The limited powers of school heads

Tshwarelo Hosia | Monday April 3, 2023 06:00

Those who treat it just like any other job hardly go anywhere. A school principal is a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of his institution. Yet unlike other CEOS, this plum position of school principal enjoys limited powers.

CEOs in the non-teaching sphere have the comparative advantage of wielding some degree of direct control over matters of staff recruitment, deployment and dismissal of their charges.

Selection and posting of staff in schools falls on the shoulders of a different department. This means that school leaders find themselves in the not enviable position of having to do with what fate throws at them. They do not have the luxury of screening and rejecting a new recruit or singlehandedly plucking out of the system a non-performing element. Other CEOs can with the stroke of a pen weed out anybody considered surplus to requirements.

A lot of times the principals are stuck with what they are given. But these limitations should not be enough to dwarf the potential of a systematic and strategic thinker. There remains the option of leveraging on the power of the human factor. Other things may be in short supply in a school setting but the one thing readily available and always assured in the armoury of a school principal is the human resource. People, especially teachers, if nurtured and humanely managed can achieve extraordinary results.

Granted technology is establishing its grip as a powerful influencer in schools, but the human factor continues to be the bedrock of teaching and learning. Technology should be treated for what it is - a teaching aid - and without human influence it won’t perform magic. School leaders cannot afford to shirk their responsibility of building teacher capacity. Teachers may have the technical/instructional expertise required but the role of leadership in maximising their efforts cannot be overemphasised.

On their own the children of Israel would not endure the pain of navigating the desert to reach the Promised Land. They needed Moses to inspire the faithful and to ease the worries of doubters. Moses made individual Israelites to identify with something bigger than each of them. To rise to the admirable level of big picture thinkers, teachers need the support of their leaders.

Teachers cannot go adrift if those in leadership positions have carefully crafted a vision. When they identify with a bigger dream, teachers can be inspired and encouraged to reposition and stay focused. The American dreams are keeping every American on his toes. Their desire to be a leader of the world in every sphere of life promotes patriotism and hard work and personal sacrifices.

A team is defined by its norms. There must be something that makes a team unique and distinct. Collective norms and protocols keep the spirit of oneness alive. Principals should demonstrate exemplary leadership when dealing with the team’s dos and don’ts. Time management, protocols governing meetings should be preserved and honoured by all. When it comes imposing sanctions on non-conformists, no one should be spared. There should be no sacred cows. Norms emphasise the spirit of togetherness at the expense of individualism. A school leader should model the norms and encourage his subjects to play according to the rules of the collective.

Managing schools requires team effort. It is a futile exercise for school leaders to try a go it alone approach. Leaders who think they have monopoly of wisdom often try with disastrous consequences to spread themselves too thin. Once they have embraced the team spirit, school principals take the task of building a team as a primary responsibility.

However, teams are not easy to build because many people find it difficult to overcome the temptation of looking for opportunities for individual glory. Individual interests in a department can stand in the way of peer teaching and exchange of best practices. The work of principals should revolve breaking barriers which can undermine the ability of a school to unleash the potential of every member of staff. Every team member counts.

Excellent leadership manifests itself in the way a school principal manages staff meeting. Any activity being undertaken must be shaped by purpose and vision. The purpose of the organisation should find expression in its staff meetings. What strategic objective should staff meetings serve? Are they adding value to students’ work or are they simply worthless compliance exercises which do not have any impact on learning outcomes?

Individual constituents of a school are required to regularly touch base for purposes of forging and revitalising team spirit, finding one another and recommitting everyone to the purpose. It is through meetings that a school principal gets an opportunity to lay down the vision, make the purpose clear and while rallying the troops around the cause. Staff meetings exist to advance a worthy cause and that is measuring the pulse and overall health of schools.

Nevertheless, how far meetings can go to embrace the purpose of the school depends on the ability of the school leadership to direct attention to critical areas. This means due diligence should be exercised when selecting formulating the agenda. The school leadership as well as supporting regional education structures should invest a lot in helping schools to develop strategic agenda items. In our jurisdiction, the burning platform is the quality of instruction through teacher capacity building programmes, strengthen school governance and accountability. This is not to underestimate other issues which are vexing the education. Inadequate staff housing provision and limited promotion prospects are weighty matters warranting attention. But the big and most fundamental issue vexing parents and government alike is that of finding a formula that could move a large proportion of students to proficiency across different subject areas.

Rachel E. Curtis and Elizabeth A. City make a distinction between “typical” agenda meeting and “strategic-based” one. The typical agenda is a very generous and all-embracing approach. There is no attempt to separate meaty from peripheral matters. All issues are placed on the same pedestal and are allocated more or less the same time. To paraphrase City and Curtis, a business as usual agenda usually comprises items like departmental updates, budget allocations, academic updates and housing. Because of its predictability, the typical agenda may not generate much curiosity, sufficient debate and this can render a meeting a dull affair.

However the strategic agenda identifies a major challenge inhibiting delivery of improved learning outcomes. For instance, a robust debate can revolve around how the budget can be rearranged to support instruction in the classroom. Thinking strategically means breaking down a pattern of behaviour which is not adding value to the system.