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A
great term to describe the Principalship, the job of the principal, is
leadership. In today’s schools, the
principal is looked at as the head or CEO of the school and the one
that the
majority of decisions are channeled through.
The principal has a great deal of authority, decision making,
communication, leadership, and influence in a school and must use those
responsibilities to do what is best for the school and most importantly
the
students. The overall goal of any
school is to produce well educated students that will have essential
skills
that they will use to transform them into the adult world and if needed
give
them the general knowledge to succeed in higher education.
The
primary focus of the
Principalship is centered on leadership and leadership styles. When you examine other examples of
leadership in business, the military, and internationally, there are
many
differences and similarities. The most
common form of leadership in relation to a principal lies within the
military
in relation to standards and professionalism.
The military sets very high standards for itself and always
strives to
be the best in everything it does.
Soldiers also adhere to very strict policies and discipline is a
huge
part of military life. This can also be
said for schools because schools also set very high standards for
themselves
and the education of the students, but the also have strict discipline
policies
to maintain a controlled environment within a school.
However, the policies regarding discipline are much stricter and
involve adults and not students. One
focus of the military focuses on three practices I feel that relate
well to
principals. They are Responsibility for
success and failure, Authority to exercise control
and make decisions,
and
lastly Accountability for the actions of self and others.
These three practices fit principals very
well because educational leaders are responsible for the success and
failure of
the students at a school because the principal is viewed as an
instructional
leader; they must also exercise authority and make critical decisions
within a
school that affects the school, teachers, students, parents, and the
community
and at the same time must act appropriately when making these
decisions; lastly
the are accountable for their actions and the actions of others and
when
mistakes are made by staff or the principal, the principal must be
ready to
accept responsibility for those actions.
One of the greatest
quotes from Supervision class from one of the books we had read stated,
“Greatness of a
leader
is measured by the achievements of the led”.
This can not be more true of today’s principal, because as a
school
leader a principal must achieve results for the school and always put
the best
interests of the students first. If
this leadership does not produce results with student achievement, and
the
teachers are not being aided by the principal to help achieve greater
performance
of teaching, the principal will soon find themselves out of a job,
because if
the war is not won, the battle is a failure.
The war that principals face is student achievement with No
Child Left
Behind, and if the students scores do not improve, school improvement
will
encompass the near future and the ultimate battle may be lost for the
principal
retaining their position.
Artifact 1: Leadership Paper
Artifact 2: Parent Involvement
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