I completed my administrator’s certification a couple of years ago. Since then I have looked closely at how current administrators do their jobs. You know, personality types and such. It has been interesting to say the least. Kind of like being a mall watcher (or stalker I suppose).
We have two middle schools in our district. Both have the same quality of teachers. They each have the same quality of student (pretty much, although one has a significantly higher level of free or reduced lunch children). They are very different architecturally. One is a self-contained building while the other is a series of separate “pods” for each team. They are also very different in their location. One sits downtown while the other is out in the country.
They have very different leaders as well. One principals used to be a coach. The other a band leader. (I often wonder why these two sections of teachers wind up as administrators, but that is for another post). You can readily see the difference in these personality styles in how faculty meetings are held.
The coach holds his meetings before school. They are more of a “huddle” than a meeting. They last 15 to 20 minutes normally. They are often not scheduled regularly. They take place as needed. Everyone is appraised of important information. It is often provided in a sort of “playbook” that each teacher can read. When the huddle is over, the teachers immediately report to their classrooms to carry out the game.
The band director has meetings after school. They are kind of like rehearsals. Information is gone over again and again until everyone has it down pat. They are held at regular intervals and scheduled on the calendar. Everyone knows they are going to last around 45 minutes. If there isn’t enough information to last that long, the leader will rehearse some things twice.
Neither of these approaches are, in my mind, decidedly better or worse than the other. They are, simply put, different. The only question of any importance I suppose is the one in the title of this blog, “How’s that workin’ for ya?”
How do you answer that question? Look at faculty morale. Look at student engagement. Look at the faculty’s willingness to embrace change both in and out of the classroom. I’m sure there are many, many more you could add. What would you like to see if the leadership style of your school is working?
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