Sergiovanni

Abstracting Sergiovanni’s Chapter Two: “The Principal’s Job Today and Tomorrow Sergiovanni, T.T. (2009). The principalship: A reflective practice perspective (6th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon Purpose Statement The purpose of Sergiovanni’s chapter, entitled “The Principal’s Job Today and Tomorrow,” was to inform the reader of the changing descriptors, such as changing from a managerial principal to an instructional leader, and the challenges that principal’s endure, related to new laws and regulations. The purpose of the chapter was also to inform the reader of the many different ways to successfully lead and the many characteristics of effective principals. Essential Points within the Chapter Principals’ priorities: comparison between principals, teachers and parents. Each principal must individually consider all jobs/tasks they must accomplish and prioritize each of them. A study was held to show which tasks principals, teachers and parents consider to be what the principal’s priorities are. In the study, principals, teachers and parents all considered the principal’s highest priorities to be motivation of students and faculty and test scores, but principal’s ranked test scores lower in priority than parents and teachers, but still in the top 3 priorities. School morale was ranked by principals as their number 2 priority, but teachers and parents did not see that as a priority for principals. Teachers ranked test scores as the highest priority seen to principals, which shows the level teachers feel principals place scores at, even though principals didn’t rank scores in the top 3. This would be a blind spot to many principals, an obstacle to change, obviously their priorities are not being perceived to teachers they way they wish to. As for items ranked as low priorities, all three groups ranks extracurricular activities as the least priority for a principal, but the other low priority changed between all 3 groups. Teachers said a low priority aspect for a principal is parental involvement (principal’s ranked that as #4 on their priority list), parents listed a good relationship with the community next to lowest priority, and principals ranked discipline as their next to lowest priority, with it being seen as a middle priority to parents and teachers. An interesting insight into all of this could be that principals motivate teachers and students in order to have high test scores. In another study, students were asked to rank a principals’ most important tasks, and students, along with parents, teachers and principals feel that making sure the school is safe as top priority. In many areas, students and principals disagree on what tasks are important for principals, such as students perceive helping teachers do their job well is low on the students priority list and high on the principals. Characteristics of successful principals. Many successful principals have several things in common, such as being enthusiastic, having a sincere faith in children, being adaptable, being aggressive in securing recognition for their schools and also the fact they didn’t choose to be principals, but they were encouraged to become one. Many successful principals have a commitment to education that provides short and long-term goals to not only their school, but education in general. Principals who are effective work effectively with others, are proud of their teachers and staff, and empower their staff to be the greatest they can be. New emphasis on instructional leadership. Principals are being asked to step into an instructional leadership role in the recent years. For a principal to be a strong instructional leader they should be seen working with teachers to disaggregate data to provide better instruction, lead and improve staff development and provide the resources to support the instructional staff to improve learning and teaching. Instructional leaders should be seen inside the classroom assisting teachers and providing feedback to the teachers on their strengths and areas of growth. They should also lay out the expectations for the school, by not only telling them what they should be doing, but showing them. Instructional leaders “walk their talk” and direct and model for teachers how to be successful. Demands, constraints and choices within the principalship. As a principal there will always be demands, constraints and choices. Demands are the items and tasks that you MUST do, such as legal requirements and expectations set for you by your superiors. Constraints are the items which you cannot change, your roadblocks, such as space, materials and the values of the community. Principals’ choices, the middle ground, are the things that make principals different. Choices are what can make the principal exceptional and great, or what causes the principals to fail. A great principal will reduce the amount of demands and constraints by expanding the area of choices, which can only happen through working with the stakeholders of the school. No child left behind (NCLB) legislation. No Child Left Behind is an unfunded mandate that is often seen as very hard to implement in schools. In order to see results with this program you must hire highly effective teachers, which are hard to find lately, must keep up with all paperwork, testing and accommodations, and fund all support staff out of your school budget. NCLB is often seen as an unfair management of how well your school, and special education students are doing. It forces schools to minimize the gaps between children, while teaching all students in one classroom, together. Complex nature of an administrator’s managerial work. The most common limitations that principals endure are not enough time, too much paperwork and not enough money. There’s not enough time to do the things that they need to get done, because they are in meetings, disciplining students or dealing with daily emergencies that do not directly involve teachers and students. Many principals view their day filled with brief activities, such as phone calls, emails and conversation. Often principals are titled “superficial,” as they must prioritize what is most important to them and what should be handled first, and others may not always believe the same. Principals are left with little free time during their day and often feel that when they are not in meetings, they are dealing with insufficient funding, outside programs in the community and paperwork. Various approaches to the principalship. There were three approaches discussed in being a successful principal. The first approach was the out-comes based approach. A principal focused on what works more so than what is right, is a principal working with an out-comes based approach. This approach raises morality questions, allows teachers less creativity in the classroom and often times may get the results you want, but you may not have gotten there the “right way” at all. A principal using the values-based approach, is a principal with a “thick vision,” a common purpose for all involved and strives for continuous improvement within the school. This principal is someone who proactively uses the abilities of others to not only reach their goals, and makes the teachers and other stakeholders involved feel valued and appreciated. The final approach is the standards-based approach, an approach that mostly focused on making sure the students meet the standards given to them and the evidence that shows how they got there. Principals will provide instructional help and lead their students, teachers, parents and other stakeholders in finding was for each student to perform at given levels. Ideal conceptions of the principalship. The traditional definition of a principal was someone who was mostly at the school to make sure that the school was functioning correctly, making sure the school worked well and that the administrative jobs were being taken care of. Overtime the principal’s job has become more of a person responsible for setting goals and implementing them, bringing together the support and resources to meet these goals and guiding, motivating and supervising teachers and staff. The principal’s job has gone from being a manager who made sure tasks were completed, to someone who shows you how to complete the tasks and helps make sure you are successful, an instructional leader. Summary Reaction Reading Sergiovanni’s chapter two was an eye-opening experience. I know that I want to be a principal, and I know several reasons why I am pursuing this career, but this chapter really made me think about what kind of leader I hope to be and to analyze the leaders which I work with and under. There were two aspects of this chapter that really stuck out to me: the progression from being a managerial leader to an instructional leader, and nature of work and all the job hats I will be using once I step into the shoes of being a principal. I have worked under 3 principals in my short, five-year career, all who had different styles of leading. I have found that the principal I most look up to and most strive to be like is the principal who has high expectations and empowers me to be better at my job. I desire to be a principal who can successfully use each approach to being a principal, so that I can be a better instructional leader. I appreciate Sergiovanni’s input on the amount and types of work we will be completing as a principal. This section of the chapter forced me to look at some of the “ugliness” I will be dealing with and really deciding if this is the career I should be pursuing, the career so many have told me I will succeed in. I am excited to take on each challenge ahead of me and hope to be a successful leader, with the help of Sergiovanni.