Positive Principal Roles

LO 1.2 Describe with examples the importance of all staff consistently and fairly applying boundaries and rules for children and young people’s behaviour in accordance with the policies of the setting.

As principal, I would avoid conflict polarization by being an inclusive leader. I would promote dialogue and constructive engagement to initiate a cooperative community. Ideas and opinions from all sides would be welcomed. Teachers would be encouraged to express themselves openly and freely. I would communicate in an effective manner to ensure everyone knows my position on the issue. I would also set high expectations for the school. In addition, I would operate in a manner that is fair, ethical and consistent with my vision and mission for the school. We will always make decisions that are in the best interest of students and not ourselves. The goal would be to promote student success.

This is a case study analysis of The New Principal: Managing Human Resources by Jane A. MacDonald (2006). This case study focuses on issues a first year principal may face when entering her school for the first time. Ms. Vera Zola was not only a first year principal; she was also new to the school district. In her previous role as assistant principal, she was in a neighboring school district. In her new district, the Suburban Public School District (SPS), there were approximately 11,000 students enrolled (MacDonald, 2006). Ms. Zola was assigned to Roma Elementary, one of six elementary schools in the district. There were two middle schools and two high schools. Approximately 80% of high school graduates continued on to higher education or a trade school. Community members had diverse cultural backgrounds and lifestyles, and the community was growing.

The second key role for principals is stated in the title of Chapter 4 –“ Being a System Player”. Fullan qualifies this role by emphasizing that a principal shouldn’t pay less attention to school matters “but rather to engage outside in order to increase learning within your school (while at the same time contributing to the betterment of the system).”

A principal should be a leader of the school and of the community. This role includes many responsibilities but few as demanding as supervision. Ultimately the principal is responsible for supervision of the students, the entire staff, the physical school, and all school events. These

To establish positive and productive relationships with families a childcare provider must create a give and take interaction with the parents as well as the child. As a childcare provider I make it my mission to establish this kind of relationship my using social media as a medium for this relation. Class messenger is an app that parents and teachers can use to stay connected. Keeping a class progress folder is another way teachers can let the parents see what their children are working on, thus in return helping them see what they are learning and what areas they need help in.

She interweaves examples of three principals from her research. These principals are from urban schools with high populations of low-income and minority students. The examples illustrate throughout the book how the actions of these principals developed or worked against developing trust. She analyzes these behaviors as related to each chapter topic.

Children, like adults will have their disagreements. As children get older their arguments can become more serious and are not simple squabbles. In order for children and young people to trust us, it is important that we can identify difficulties and help them wherever possible to find ways through them. It is essential that children and young people perceive our way of doing this as fair. When you have a conflict with a child, there is an opportunity for learning about how to solve problems. Conflicts help children to understand that other people have different thoughts and feelings to their own. Listen to the child and try to understand their point of view, and help them to understand yours. Then together, try to think of ways to solve the problem that you are both happy with. It might take a while but it will be worth it, and will help to build your relationship.

A part of my job as administrator is to work with students on keeping ethical standards throughout their lives. I work with others at my school to instill character building skills. We have a character word for the month that is posted in every classroom and other parts of the school. Part of my job as an administrator will be to work with teachers and how they relate to the students. During my Successful School Observation I was able to pick up on the teachers’ attitudes about teaching with the way they spoke to the students and about the students. Most of the teachers were working really well with the students. There were two or three who, if I was their administrator, would be placed on probation or written up because of the way they talk to the students. Belittling students is a big NO! NO! All students deserve to be treated with respect even on our worst days as

For that reason, the principal and school administrators will be visible and visiting classrooms, making rounds, and attending and participating in community events. The school leaders will use their voice to be advocates for the needs of the students, parents, faculty, and staff of HSHS and to showcase everyone’s accomplishments.

According to former Indiana state superintendent of schools Dr. Suellen Reed, “We know from our research that there’s no turnaround school without a turnaround principal” (as cited in Gammil, 2007, para. 2), further supporting the fact that “school leaders have an essential role in cultivating a positive school culture in public schools” (Peterson and Deal, 2002, p.30). However, it is imperative to improve our understanding as to how principal leadership impacts the school culture in high poverty schools to ensure that all children receive a quality education, regardless of zip code, in an environment conducive to learning. The six measured factors are as follows:

This quote helps us understand how children (and adults!) really want to be listened to:

Every school district has board meetings throughout the school year. Unfortunately, many parents, community members, & school personnel do not attend such important meetings because they don’t realize or understand the importance of such board meetings or how informative they can be. According to Kankakee School District (2017), the Kankakee School District Board of Education is composed of seven elected members, who were elected by the citizens of Kankakee to serve a four-year term that do not receive no salary for they services, are committed to ensuring a quality of educational excellence that will enhance the opportunities and challenges facing today’s student and additional responsibilities that board members include are selection of the District superintendent, developing general polices according to wishes of the community and requirements of law, hiring school personnel based upon recommendation of the Superintendent and the Assistant Superintendent of Personnel, adopts salary schedules, approves funds to finance school operations, must adopt and review the annual operating budget for the District, and setting the property tax levy to produce adequate funds to meet the District’s financial needs ranks among the responsibilities of the Board of Education (Retrieved from https://www.ksd111.org/domain/68). For this paper, the Kankakee School District board meeting will be used, information learned from board meeting, use of

In terms of becoming a mediator and consensus builder the authors detailed the need for principals to possess relational leadership skills in order to be able to both facilitate groups and coach others on staff in the ability to facilitate their own groups, and stressed that the key to this is the ability to effectively participate in conflict resolution (Donaldson, Marnik, Mackenzie, & Ackerman, 2009). The authors suggested that conflict is part and parcel of school reform and that in addition to being able to deal effectively with conflict the successful principal needs to develop the ability for bringing about consensus within the group, noting that interpersonal and intrapersonal skills were as much or more important than knowledge (Donaldson, Marnik, Mackenzie, & Ackerman, 2009).

I’ve had quite the learning experience over the last few weeks. I had a chance to obtain valuable information and support from my principal. I learned so much about the administration role and how difficult it can be. When I began my interview, I felt overwhelmed and excited at the same time. My principal is also my mentor; she has been very supportive of me pursuing my dreams to be in administrator. As I conducted my interview I learned so much about the principal’s role. I asked my principal a series of questions. The questions were based on the Interstate School Leadership Licensure Consortium Standards (ISLLC). My first question was based on educational programs. The educational programs at any school need balance. While we live in a test results world, there needs to be a balance of focus. I look at the type of student I want my school to produce and I surround myself with a faculty and other staffs that not only share in the mission, but also will help every student succeed. In addition, as an administrator, I need to provide my faculty and staff with the tools and resources necessary to make everyone feel successful.