Best Practices for School Principals - Essay Example

?Best practices for school principals Education is one sector in which drastic changes are taking place over the last few decades. Knowledge explosion is taking place at present from all corners and educational authorities are struggling to devise suitable methods to convey it to the student community. Advancements in science and technology have contributed heavily in helping educational authorities to implement necessary changes. In short, teaching methods in the past and present are entirely different. Lecture methods of teaching were followed in the past whereas problem solving methods are following at present. Unlike teachers in the past, current teachers are presenting problems in front of the students and guiding them to solve those problems. It should be noted that both presentation of the problems and the solving of problems were the duties of the teacher in the past. In short, teacher centred education has given way for student centred education. There were many similarities between the leadership approach of school principals and corporate senior executives. This was especially true in the areas of strategic visioning, comfort with change, approach to communication, delegation and feedback, follow through on tasks, and balancing their own needs with the needs of others (Kabacoff, p.3). Principals are the chief executives of schools. In the absence of a competent principal, a school may face lot of problems. In other words, a principal can make or break a school. Scholars often talk about the importance of teaching and the skills necessary for teachers. They speak less about the importance of principals in controlling or managing school resources. In fact principal is the person who is managing the school resources, including teachers and infrastructure facilities in the school compound. This paper analyses the importance and best practices of school principals in general and school principals in Texas in particular. For many patrons of a school, a “great” principal is someone who does it all: Helpful to teachers while honoring their autonomy to teach; responsive to parents while buffering teachers from their demands; listening to students’ problems while not intruding on parents’ turf or reversing teachers’ decisions. Finessing all of these contrary demands is, to many observers, a sign of “greatness” (Great Principals?). All the above qualities may make a great principal. However, it is not necessary that such great principals may be always effective. Democratic way of functioning by the principal is always welcomed by the students, parents and teachers. However, it is not necessary that democracy may bring intended results in schools. For example, teachers and students may consider the liberal attitudes of the principal as a weakness and they may try to exploit it. In order to avoid that it is better for the principal to implement situational leadership in his functioning. In other words, the principal should change his way of functioning based on the situations. There are situations in which the principal forced to use his power and authority to punish the students and teachers. He should never stay away from doing so in order to keep his image intact. It is often said that effective teaching may never take place if the principal implement too much democracy in his way of functioning. Teachers may come late and students may not attend the classes regularly, if the principal fails to punish the culprits. School is a place from which the students lean discipline. In the absence of a competent principal, students may learn crazy life styles from school campuses instead of discipline. It should be noted that in many of the Texas school campuses, drug addiction and alcoholism are big problems. Moreover sexual exploitation is also taking place in many of the Texas school campuses. If the principal fails to take necessary actions to punish the culprits, such unacceptable behaviors may increase in school compounds. In short, an effective principal should be the one who implements situation leadership; an approach in which the leader mixes caution with aggression and democracy with autocracy. Most principals who can mobilize teachers, parents, district administrators, and foundation officials to move in the same direction are allergic to the label of being “great”. Policymakers, who hire principals, expect “great” principals to be strong instructional leaders who supervise teacher lessons and evaluate their performance, shrewd managers who squeeze a dollar out of every dime spent on the school, and astute politicians who can steer parents, teachers, and students in the same direction year after year (Great Principals?). Teachers are the brain and students are the body of a school. Everybody knows that the body may not function properly if the brain malfunctions. In other words, knowledge transfer from teachers to students may not take place if the teachers fail to deliver their duties. The chemistry between students and the teachers play an important role in the learning process. If teachers are the reactants, students are the products. In a chemical reaction, a catalyst is necessary to speed up the reaction. Principal is the catalyst who helps the reactant teachers to produce student products. In other words, principal should act as the sun around which the planets (teachers, students, parents and administrative staffs) rotate. Better communication skills are necessary for an effective principal. It is not necessary that principal should always talk verbally to the subordinates and the students. In fact as per the modern theories of communication, more than 60% of the messages are conveyed through nonverbal means. In other words, the looks, appearances, gestures, body languages and facial expressions can communicate many things to the teachers, students and administrative staffs. In these politically contentious and economically difficult times, school principals are increasingly at the center of demands to increase teaching effectiveness and improve student learning, while simultaneously decreasing costs and making due with diminishing resources. The success of these endeavors depends to a significant degree on their leadership abilities (Kabacoff, p.1). School funding is getting decreased as time goes on because of various reasons. It should be noted that America in general and Texas in particular facing severe economic problems because of the recent global financial crisis. It is difficult for the authorities in Texas to allocate or ensure enough or adequate funding for the school activities. The capabilities of the principals are going to be tested severely in future in managing the funds allocated to each school in Texas. An effective principal should use the funds judiciously so that the teaching and learning process may not be affected. Possession of best knowledge in the area of functioning is another essential quality required for a school principal. The principal should have better awareness about modern teaching and learning methods so that he can point out the mistakes of the teachers and students. It is not necessary that a principal should have better knowledge in all subjects areas taught in the school. However, he should have better awareness about the modern teaching methods and the effective ways of using teaching aids. He should always convey his expectations to both teachers and students. He should remind all of them about the periodical changes needed in the teaching learning process. Problem solving and quick decision making abilities are necessary for a school principal. Many of the Texas schools are places in which teachers and students from different cultures interact each other. When people from different cultures interact, conflicts can arise any time. It is the duty of the principal to solve all such conflicts as quickly as possible so that the learning and teaching processes may not be affected. Problems of the teachers and that of the students should be addressed as quickly as possible by the principal. To conclude, great principals need not be the effective ones. Effective principals will implement situations leadership in school campuses. Effective principals should have skills such as better communication, problem solving, quick decision making. In short, principal is a manager who manages the school resources including teachers and students well to achieve desired educational goals. Works Cited “Great” Principals?”. 2010. Web. 08 December 2011. Kabacoff, Robert Ph.d. “Effective School Leadership: A New Study of Best Leadership Practices for School Principals”. 2011. MRG® RESEARCH: A preliminary report. Web. 08 December 2011. Read More