The New Principal
The New Principal
Surviving Your First Year as
Educator in Charge
Margaret Carter
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD
Lanham • Boulder • New York • London
Published by Rowman & Littlefield
An imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
www.rowman.com
6 Tinworth Street, London SE11 5AL, United Kingdom
Copyright © 2020 by Margaret Carter
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Carter, Margaret, 1956– author.
Title: The new principal : surviving your first year as educator in charge / Margaret Carter.
Description: Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield, [2020] | Includes bibliographical references. | Summary: “This book leads principals through an examination of themselves and their motivation. It takes an unflinching look at the nature of today’s principalship at all levels.”—Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020012604 (print) | LCCN 2020012605 (ebook) | ISBN 9781475855968 (cloth) | ISBN 9781475855975 (paperback) | ISBN 9781475855982 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: First year school principals. | Educational leadership. | School management and organization.
Classification: LCC LB2831.6 .C39 2020 (print) | LCC LB2831.6 (ebook) | DDC 371.2/011—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020012604
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020012605
To my first teachers, my parents, Leroy Alexander and Lucy Alexander; and my extended family, many who were also teachers and principals. If it were not for them and their example of being a part of a community while helping to educate it, this book would not exist.
To all the teachers, principals, and auxiliary personnel who work tirelessly day after day in the sometimes difficult and chaotic environment of struggling schools. Thank you for your dedication to our children. It is my hope that this book will assist future principals in their effort to create a positive learning environment in their own school.
To Carlie Wall for her assistance in preparation of the manuscript.
To my family who support me with love and encouragement every day.
Preface
Why I wrote this book . . .
I’d spent many years working with students, became ill, and decided to go into management—after all, managers use different skills, and I could now sit behind a desk, run meetings, organize, and dispense orders from my office. The employees, in this case, teachers, could joyfully do as I instructed them to do and our school would take off—win all kinds of awards, and we’d all live happily ever after.
Oh, how mistaken and misguided was I. Of course, my frustrated boss brought in a “consultant” who talked with all the staff. I knew the outcome would be bad but was hoping for a different result. The consultant came into my office, took my hand, and said, “They have declared war on you!” I broke down in tears—not from being sad or mad (at least not totally) but from gratitude. I thought, finally I have the answer—the answer to whispering in the halls, horrible relationships with “my” staff, and disrespectful rebelliousness coming from these professionals. Unfortunately, he didn’t mention how to get things going in a better direction, but rushed out to catch his flight.
How would I fix all of this? I had read books on “How to be a better boss”—none of which helped me—they all focused on being tough, driven, single-minded, and all the other traits of bossmanship. I had all these traits in spades—why was I failing? I rushed around the school, clipboard in hand, making notes—I had much to “fix.” My boss tried to help—mentioning in passing that my relationships with the staff were bad.
What to do? I was not—am still not—a natural at chummy conversations, casual gossip, and other girlfriend types of behavior. Is that what she meant? Another consultant said, “Throw a brick in your wagon—slow down, mosey around as if everything is just fine, you haven’t a care in the world. Paste a smile on your face and greet everyone—no matter how you feel.” Get rid of the clipboard. Work on your memory—you can make notes later. Right now, when people see you, they feel afraid—like something’s wrong—somebody’s in trouble.
Over the next few months, with each new assignment (you didn’t think they’d keep me in that job, did you?), I started using some of the tips. With nothing to lose, practicing daily, I used these traits, and things slowly began to improve. Not because of any magic bullets, but from showing genuine interest in my team—taking the time to get to know people, their needs, wants, and desires. In other words, I had to change myself. One final thing that I read advised that I “always do repair”—(relationships). If a careless exchange or misunderstanding happens, go to the person and make it right. Wow—that was the hardest thing to do. Aren’t bosses always right? Don’t teammates have to come to me formally to air their grievances? Ha! The parking lot conversations are much more effective (and fun!). Hadn’t I learned about forgiveness? Yes, but this is more than forgiveness, it is acknowledging that the other person is valuable to you and you want to talk it out—make it right. You (boss) need them (employees)—more than they need you.
This may sound like a plan for the inmates to take over the asylum, but take my word for it—it worked for me. I am not the boss, I am just another team member, here to bear my share of the burden, working alongside you, so that our (not my) team, and therefore, students can be successful.
Chapter 1
Know the School
Want to be a successful principal? Knowing the characteristics of your school is step one. In order to be effective, principals must consider an enormous number of factors about their assigned school. It’s tempting, but don’t jump in with both feet before taking the time to think. What will you think about? Think about the reality of your school situation. Not what you remember from when you were in school, or what you wished for and fantasized about or hoped for during your time in graduate school, but what is actually in front of you.
Although you may not have all the information you need on your first day (usually two weeks before teachers arrive), try to get as much information about your school as you possibly can. However, don’t let the time crunch scare you. Each school is unique, although all schools have many things in common. Here are only a few of the basics you should think seriously about and analyze before you choose your furniture and decide on colors for your office.
What type of school have you been assigned to?
How large is the staff?
What other administrative teams are there?
What kind of neighborhood is the school located in?
What