The Principalship: The Role in Context - Research Paper Example

? “The Principalship The Role in Context s The Principalship: The Role in Context A principal plays a significant role in the day to day operations of learning institutions. The principal monitors and directs both academic and non-academic activities within the environment of a school. Furthermore, he or she implements and plans the school daily routines within the jurisdiction of education. The principal provides a sense of direction and guidance to teachers, students, and the non-academic staff within the learning environment. By virtue of being a leader, the principal should monitor all the activities being undertaken within the school environment. Moreover, the principal acts as a link between the school and the general community. In some cases, this job can be extremely demanding, especially when the principal is required to spearhead reforms. Over the previous two decades, the principal’s job has significantly evolved, requiring the principal in the contemporary school setting to constantly shift and multi-task roles. Being a principal provides an individual with new opportunities and experiences. The constant leadership challenges and changing roles require creativeness from the principal in order to provide viable solutions to emerging problems within the school (Trail, 2000). The purpose of this paper is to document the role of a principal as a leader, innovator, manager, role model, accountant, disciplinarian, community leader, and a regular individual in the society. Focusing on the above mentioned principalship role, an individual will be able to understand the effective characteristics of principalship for heading a school. Role of Principal as a Leader The principal traditionally was equated to a middle manager, with strictly defined roles and specified rules. However, with the changing age of accountability and standard based reforms, a distinct perception has resurfaced, drawing significant lessons from corporate contemporary life. This suggests that the principal as a leader should base his or her focus with great clarity on what is significant and needs to be accomplished and how it should be accomplished. The revolution has brought forth dramatic changes with regard to what is needed from the principals by educational stakeholders. As a result, today’s principals no longer operate as building managers tasked with strict adherence to rules, avoidance of mistakes, and implementing regulations. According to Kenneth et al., (2004), the principal as a leader performs such functions shaping academic success vision for all students based on high standards, establishing a hospitable environment for educational purposes of ensuring a corporative and safety spirit to prevail in a school, cultivating leadership among the subordinates for teachers and other stakeholders to assume their role in the realization of the school vision, and, lastly, improving instructions for purposes of enabling teachers to educate at their best level and for the highest quality of education. The principal as a leader can manage data, processes, and people to foster improvements in a school. Role of the Principal as an Innovator The school principal’s role is extremely diverse. As an innovator, the principle has to improve and set the school curriculum, guide the school teachers in coming up with the objectives that are best designed for the students’ achievement, identify learning opportunities that are of high quality, select assessment methods that are reliable for purposes of determining whether the school’s aims and objectives have been met. The principal is also responsible for setting the school tone, and it forms a significant part of boosting the morale of staff and how they perceive themselves as qualified educators. The principal is responsible for setting policies, allocating funds, and making essential decisions on how the school should run. The principal as an innovator forms alliances between businesses and schools within the community without innovation; it will be extremely difficult for a principal to design policies, guidelines, and procedures that retain a school on the path of success. Role of the Principal as a Manager The role of the principal in overseeing the school’s physical structures, operations, and finances is of great significance. According to the research conducted, it has been discovered that the school physical condition can make a great difference in terms of a student performance (Trail, 2000). The school physical aspects need to reflect the reform vision. As a manager, the principal should ensure that the classrooms in the school should be flexible in distinct sitting arrangements. In addition to that, the principal as a manger should ensure sufficient flow of academic and extra-curriculum resources for both teachers and students. Role of the Principal as a Fatherly Figure As a father figure, the principal acts as a mentor. The principal shares his professionally acquired knowledge with teachers while guiding and directing them to achieving the school’s vision. In addition, the principal also acts as behavioral role model for teachers, as he or she is expected to be exemplary in executing his or her duties; he or she is very open and willing to communicate, especially when there is a need to connect opinions in cases where other stakeholders hold divergent views. As the fatherly figure, the principal should always be nonjudgmental but remarkably focused, should establishes confidence and vision illustrating that there exist no obstacles to wishes, potentials, and should advocate for the students’ and teachers’ needs and rights. This is what a father can do for the children. The teachers are often strongly encouraged by the principal to try and identify new ideas that they conceive beneficial for the students. As such, the teachers are motivated to improve their performance, as the principal offers them the needed support even in conditions considered complex. The role of principals as father figures is significant, as it enables them to implement change in the school, not only because of their experience but also because they can see the future. They are aware of the school culture and challenges facing teachers when it comes to reforms. Role of the Principal as an Accountant School principals are expected to preserve and manage all school funds. The management of all money in a school is supposed to be the principal’s duty. This includes resources provided to the school by the government, charity organizations, or parents. As the chief accountant in the school, the principal is expected to keep all school financial records and ledgers. The principal is also supposed to ensure that all school funds are deposited in a single authorized account from where they are channelled to only authorized and viable ventures. The selection of the school’s account should follow the regulations and policies laid down by the school board of directors or other school administrators. If the policies concerning the selection of the bank are not clear, the school principal should liaise with the board of directors to decide on the most appropriate bank for the school (Lambert, 2008). The school principal has the responsibility of ensuring that all donations made to the school by outside entities such as the community, business persons, parents, and civic organization are properly utilized in accordance with the intended purposes. The principal also acts as the custodian of all school records and must effectively exercise the mandate of ensuring proper recording of all school resources. As the school’s chief accounting officer, the principal must ensure that all deposits and withdrawals bear his/her signature. All school investments should be approved by the school principal. The school principal is also expected to ensure that all school investment is properly managed in accordance to the laid-down regulations. At the end of every financial year, the school principal has the responsibility of availing the school’s annual financial report to the involved stakeholders. The annual financial report ought to be detailed enough to include the school’s bank balance, annual expenditure, annual revenues, and any unresolved discrepancies and errors. Role of the Principal as a Disciplinarian The core role of the school principal is to maintain and handle students’ discipline. To facilitate effective student discipline, the principal has the responsibility of informing the teachers and the students about the expected canons of discipline. Informing teachers about the student discipline expectations and how to handle cases of indiscipline reduces the challenges of addressing issues that may arise from time to time regarding the discipline of the students. In most cases, the school principal deals with teachers’ referrals, especially in cases where the student is notorious for engaging in acts of indiscipline. In addressing students’ disciplinary issues, a good school principal should take time listening before coming up with the final conclusion. The core role of the principal in fostering student discipline is similar to that of a jury or a judge. In this case, the principal’s responsibility is to decide whether the student is guilty or innocent before coming up with the necessary sanction for the offence. An effectual principal has the responsibility of keeping disciplinary records, summoning parents whenever it is fit to involve their intervention, and making profound and fair decision in regard to any disciplinary concerns (Fleming, 2009). The principal has an undertaking of enforcing the existing rules. The principal should also ensure safe school environment by facilitating mediation and conflict resolution mechanisms. An effective school principal should also consider devising a mechanism for receiving disciplinary feedbacks from students and other members of staff. To ensure that discipline prevails within a school, the principal has the mandate of promoting effective and healthy interaction amongst staff members and students. Teachers should be fully involved in school’s decision-making process and in enforcing transformation in the school. Furthermore, the principal must make sure that school administrators are aware of the disciplinary development within the school. He/she must ensure that the relationship between the school and the community is effective to facilitate adequate discipline in the school. Additionally, the principal has the mandate of formulating and enforcing laws concerning proper handling of students and members of staff. Role of the Principle as a Community Leader A school principal has the mandate of ensuring good relationship between the school and the community. The principal must liaise with other community leaders to facilitate good relationship between the school and the community. He/she must demonstrate quality of an effective leader to the surrounding community. As a community leader, a school principal ought to develop a trustworthy relationship with parents whose children have discipline problem. Trustworthy relationship between parents and the school makes it easier for the principal to deal with cases of indiscipline in the school. The school principal must develop a good relationship between the school and business community. Maintaining a healthy relationship between the school and business community would assist the school in getting benefits such as donations and other support from the community. To open up more education opportunities for students, school principal have the responsibility of involving themselves in community activities (Fleming, 2009). As a result of this, effective principals should serve as social advocates and moral agents for the community and students. They ought to make strong ties between the school and other people in the community. School principals must take good care and value all community members as core players in educational community. A school principal should also serve as an educational leader who facilitates the success of all students by collaborating with community members and families. The principal should also mobilise community resources through influencing, responding to, and understanding the cultural, political, economic, legal, and social context of the society. To get the maximum benefit from community members, the principal has the mandate to engage the community in generation of a greater ownership of the school’s work, share decision making and leadership responsibilities with community members, encourage students to involve themselves in school’s activities, and provide an adequate connection between the families, students, and social and human services. Role of the Principle as a Regular Person in Society with an Extremely Hard Job As iconic members of the society, school principals have the mandate of involving themselves in community development and charity activities. They should develop a good relationship between the school fraternity and other members of the society through such interactive undertakings. As community leaders, the school principals must demonstrate leadership in all social settings. They should also involve themselves in different community groups and societies. The unity between the school principals and the entire community is extremely crucial in enhancing mutual respect between the school fraternity and the entire community (Hoyle, 2008). Conclusion The roles of the principals are relatively complex across almost all tenets of the society. A school principal takes charge of people’s diverse minds both in school and in the community. To ease the implementation of the principal’s roles, the principal should focus on creating a supportive and all-inclusive environment for proper learning. As a change agent, the principal must also act in a manner that directs the society and students towards the desired change. In most cases, staff members and students who operate in a supportive environment attain the highest level of career and professional development. References Fleming, G. (2009). Principals and teachers: Continuous learners’ issues about change. Austin, TX: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory. Hoyle, J. (2008). Skills for successful 21st century school leaders: Standards for peak performer. Arlington, VA: American Association of school Administrators. Kenneth, L., Karen, S.L., Anderson, S.E., & Wahlstrom, K.L.(2004). Review of research: How leadership influences student learning. Toronto: University of Toronto. Lambert, L. (2008). Building leadership capacity in schools Alexandria, VA: Association for supervision and Curriculum Development. Trail, K. (2000). Taking the lead: The role of the principal in school reform. Journal of Connections, 1(4):1-8. Read More