Principalship: Roles & Responsibilities PINSET-September 2011

Presented BySajid Masood

The Knowledge School

Welcome ...

Expectations……

Coming together is a start

Staying together is progress

Working together is success

Ways To Identify Roles & Responsibilities

• Traditional Way• System Approach–Rational System - Closed–Natural System - Humanistic–Open System - Social System

The Systems Approach

• Defines a system as a set of interrelated and interdependent parts arranged in a manner that produces a unified whole– Closed system : a system that is not influenced by

and does not interact with its environment– Open system: a system that dynamically interacts

with its environment

Sub-systems of School as Social System

Transformation Process

Structural System(Bureaucratic Expectations)

Cultural System(Shared Orientations)

Political System(Power Relations)

Individual System(Cognition and Motivation)

Learn

ing

Learning Teac

hing

TeachingOutputsInputs

Environment

Social System Model for Schools

Transformation Process

Structural System(Bureaucratic Expectations)

CulturalSystem(Shared

Orientations)

PoliticalSystem(Power

Relations)

Individual System(Cognition and Motivation)

Learn

ing

Learning Teac

hing

Teaching

OutputsInputs

Environmental constraints

Students

Human and capital resources

Vision, Mission and Policy

Materials and methods

Achievement

Job satisfaction

Absenteeism

Dropout rate

Overall quality

Discrepancy between Actual and Expected

Performance

Environment

Inputs

• Environmental Constraints• Human Resources• Capital Resource• Vision & Mission• Policy• Materials & Equipments• Students

Structural System

• Positions• Roles• Expectations

Individual System

• Members have their own individual needs, beliefs, and cognitive understanding of their jobs. They learn what their job is about by monitoring and checking their own behaviors.

• Their motivation and cognition are influenced by such factors as beliefs about personal control and competence, individual goals, personal expectations for failure and success and work motives.

Culture

• When organizational members interact, shared values, norms, beliefs, and ways of thinking emerge which form culture of the school.

• It represents the unwritten, feeling part of the organization.

Politics

• Politics is typically informal and frequently illegitimate.

• It is behaviour usually designed to benefit individual or group at the expense of the organization.

• Is it beneficial or harmful for organization? – Political leadership

Teaching & Learning

• Technical core of school as an organization• Behavioral, cognitive, and constructivist

perspectives of learning provide the setting for school decision making. Instructional leadership

Environment

• Ministry of Education• Department of Education• Examination Boards• Community• School Building• Values

Outcomes

• Achievement• Job satisfaction• Dropout rates• Overall quality• Image in Community

Challenge for Principalship

Maintaining Equilibrium in System is one of the major role of school principal

Do we remain in equilibrium most of the time?

Your Turn

Can we identify roles and responsibilities expected from

principals keeping in view elements of Social System Model of schools?

Inputs

• Change agent, being Courageous• Ability to define job specification, select and place

employees• Ability to relate it with objectives / outcomes• Visionary, Foresight• Analytical, ability to respond with minimum

disequilibrium in organization• Resource provider

Structural System

• Architect of organizational structure• Ability to define roles and relating with

positions• Ability to coordinate roles of other key players• Setting high expectations• Teaching & modeling desirable behaviors

Individual System

• Ability to identify individual differences and assigning tasks accordingly.

• Ability to manage ambiguities and conflicts in ways which enhance individual and school improvement.

• Extending mentoring to individuals operating at low cognitive levels.

• Aiming at capacity building• Dispersing leadership

Culture

• Principal is inspirational and charismatic, and builds a school culture which transforms the mission, values, and norms of individuals or groups.

• Supporter of innovation• Challenging status quo

Politics

• Role demands principal to be persuasive (influential) and effective at building alliances and supports and resolves conflicts among school constituencies

• Negotiator• Listener• Communicator

Teaching & Learning - Ignored dimension

• Teacher principal• Setting high expectations of performance• Monitoring student progress• Protecting instructional time• Maintaining high visibility• Allocating resources to instruction• Managing the curriculum

Teaching & Learning - Ignored dimension

• Monitoring lesson plans• Appraising and evaluating teachers• Promoting growth in students’ learning• Acting as instructional resource• Supporting professional development sessions• Providing incentives for teachers• Consume most time on instructional tasks

Successful School Principals

• create a focused mission to improve student achievement and a vision of the elements of school, curriculum and instructional practices that make higher achievement possible.

• set high expectations for all students to learn higher level content.

• recognize and encourages implementation of good instructional practices that motivate and increase student achievement.

Successful School Principals

• create a school organization where faculty and staff understand that every student counts and where every student has the support of a caring adult.

• use data to initiate and continue improvement in school and classroom practices and student achievement.

• keep everyone informed and focused on student achievement.

Successful School Principals

• make parents partners in their student’s education and create a structure for parent and educator collaboration.

• understand the change process and have the leadership and facilitation skills to manage it effectively.

• understand how adults learn and know how to advance meaningful change through quality sustained professional development that benefits students.

Successful School Principals

• use and organize time in innovative ways to meet the goals and objectives of school improvement.

• acquire and use resource wisely.• continuously learn and seek out colleagues who

keep them abreast of new research and proven practices

Source: Preparing a New Breed of School Principals: Its time for action (2001).

Reflect in your free time

• Who am I?• Why do I become Principal?• What is my identity as Principal?• What powers do I have as Principal?• How can I make a difference in lives of my

teachers and students?• Do I have to follow any code of conduct?

Thank You