The Daily Practices of Successful Principals by Barbara Brock & Marilyn Grady ©2012 Corwin Publishers

“They cared about students and were passionate about improve student learning. They sought solutions that met student needs, were undaunted by obstacles, and were unwilling to succumb to the status quo. They saw opportunities instead of barriers. They were possibility thinkers. They were confident and optimistic about their abilities and willing to take risks. They inspired teachers and developed teams of dedicated, hardworking followers and supporters” (p. xvii)

Part I. Personal

Tip 1: Examine Your Personal Compass

·         Identify your values; allow your values to drive your actions; act ethically and with integrity

·         What is best for students and student learning should inform all decisions

·         Principals need to be positive, patient, prudent (best decisions for school – not easiest or most popular)

Tip 2: Begin With a Vision

·         Create a vision the focuses on students’ needs and learning, share vision, use vision to guide decisions and actions

·         Everyone in school community must share in vision and be committed to school goals

Tip 3: Know Yourself: Know How Others Perceive You

·         Build on your talents, focus on your strengths

·         Be aware of your “blind self” – what others perceive you to be to adjust behaviour

Tip 4: Resonate Confidence

·         Look like a leader, talk like a leader, inspire confidence, make others feel good about themselves

·         Your office is a reflection of you – clean, organized, attractive conveys positive image

·         Laugh at oneself

Tip 5: Master Your Emotion

·         Emotional Intelligence – regulate and use emotions, aware of others’ emotions – how did you behave during last school crisis or major problem? Last time a staff member made a serious error? You were angry or disappointed? Were worried or under stress?

·         E.I. and social skills critical for successful leadership – emotional expressiveness, emotional sensitivity, emotional control, social expressiveness, social control

·         Do not take things personally

Tip 6: Maintain a Work-Life Perspective That Sustains Your Well-Being

·         Ability to give to others requires sustained personal physical, mental, and spiritual well-being

·         “You cannot … take care of people in the school if you don’t care of yourself and the people at home.”

·         “You have to balance that and know that every day is a new day. There will be more time to finish [your work]; not everything is urgent.”

·         Mistakes = opportunities to learn

Part II. Operational

Tip 7: Fan the Flames of Positive Deviance

·         Make changes from the inside out; support innovators in your school; make learning for all students the goal; base decisions on a broad base of data; follow school’s mission statement; support change with resources

·         Managing school change is one of the most important tasks of the principalship – create learning communities

·         “Change is a messy, complex process, complicated by barriers, and often accompanied by resistance and confusion” (p. 47)

·         Change is a journey – engage members in the process of discovery, inviting the community to identify solutions and spearhead change – engage in discovery with the group

·         Get out of your office to know what is happening in the school

·         Problems are our friends. They are inevitable. Use them to learn

Tip 8: Improve Education From the Inside: Empower Teachers

·         “If we want to change schools and learning, we must begin with teachers. When teachers decide change is needed, it will happen, and it will be sustainable” (p. 55) – i.e., direct benefits to students

Tip 9: Hire the Best and Maximize Their Talents

·         Hire the best; hire people who have talents you do not have

·         Principals praise teachers whose performance leads to student learning, collegiality, and the attainment of school goals

·         “Be a visible presence: Walk through the school, visit classrooms, talk with teachers, students, and parents to better understand the people that make up the school” (p. 65)

Tip 10: Use a Team Approach: Think “We” Instead of “I”

·         give credit to the team for successes; accept responsibility for failure

·         “Leadership is second only to teaching as an influence on student learning and when leadership is distributed it is more effective” (Leithwood, Harris, & Hopkins, 2008) (p. 70)

·         Principal creates conditions for teamwork and student learning to thrive

Tip 11: Honor the Role of the Classroom Teachers

·         “Remember what it was like to be a teacher…without that insight into what it is like to be a teacher, it is easy to make decisions that are impractical for the classroom. If you are supportive, teachers are more likely to be supportive of your decisions” (p. 77)

·         Central work of teachers – engage students in learning – teachers are experts in teaching and seek their advice in decisions

·         Support teachers who struggle; acknowledge & celebrate teacher success – be lead cheerleader and coach for teachers

·         Teachers feel safe in school, feel part of a team, feel appreciated for efforts, recognized for accomplishments, included in decision-making, free to risk take

Tip 12: Do the Right Thing – Be Accountable for Decisions

·         “Servant leaders achieve success for their organizations by prioritizing attention to the needs of their colleagues and the individuals they serve. They view themselves as stewards of their organization’s human, financial, and physical resources” (p. 85)

·         Treat everyone with respect, humble, make others feel valued challenge others to grow

·         Transformational leadership: involve staff in innovative problem solving, communicating high expectations, modelling appropriate character and behaviour

·         Instructional leadership: 4 roles – resource provider, instructional resource, communicator, visible presence

·         “If you and your teachers are not making mistakes, it means you aren’t taking any risks” (p. 89)

Part III. School Community

Tip 13: Create Trusting Relationships

·         Know the population and community; care about people and make them feel valued; share your expectations; listen to everyone’s opinions (i.e., open feedback; silence demonstrates listening); treat everyone fairly

·         Trusting relationship must be earned, nurtured, and maintained

·         Principals have critical impact on professional lives of staff, well-being of students, long-term effect on direct and success of school

·         Speak with teachers about what they like, do not like, what want changed

·         Visit classrooms – teachers know you care about them and their class

·         “It’s the relationships you form with the kids that is key to how they behave in school…student discipline problems tend to diminish when the principal has a positive relationship with students and treats them fairly…connected to their work as instructional leaders” (p. 100)

Tip 14: Context Matters: Adjust Your Leadership to the School’s Population

·         Be aware of economic and social circumstances of the community

·         Every school unique – decisions and actions responsive to social, cultural, political, economic factors of school population and community

·         Drive and walk around the neighbourhood, review demographic data of area, visit businesses in area, meet parents, talk with students, meet teachers

Part IV. Teaching and Learning

Tip 15: Establish Learning as the Common Purpose

·         Every staff plays role in enriching environment that supports instruction and student well-being: teachers, support staff (smooth running of school) – teachers can teach, principal can lead

·         Role of leader: to unit people, establish direction, maintain group functioning

Tip 16: Be a Leader of Teaching and Learning

·         School leaders 2^nd only to classroom instruction in its impact on student learning – to improve conditions that facilitated student learning

·         Find time to visit classrooms: discuss instruction with teachers, talk with students about learning, visibility in classrooms and hallways

·         Instructional leadership top of hierarchy – before can lead successful instructional change, need to articulate school’s moral purpose, have management support in place, create sense of ownership and collective purpose among staff

·         “Principals need to be educational visionaries, instructional and curriculum leaders, assessment experts, disciplinarians, community builders, public relations experts, budget analysts, facility managers, special programs administrators, and expert overseers of legal, contractual, and policy mandates and initiatives…broker of conflicting interests of parents, teachers, students, district office officials, unions, and state and federal agencies, and they need to be sensitive to the widening range of student needs” (p. 124)

·         Model continuous learning, use data to inform practice, support learning communities, being in classrooms, talk about learning with teachers and students

·         Principal is teacher of teachers

·         Every decision based on “Is this what is best for our students?” (p. 127)

Tip 17: Link Professional Development With Teaching and Learning

Tip 18: Invest Time in Developing Teacher Leaders

·         “Teacher leadership is the process by which teachers, individually and collectively influence their colleagues, principals, and other members of school communities to improve teaching and learning practice with the aim of increased student learning and achievement” (p. 142)

·         Mentor future leaders, teachers assume ownership of own learning and development in professional learning communities

Tip 19: Reflect On and Celebrate Your Accomplishments

·         Speak passionately about dedication to their schools, their students, their profession