Here are the 13 Questions to Ask when you as a principal are preparing to make a change or introduce an innovation into your school. The answers will help get you in the right mindset for leading school change.
4 Steps to Navigating Work Relations
A common difficulty when transitioning into administration is the challenge of forming new relationships with all of your colleagues at school. When you were a teacher, you had shared experiences with other teachers about your classroom experiences, frequent discussions about the mutual duties and difficulties that accompany teaching, and the challenges of dealing with the administration. However, now that you are in administration you likely…
The Principalship + International School + In Arabia
The principalship is tough. Leading an international school outside your home country is tougher. And making the leap into the principalship in Arabia is about tough as it gets. Oftentimes, principals join a school in the region despite the intimidating news reports only to come immediately face to face with massive, seemingly insurmountable challenges of every variety. Here are 3 insights into background dynamics at play in this unique regional context.
The Transition into School Administration
Do you have a new position in your school? Have you been promoted into school administration? The shift to school administration from the classroom is no easy move. Between the teachers and the principal can be multiple administrative positions including Coordinator, Head of Department, Grade Level Coordinator, Vice-Principal, Curriculum Coordinator, Academic Coordinator, Project Manager, Educational Development, etc. with each school having it’s own organizational chart.
FIXED on Change
The ability to change our schools is really dependent on our ability to change our own thinking, then our behaviors and practices at work. Principals with a fixed mindset aren’t able to change their schools in a meaningful or sustainable way because they are fixed in the mindset that school change means change for everyone and everything else, but not to change themselves.
Principals 4Ps
PEOPLE-PAST-PLAN-PROGRESS
A principal’s impact is greatest when there is alignment between one’s strengths and the school’s needs. The principal is one of the few people who cannot afford to be unaware of the future. To plan the future you need to determine the results you are aiming for…
FIXED on Change (2)
Investing in the process of answering the questions above stands in stark contrast to a leader promoting change from a fixed mindset, such reflections, questions, and discussions are either non-existent or only present in the principal’s head. Oftentimes the decisions of such a principal are announced with sweeping decrees, threats, and an absence of an explanation of HOW the change will be implemented. This approach is in fact harmful to the school community for a number of reasons…
SEN + TEN
Differentiation: the catchall solution for making instruction more engaging and effective for students in the classroom.
Differentiation: the word that makes teachers roll their eyes and run the other way.
Differentiation: the main thing that I wish technology could help our students and teachers with.
TEN in 5 Steps
1. Begin the discussion Determine the criteria or framework to begin the discussion about learning in your school community. Criteria or frameworks may be things like…
The Switch to SEN Support
While many teachers and principals may see the value of differentiating instruction in the classroom, what steps can we take to reach students who have learning needs beyond those of the majority of our students? SEN (special education needs) Support is part of our responsibility as educators. Oftentimes, a sense of responsibility is the reason […]