Comments on: Money, Mouth. Mouth, Money.

By: Blair

Blair — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 13:46:38 +0000

I believe that leaders for today’s and tomorrow’s schools need to be visionaries, change agents, instructional leaders, modelers and managers. You can check out the details at principals of the future at http://principalsoffuture.wetpaint.com

[Fixed broken link in comment. - Ed.]

By: Mark Stock

Mark Stock — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 01:51:26 +0000

I think one issue that is challenging the the whole “principal as instructional leader” is the emergence of instructional coaches and instructional facilitators.

In many ways these teacher leaders are emerging as instructional leaders without “line and staff” authority over personnel.

Kind of changes the dynamic although the principal must still support them for them to be effective

The Stock Mark Report
http://drmarkstock.com

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 17:12:43 +0000

Thanks, Mark. I agree that veteran teachers can sometimes be resistant to any form of “instructional leadership” and anything they perceive as more than simply “managing” the school.

How we brace them for this different leadership construct continues to be a question that all of us in administration will struggle with.

Thanks for your input!

By: Mark

Mark — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 17:05:24 +0000

I think principals need to be ready to manage the change that comes with being the instructional leader in a building. For new teacher graduates this is the expectation of their principal but for the veteran teachers it will be a major change. Understanding that change of this magnitude will have consequences for the building culture is important. Marzano says that a schools communication, culture, input and order are negatively affected by second order change so a principal must be ready to manage the change.

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 13:55:47 +0000

It is truly unfortunate that you’ve found yourself surrounded by what sounds like poor leadership. Suffice to say that not all administrators are that way (as I sit in my office at 6:45 this morning to do some work before the place gets too busy).

Drop me a line any time.

By: Brian Cox

Brian Cox — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 13:49:44 +0000

I see what you are saying but when it is 8 am everyday and none of four principla in a junior high are present it causes concern. Do not get me wrong here I am currently working on my endorsement in educational administration to try to combat this among many other issues I have seen in my 8 years of teaching. Thanks for giving those of us a chance to discuss with you.

By: Scott

Scott — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 17:38:34 +0000

Sounds like a tough situation, Brian. Administrators who come in late and leave early, and who do not hold themselves to the same standards as they hold their staff are definitely giving the rest of us a bad rap. But I promise that if you don’t judge all administrators based on your bad experiences, I won’t judge all teachers based on the actions of a few.

Deal?

I believe you’ve provided some food for thought, though, because regardless of what administrators are actually doing when they’re working in their offices, I think it’s important to note that it isn’t always perceived as “working hard.” For instance, I can be knee deep in a scheduling dilemma or parent problem and a teacher may come in and ask, “Are you busy?” That’s a loaded question because what to me may seem “busy” may seem trivial to someone else because it’s not what’s on their mind at the time.

Also, sometimes I’ll have district meetings at 7:30AM and I’ll show up to my school at 9 or 10. No one has ever commented, but I’d hate to think teachers had the impression that I just felt like sleeping in that morning.

Thanks for sharing, Brian.

By: Brian Cox

Brian Cox — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 16:53:18 +0000

I beleive that the core competencies of an educational leader are to lead by example. More and more is being asked of administrators and what is seen in areas of my own experience is that work being displaced on other professionals within the building. Administrators ask more and more of their teachers but they themselves are not visibly seen working as hard as their teachers when they come into the school after the students have already arrived and are awaiting classes to start. Teachers tend to find this an ironic nature and then feel distain for supervisors because they do not play by the rules that others are judged by. I beleive that this leads me to the core competent area of communication. Communication opens the doorway to a successfully run school and as administrators are in charge of receiving, filtering, and deseminating information, I beleive that this is a key skill that cannot be overlooked. We talk about transparency among our government but in some schools we lack the transparency to communicate properly with parents, staff, and community members who are all working towards the common goal of educating our youth for the next generation.