There is pure joy in leading a school, as well as frustration. Our leaders should reflect this
On my list of “things I really miss as a retiree”, I think I can happily omit online discussion forums for principals. In theory, they offer school leaders the opportunity to network ideas on best practice and share the collective expertise of thousands of members.
Sometimes, however, the posts came from principals who would gladly march under the “why me?” banner.“Why me?” network posters vent outrage at their unacceptable work overload, the dreaded weight of always-increasing paper work and their rising stress levels which no amount of strong coffee could ever over-ride. These posts often create a tsunami of fellow “Why me?” responses.
For example few could argue against teaching principals requiring additional administrative leave. It is also an absolute nonsense that any principal of a school with special classes attached should continue to have teaching duties. Principals need personal support such as the new coaching/counselling scheme introduced by the Department two years ago of which to date only a handful of principals have availed.
Not unlike all managerial roles, principalship can cause stress. A family history of high blood pressure more easily explains my daily dose of Valtan rather than linking it to my chairing of regular multi-disciplinary family conferences. As a principal I often lay awake enduring the darkness before the dawn, worrying about a problem child, a difficult parent or a staff meeting where I should have said X but screwed up when Y popped into my head.
At the risk of submitting to cliché, the principal can make a difference in children’s lives which is probably the very reason most of us entered training colleges in the first place. Principals can and continue to make a difference.
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