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Listen a Lot, Connect With the Custodian, and Go Slooooow
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Connecting With Teachers, Kids, Parents, and the Community
Education Worlds Principal Files team has offered many suggestions for things a principal who is new to a school might do. They also have some advice about things those principals should definitely not do.
When Lolli Haws recently relocated from the Midwest to the East, she thought her previous experience as a principal would help make the transition to a new school a fairly easy one.
I thought that ten years' experience had prepared me well, but I can now tell you that the transition was very difficult for me. I had to adjust to a new home, new area of the country, new school system, new school, new life. It was a very challenging time. I did a lot of things well, but certianly not everything. I made a lot of mistakes that took time to go back and repair.
If no principal should assume that experience is a good teacher, an even worse transgression is to go into a new school and compare it to your former school, added John Durkee. Don't ever start any sentence with At my old school, we used to..., warns Durkee. That turns off people immediately.
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All schools want to be valued for what they are and what they do for children, said Astley.
No one cares how it was done at your previous school, added Lolli Haws.
Another thing Haws cautions against is showing any expression of surprise when you learn how things are done at your new school. The things they do seem okay to them, she said. Even the slightest change might seem huge to the staff -- so when you do change something, be careful. Don't let anyone believe it's because the old way wasn't good enough for you.
Our Principal Files principals had lots more advice for principals who will be moving into a new school this year
The most important thing to remember is to be genuine, be yourself, said principal Layne Hunt. Remember, you interviewed and were selected out of many possible candidates, so be what you presented yourself to be in the interview process.
Don't start anything that you don't want to continue to do, said Teri Stokes. Whether its policies and procedures or staff incentives, if you start something and then stop it, people will take notice.
Treat everyone with the same interest and respect, said Lolli Haws. Even if you might naturally like some folks more than others, people are watching to be sure you don't develop favorites.
Smile all the time, and laugh a lot, added Haws. Any slight revelation that you might not like something, or that you are not happy and friendly, could be read in a very loud way.
Ginger Vail offered this advice: Remember why you are sitting in the principals office -- its the students. Each time you must make a decision, consider what is best for those students. As long as you use that reasoning and share the explanation for your decision, others can disagree but at least they will understand your point of view.
Finally, and possibly even more important, maintain a healthy work-life balance, added Vail. Believe it or not, the school was functioning before your arrival, and it will continue to function long after your departure -- even if you are not able to make time for yourself outside of school.
When it comes to being the new principal in town, Marguerite McNeely recommends against making buddies with individuals.
Also, be open! added McNeely. Dont make any quick judgments about the school family or the larger community. Many of those judgments are likely to be proven wrong.
Principal Tony Pallija offers this advice: Don't ever criticize your predecessor. Word of that criticism will, in all likelihood, get out, and that can be insulting to those who had a good relationship with the previous principal.And John Durkee offered this piece of optimistic advice: Remember that the best thing about your first year as a principal is that it will quickly become your second year!
Click to read part 1 of this article:
Listen a Lot, Connect With the Custodian, and Go Slooooow
Click to read part 2 of this article:
Connecting With Teachers, Kids, Parents, and the Community
Practical Matters: Principal Transition -- Making It Seamless by Patrick Delmore, Principal Leadership, published by the National Association of Secondary School Principals, Vol.7, No.9 (May 2007)
The New Principals Role in Establishing a Collaborative, Progressive Vision
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AUTHOR NAME: Gary M. Hopkins
Copyright © 2008
Education World®
Originally published 05/07/2007
Last updated 04/25/2008