Inspiration of school principals

Tshwarelo Hosia | Monday August 21, 2023 06:00

The one limiting factor which also amounts to self-censorship is fear. Fear of the unknown is the number one enemy of progress and innovation.

To be bring about a profound impact , school principals should avoid like plague any thought harbouring any fears.

God himself demonstrated his detestation of acts of cowardice when he first ordered Moses to lead a rebellion by Israelites against one of the mightiest military powers of the time and later when he Commissioned Joshua - Moses’ successor- to be strong and courageous , not to be afraid, not be discouraged, to arise and courageously cross the Jordan river in a bid to occupy the promised land.

Joshua’s successful military exploits are a clear testament of the fact that no problem can withstand a hybrid of courage and faith. Many school principals mistakenly take refuge in familiarity and maintaining things as they are out of fear of rocking the boat and possibly stirring conflict. Conflict is traditionally viewed in a negative light and therefore perceived as a bad thing, which should always be prevented. Overcoming fear begins with welcoming and embracing the likelihood of conflict especially when serious efforts are being made to dismantle existing patterns of behaviour deemed counterproductive. Education Strategy experts Rachel E. Curtis and Elizabeth A. City gave a telling observation on what a school turnaround strategy execution should entail. “Strategy execution usually requires significant changes in the way people and their organisation do business. Employees have to learn new skills. They have to work in ways that are unfamiliar and perhaps uncomfortable. They need to engage in the productive conflict that generates the best ideas and work.” How many school leaders are ready to endure flak and perhaps rejection as a result their insistence on rescuing students from a culture of underachievement? If school principals are going to lead their schools towards the realisation of the potentialities of students, it is indeed going to be hard to completely insulate conflict from their institutions. But those who choose to avoid conflict can win the peace and popularity contest to the detriment of harnessing opportunities for improved learning outcomes.

Leading a school is no picnic but a tough call requiring those at the helm to make hard choices, which may come at the expense of temporary loss of friendships and peace. School leaders should never compromise the ability of a school to rise out of fear of losing the much desired peace. School principals should be assured that peace and popularity are never lost permanently. And the best way of restoring peace (a durable and sustainable one for that matter) and regaining popularity is by ushering a new culture of achieving academic excellence. Success has a way of uniting disparate elements in an organisation. Peace has become a prominent characteristic feature of schools with a high performing culture and is somewhat an elusive target in low achieving school settings.

This means that a toxic environment is much more likely to be a way of life at underachieving schools. Coming to work is a much more sweeter and rewarding experience in a top achieving school than in a chronically low achieving and struggling school. It is on the strength of this position that school principals, especially on first appointment or arrival to a new station, should never miss an opportunity to push for change regardless of the temporary losses they may incur in the process. There will always be pockets of resistance and admittedly resistance is a source of distress but in the final analysis, it will be broken giving way to a much more productive culture. So no school principal should be afraid to advance the cause of children, no matter how difficult this may seem. Overcoming fear can manifests itself in many forms. It can assume the form of identifying and naming under-achievers who are not making enough contribution towards the fulfilment of the vision of a school. Naming and facing low achieving members is not an easy task. But employees deserve honest feedback. Honest feedback can inspire and challenge employees to raise their game. But the stark reality on the ground is that there are few leaders who are capable of dispensing honest feedback. Instead leaders take refuge in painting a general picture about performance which is less effective. Generalisation is a result of fear. To say some departments are not doing well cannot have the same impact as saying Science and Mathematics are the weakest link in the school. Facing a problem head on is much more useful than trying to be nice and tinkering at the edges. Conversation around issues of classroom performance should also be data driven. Conclusions should be backed by evidence. School leaders should be bold enough to initiate a dialogue with non performing departments and individuals so that whatever is broken should be fixed. In approaching issues of performance, school principals should always wear both their professional and fatherly/motherly hats. Schools are populated predominantly by young teachers who need proper guidance in and outside of work as well as sufficient training on areas of pedagogy. Sometimes life outside one’s work can have a negative bearing on life at work. Again youthful exuberance can also take the better of the young teacher. The young teacher is more likely to have a penchant for showing a rebellious attitude than seasoned teachers. School leaders should also develop a skilful way of harnessing the energies of young teachers towards achieving a worthy cause of achieving good learning outcomes. Left to their own devices, young teachers can easily engage in paths leading to self-destruction. This is not to suggest one bit that school leaders should patronise teachers. This is far from it. Teachers are capable of looking after themselves but where teachers are looking for a mother figure in school, they should be able to find one without any struggle. Having won the battle against fear, the only stumbling block or nightmare that can delay progress in a school is lack of a strategy. How can a school a can exist without a strategy, one may ask? It is often assumed that all schools have a strategy but in reality on the ground many schools are groping in the dark without any strategy. Once again Curtis and City provides an interesting observation. “Many educational systems have a strategic plan without strategy.” There is a distinction between the two concepts which are mistakenly used interchangeably. A strategic plan usually comprises a shopping list of multiple initiatives which are pursued haphazardly without timelines while a strategy focuses on a few carefully selected things that have the potential to raise student learning. The former is an impressive document devoid of focus and often without any budget allocations.