Thursday, August 13, 2015

Principal Characteristics

In Three Traits of the Best Principals. from The Tempered Radical, Bill Ferriter, shares the traits of the best Principals he worked under.

This had me thinking about the Principals that I worked for and what they were like. I decided to think about what traits they all had that made me glad I worked for them.

Honesty – They were upfront with the decisions they made. I may not have agreed with them but they didn’t play one teacher against another. I was able to go ask the Principal for permission for something and got a truthful answer, not a vague postponement.

Trust - I knew if I went to the Principal with a confidential situation that it would stay confidential. I knew that the Principal would watch my back and I would watch his. He would make sure that I was doing things correctly and I would make sure that I would do my job so no parent had a legitimate cause to complain.

Team Player – They allowed teachers to give input and really listened to this input before making a decision. I have also had some Principals that just made it seem like they listened but didn’t place any importance on what was being said. These Principals didn’t act like a monarch and we were the servants.

Empowerment – They allowed teachers to do their job and didn’t try to micromanage teachers. Teachers were expected to fulfill their responsibilities without excuses. Teachers were given shared duties and no small cliché reigned in the operation of the school.

Professionalism – They treated teachers as adults and professionals.  If we needed to leave campus for something important, we were allowed to do so as long as we notified the administration that we were leaving. We were also expected not to be late to class, ever. I’ve had Principals that treated us like second-class citizens, which made for a hostile work environment.

What characteristics do you think are vital for a good Principal? Please share.

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