don't necessarily match reality. Specifically, the text emphasizes the current shift from the idea of principal as "building manager" toward the idea of principal as "instructional leader." Clear evidence of this change can be found in Virginia's new licensure regulations that went into effect last September. It is now possible to become licensed as a School Manager (check out page 7 at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/Compliance/TeacherED/nulicvr.pdf) who is responsible for the non-instructional aspects of running a school. Perhaps, if these positions catch on, this might provide a relatively inexpensive way to free up time so that principals can devote more of their day to instructional leadership.
This shift in the role of the principal is long overdue. The bottom line is that it is teachers who have the biggest impact on student success, and principals can have a significant impact on teacher effectiveness. Principals must create and support learning communities that allow (and require) teachers to continuously reflect on and refine their instructional practices, and principals must be diligent and conscientious when supervising and evaluating teachers to ensure that all students have access to effective instruction.
I agree that teachers have the most impact on students. I believe that principals need to have more impact but they need the time to be able to be in the classroom teaching and interacting in such a way that it is not all just discipline or checking up on things. As things change I think teachers will be more open or more used to having the principals in the class. Right now when we see the principal come in we think evaluation and not "team teaching" or working together.
I have talked to my principal about this very topic recently when I had a student teacher. He said that the county would like for the principals to be in our classrooms at least four times a month. Of course, he is finding this task quite a challenge because he is also engaged in about "56" daily activities. I am sure as an administrator, you can have a "To Do" list for Monday morning like we all do and leave school for the evening with the very same list except that many more things have been added to it. Many things like a parent concern, IEP meeting, a problem on the bus, etc, can change an adminstrators agenda for the day. I hope that in the future administrators will have more opportunities to communicate and aide in teacher instruction.
My principal's day sounds very similar. There are not enough hours in the day to finish her "to do" list. If teachers and principals are to truly work as a team for student success, then we need to see more of the principal in the classroom. Our students need to see that as well to realize the principal has a connection their education. But what aspects of the job as administrator are sacrificed when a principal is out of the office and in the classroom? I think it's similar to our job as a teacher. I would love to be able to just "teach" all day instead of dealing with paperwork, phone calls, emails, committee meetings, etc. My principal always says she is so excited when she is able to spend some time in a classroom instead of sitting behind a desk and making phone calls. Most tasks are necessary for her to complete for our school to be successful but she would rather help out with a lesson.
I think the majority of parents, students, and community members don't see how busy a principals job really is. Even as teachers I think we only see part of what an administrator does. We see when he comes into our room to observe, when he leads meetings, when he runs busy duty. Teachers see all those things, but I think there are so many more things that teachers, parents, and the community never see. Most of us don't ever see the hundreds of pop-in meetings that occur, the quietly repremanding a faculty member, the times when a teacher comes into the office and bursts into tears about divorce, or cancer, or their children. We never see when the principal is fighting to keep his job, because of test scores. In my opinion, an administrator must be role model, leader, boss, teacher, and manager, but he must also be a friend, marytr, listener, caretaker, and caregiver. The crazy part is he must be all of these things and more at the same time for different people.
At the high school where I teach, there are three assistant principals and one head principal. Each of them has specific duties (instruction, scheduling,communications, SOLS, safety, etc.) and the three assistant principals deal with discipline issues. The faculty is divided between the four of them for evaluation purposes. With all of the organization and division of tasks, however, there is still never enough time in the day to get everything done. In addition, our principal is currently undergoing chemotherapy for cancer, and so of course that unexpected and unplanned-for event has affected everyone in different ways. But in spite of everything that tries to get in the way, I would say that our school is in the forefront - trying many of the innovative strategies suggested in this chapter. We are a High Schools That Work site (if you are familiar with that program) and, using the current research and best practices data, teachers and administrators work together to offer students many opportunities and ways to be successful.
The school in which I teach has close to 1100 students. We have three principals who have different responsibilities within the school community. All three work hard to be effective instructional leaders. I have noticed an increase in the number of times our principals visit classrooms. I know principals must also be effective building managers. How can a principal help teachers with instruction if they struggle with discipline? A principal must wear many hats but it is nice to see the initiative they are taking to help teachers in the classroom.
Although the role of the principal is changing, there is an expansion of duties and responsibilities rather than a shift in responsibilities. Since many of the duties outside of supervision and evaluation of instruction and curriculum could be performed by a school manager, this may indeed be an economical way to free up principals for instructional leader duties. Before a principal can directly contribute to teachers' instructional success and be coordinating the efforts of his/her instructional staff, they have to be freed up from some of their other duties. Research by the NASSP shows that principals are already working an average of over 62 hours a week. I would say this is accurate for the principals in my building, yet they currently are able to spend very little time on the "instructional leader" piece of their job.
I agre, the principal has for too many yeas served more as building adminstrator, instead in todays school he/she needs to be more of the instructional leader, spending time in the classroom, helping teachers evaluate and reevauate their instruction. In a society as competitive as ours, students need every advantage that they can get. An expert second opinon would be very helpful to teacher and student.
9 comments:
The focus of Chapter 2 is on the role of the principal - how it is changing, and how perceptions of what the role should be don't necessarily match reality. Specifically, the text emphasizes the current shift from the idea of principal as "building manager" toward the idea of principal as "instructional leader." Clear evidence of this change can be found in Virginia's new licensure regulations that went into effect last September. It is now possible to become licensed as a School Manager (check out page 7 at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/Compliance/TeacherED/nulicvr.pdf) who is responsible for the non-instructional aspects of running a school. Perhaps, if these positions catch on, this might provide a relatively inexpensive way to free up time so that principals can devote more of their day to instructional leadership.
This shift in the role of the principal is long overdue. The bottom line is that it is teachers who have the biggest impact on student success, and principals can have a significant impact on teacher effectiveness. Principals must create and support learning communities that allow (and require) teachers to continuously reflect on and refine their instructional practices, and principals must be diligent and conscientious when supervising and evaluating teachers to ensure that all students have access to effective instruction.
I agree that teachers have the most impact on students. I believe that principals need to have more impact but they need the time to be able to be in the classroom teaching and interacting in such a way that it is not all just discipline or checking up on things. As things change I think teachers will be more open or more used to having the principals in the class. Right now when we see the principal come in we think evaluation and not "team teaching" or working together.
I have talked to my principal about this very topic recently when I had a student teacher. He said that the county would like for the principals to be in our classrooms at least four times a month. Of course, he is finding this task quite a challenge because he is also engaged in about "56" daily activities. I am sure as an administrator, you can have a "To Do" list for Monday morning like we all do and leave school for the evening with the very same list except that many more things have been added to it. Many things like a parent concern, IEP meeting, a problem on the bus, etc, can change an adminstrators agenda for the day. I hope that in the future administrators will have more opportunities to communicate and aide in teacher instruction.
My principal's day sounds very similar. There are not enough hours in the day to finish her "to do" list. If teachers and principals are to truly work as a team for student success, then we need to see more of the principal in the classroom. Our students need to see that as well to realize the principal has a connection their education. But what aspects of the job as administrator are sacrificed when a principal is out of the office and in the classroom?
I think it's similar to our job as a teacher. I would love to be able to just "teach" all day instead of dealing with paperwork, phone calls, emails, committee meetings, etc. My principal always says she is so excited when she is able to spend some time in a classroom instead of sitting behind a desk and making phone calls. Most tasks are necessary for her to complete for our school to be successful but she would rather help out with a lesson.
I think the majority of parents, students, and community members don't see how busy a principals job really is. Even as teachers I think we only see part of what an administrator does. We see when he comes into our room to observe, when he leads meetings, when he runs busy duty. Teachers see all those things, but I think there are so many more things that teachers, parents, and the community never see. Most of us don't ever see the hundreds of pop-in meetings that occur, the quietly repremanding a faculty member, the times when a teacher comes into the office and bursts into tears about divorce, or cancer, or their children. We never see when the principal is fighting to keep his job, because of test scores. In my opinion, an administrator must be role model, leader, boss, teacher, and manager, but he must also be a friend, marytr, listener, caretaker, and caregiver. The crazy part is he must be all of these things and more at the same time for different people.
At the high school where I teach, there are three assistant principals and one head principal. Each of them has specific duties (instruction, scheduling,communications, SOLS, safety, etc.) and the three assistant principals deal with discipline issues. The faculty is divided between the four of them for evaluation purposes. With all of the organization and division of tasks, however, there is still never enough time in the day to get everything done. In addition, our principal is currently undergoing chemotherapy for cancer, and so of course that unexpected and unplanned-for event has affected everyone in different ways. But in spite of everything that tries to get in the way, I would say that our school is in the forefront - trying many of the innovative strategies suggested in this chapter. We are a High Schools That Work site (if you are familiar with that program) and, using the current research and best practices data, teachers and administrators work together to offer students many opportunities and ways to be successful.
The school in which I teach has close to 1100 students. We have three principals who have different responsibilities within the school community. All three work hard to be effective instructional leaders. I have noticed an increase in the number of times our principals visit classrooms. I know principals must also be effective building managers. How can a principal help teachers with instruction if they struggle with discipline? A principal must wear many hats but it is nice to see the initiative they are taking to help teachers in the classroom.
Although the role of the principal is changing, there is an expansion of duties and responsibilities rather than a shift in responsibilities. Since many of the duties outside of supervision and evaluation of instruction and curriculum could be performed by a school manager, this may indeed be an economical way to free up principals for instructional leader duties. Before a principal can directly contribute to teachers' instructional success and be coordinating the efforts of his/her instructional staff, they have to be freed up from some of their other duties. Research by the NASSP shows that principals are already working an average of over 62 hours a week. I would say this is accurate for the principals in my building, yet they currently are able to spend very little time on the "instructional leader" piece of their job.
I agre, the principal has for too many yeas served more as building adminstrator, instead in todays school he/she needs to be more of the instructional leader, spending time in the classroom, helping teachers evaluate and reevauate their instruction. In a society as competitive as ours, students need every advantage that they can get. An expert second opinon would be very helpful to teacher and student.
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