The principal is the most important person at school. His duties are numerous and difficult. High level of professionalism should be combined with deep understanding of psychology as well as profound analytical skills. The following interview helps us to get an understanding of this job.
- Describe your educational background and job experiences. What did you do to prepare for this position? How long have you been in a leadership position?
The principal answered that her previous job was related to administration and supervision. She studied in the University of Houston and defended her dissertation just last week. In December the principal will graduate with a PhD in curriculum and instruction. The principal has eleven years of administrative experience in public schools and twenty three years in education. She worked for eleven years as a principal and four years as a team leader. Team leader is an administrative position that means a link between teachers and administration.
- Describe your current position. What are the duties, roles, and responsibilities? How much time do you spend observing instruction and providing feedback to teachers? What amount of your time is dedicated to managerial duties, student discipline, parent concerns?
The principal said that her duties included instructional leadership in a public school, religious coordination, staffing, working with budgets and with the community. She also works with the churches and the pastor. She is the curriculum leader. She deals with professional developments, oversees the teachers, makes evaluation and works with parents. She is responsible for budget allocation, facilities and safety. There are two buses at school. The principal provides feedback to teachers, attends a couple of classes every day. Teachers receive formal observation once a year and new teachers receive it twice a year. The principal checks lessons’ plans. At the beginning of the year, teachers set goals and discuss them with the principal. She does walk through, provides suggestions and feedbacks to teachers. The principal works on problem solving. She talks with the teachers about the positives and improvement, prepares growth plans. The time dedicated to managing of student discipline and parents concerns differs from day to day. The first thing the principal does in the morning is looking through e-mails and receiving telephone calls. She works on school discipline. The children often see the principal in classes or in the lunch-room. Each time she enters the class, she speaks with them.
- Describe the most rewarding aspects of your position.
Principal advised that one of the most rewarding aspects of her position is the kids. In this position you need to see all of them. They are like your own kids. Growth of children and teachers is also rewarding.
- What are the most stressful aspects of your position? What do you do to address job-related stress?
According to the principal, time belongs to job related stress. Sometimes there are fifty-three e-mails and six voice messages. The principal always has to follow what is going on. Another stressful peace is trying to make things happen on limited budgets. You want this, you want that and the teachers want something too. There are so many wants and needs. Dealing with limited budgets is very stressful. She prays over it and exercises in order to eliminate stress. During her first one or two years, she went home and brought stress there with her. But later she learned how to deal with stress.
- In your opinion and experience, what are the attributes needed for success as a principal?
According to the principal, communication is number one. One has to be willing to listen, to compromise, to work with others, not only with the administrative staff, but also with teachers. Collaboration is important. It is necessary not to make any drastic decisions during the first years at work. Otherwise you lose folks. One needs to talk to people, to learn what works well. At the same time, the principal observes herself. She has received a lot of information during one year. And of course she is still learning during the second year. Each year is different, parents and kids are different, and staff may be different too. What worked last year is not necessarily going to work next year.
- What are your non-negotiables? How have you communicated these to your staff and stakeholders?
The principal’s non-negotiable is hurting the kids. She means making the child feel bad. She is not talking about the discipline, but deliberately putting the child down is non-negotiable. Disrespect to the kids and to one another is a non-negotiable too. It is necessary to talk to the person, bring the issue to his or her attention, to make sure that the expectations are clear.
The principal tries to be transparent, organize meetings to make sure that everybody knows what is going on. It helps with the rumors. She always communicates her expectations at the beginning of the year.
- What suggestion can you provide for me as I prepare for an administrative position? What is your best advice for a new principal?
The principal told that this job could be rewarding. That is like what she said earlier. It is going to be a disaster if the principal thinks that everybody should do what she wants them to do. You have to guide teams. The principal has to be flexible, because she never knows from day to day what circumstances will come up. It is important to realize that things are going to happen. It takes time. Everything is a process; the principal just keeps it in mind. It is necessary to be visible, to keep the pulse of the school by observing.
According to the interview, the principal should have a profound working experience at school, either as a teacher or as a team leader. It is hardly possible to have deep understanding of school processes without an experience as a teacher.
In my opinion, the person may become a school principal only in case he or she likes the work as a teacher, has good relations with children and other staff.
The main role of the principal is to create positive atmosphere at school, something that encourages everybody to do their duties in the best way possible. Children should be inspired to learn, teachers should love teaching. Such an atmosphere is a part of school culture: “all the responsibilities and roles of a school principal are very important. But the imperative is a positive school culture” (Habegger, 2008).
I agree that the main feature helping the principal in his work is good communication skills. The principal has to deal with a lot of people (children, teachers, administrative staff, etc.). It is difficult to be attentive to everyone, to understand their thoughts and needs, to compromise and to keep discipline at the same time. However, the principal must manage this all. The principal’s functions get more difficult under the conditions of limited budgets. Schools usually have a lot of needs and the budgets must be allocated correctly. The principal has to listen to everybody and take all the opinions into consideration.
The work at school is usually stressful. There may be conflicts among children, teachers, various accidents, etc. The principal deals with all of these situations. He has to be clever and patient to take right decisions and settle the issues.
What I like about the above-mentioned principal is that she is studying all the time and defended her dissertation. The world is changing and everybody needs to work on himself to develop his personal and professional skills. Due to the process of studying, the principal can learn new developments in the education field, children’s psychology, etc.
The principal has to work with people all the time; therefore he should like this kind of activity. Good principal has to be sincerely interested in children’s success as well as in teachers’ professional growth. He should feel as if he is growing with them. In this case the work will be rewarding.
References
Habegger, S. (2008). The Principal’s Role in Successful Schools: Creating a Positive School Culture. Principal, 42-46. Retrieved from http://www.naesp.org/resources/1/Principal/2008/S-O_p42.pdf
