By Paul Bonner
Not too long ago, I walked up to a register in a grocery store. The clerk noticed that I had a school district ID and asked, “Are you a teacher?” I replied, “I’m a principal.” She looked at me, smiled, and said sincerely, “I never knew what my principal did.”
The school principal represents a cog in a wheel that is often anonymous. The spokes for a school, students, staff, district, state, and parents, can present divergent agendas. A principal confronts a series of competing expectations from the school community, such as loyalty vs. initiative, people skills vs. authority, compliance vs. risk-taking, and servant vs. taskmaster. Ironically, a principal can be seen as the face of a particular school by the parents, community, and district. A principal has to be part politician, mediator, conciliator, and instructional savant.
A successful school has a positive culture that is led by a principal who is visible and approachable. If agendas around discipline, district policy, or operations become the priority for specific entities and the principal is seen as aloof or impersonal, opportunities for solutions, no matter the endeavor, decrease. Few principals can navigate the challenges in school leadership without trusting support from a district CONTINUE READING: A Role That Needs More Attention and Support: The Principalship