Читать книгу The New Principal - Margaret Carter - Страница 8

After teacher teams are identified and established, that leaves the most important team you will be in charge of: your own administrative team. Different school levels require different strategies for dividing administrative team assignments. At the high school level, there usually are two or more assistant principals. Middle schools operate much like high schools. Elementary schools usually have one principal and one assistant principal. Meet with the personnel involved, ask everyone to write or tell their experience and perceived area of strength. Explore strengths and weaknesses and the time involved for each task. Ask about preferences, and try to come to a consensus. Of course, the principal has final say in assignments. Other things to explore are before- and after-school duties, night ball games and events, and emergency contingency plans.

If you can choose the members of your own administrative team, lucky you! This can be a rare but good place to start. However, be very cautious—choosing people who look like you, function like you, think like you, and have fun like you can be counterproductive. It is best to select a wide variety of people on your team, especially to reflect the diversity of your staff and students. Diversity goes far beyond racial and gender demographics. Principals need people who are different from themselves—in temperament, academic expertise, leadership style, and other personality traits.

If there are staff assigned to your team who were there before you arrived, or who were assigned for another reason without your input, it is in your best interest to get to know these professionals and make a special effort to discover what their strengths are. Finding a place for this person and exploring assignments that fit their skill set will help to form an effective team. Keeping an administrator whom you did not choose out of the loop and on the margin will not help you or the school.

What if you have an extra team member that you are having a hard time finding a place for on your team? Having a “lost” staff member is a waste of talent. Every person is needed in today’s school. You don’t want anyone just hanging out there with nothing to do. The person with little to do could, at best, carry out assignments in an unenthusiastic, uninformed, doubtful manner, or worse, secretly, unintentionally, or even openly undermine your efforts.

How do you craft a good administrative team? Meet with your team frequently at first, then possibly—hopefully—less frequently as the school year progresses. It would be a good idea to meet with your team each morning and each evening, especially in high-challenge schools.

The principalship of a large school, or any school in any setting, is not to be taken lightly. Only the most serious candidates need apply. With the right teams in place, your school will have a greater chance of success for its students, teachers, and you.

Personal Experience

One year I was assigned as assistant principal to a high school. It was late in the summer when I got the assignment, so late that school was scheduled to begin in a few weeks. It was clear, to me at least, that I was the last one to be placed. Nevertheless, this was an exciting time for me. Early in my career, I had been a teacher in a high school setting for many years. I remembered how it was to be with students who were right on the edge of beginning their adult lives. I knew I could make an impact on them directly, or indirectly through establishing and supporting various programs. When I arrived to meet the principal, he knew my name and a little about my background, but only as a principal in an elementary setting. The administrative team had already been established and given assignments by grade levels.

All the “extra” or non-academic assignments had already been given. The offices were full. It was quite obvious that the principal didn’t know what to do with me. So, I spent the entire year being moved from office to office, from assignment to assignment, “helping out” here and there. After spending an entire year “in limbo,” I was moved back to an elementary position, where I spent my last two years before retirement. I had gone full circle but had learned so much about team building during the trip. My personal pledge was to never put another professional in that position.