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Home : 2007 : June : 26

Horror Stories
By josephineg

pkjw, I don't get it. Forgive me. How can a "goody-bag" be the mark of a good principal? To me, that is like saying: My manager brought in bagels on Friday. They were made at Duncan Donuts and he/she stopped on the way
in to work. In other words, no big whuup. What does a goody-bag have to do with good management and good leadership? My answer: absolutely nothing!

At my last long-term assignment, I started in late October. A good principal would have given me my own orientation, because I missed the first one. Frankly, supplies are supposed to be supplied by the school. They are not

an "extra" or a "gift" in my view. A school shirt is just "marketing" IMHO. Lunch...okay, but didn't she get a budget from the school to pay for it? It's just lunch. Five bucks!

I would hope that if a principal is going to give an orientation that she would go over school policies. It's probably in HER interest to do that, because then she can say she told you so, and it's easier FOR HER than repeating them all for each individual teacher.

As for being thrown to the wolves, I've been there, too.

A good principal:

--will assign a mentor who actually wants to be a mentor, not someone who snarls and is nasty and keeps talking about how she has no time and her schedule is so busy that she can't meet;

--will actually refer parents with concerns to the teacher, rather than attempting to deal with the matter herself first, in accordance with the school's protocol;

--will give the teacher the benefit of the doubt when parents and children hear what they want to hear, make stuff up, cover up for each other, lie, exaggerate, etc.

--will ask for the facts and offer supportive suggestions, and will do so in a way that is sensitive to the teacher's needs. If the principal is extraverted and auditory, and the teacher is introverted and visual, the principal will not choose to communicate important information in the cafeteria line, for example.

--will will not alienate the rank-and-file teachers with passive-aggressive behavior to the point that they obviously avoid her;

--will implement a new curriculum the way it's been recommended by its designers, rather than doing it "her way"--which means letting the teacher take all the risk without any support;

--will understand that a teacher knows his/her students and will make observations and judgements that take that fact into account;

--will not be afraid of parents (and her own darn shadow);

--will not be threatened by the fact that her teachers may have skills and insights that she doesn't have;

--will step up to the plate when it comes to implementing new policies that support instruction and make the teachers' job a bit easier (like new detention and discipline policies, for example);

--will not "shoot the messenger".

BUT: how does one find such a person?