The path to principal
After Doug’s initial appointment as a teacher in a large country school, he was transferred to a small country school where every staff member had some form of leadership role, particularly those who had some teaching experience. Promotion to the position of senior master (now coordinator) was almost automatic after four years of teaching. As a curriculum leader he became involved in both state and national projects and spent several years as a statewide subject consultant. After returning to a school, he had a number of periods as an acting deputy principal. In those days seniors were assessed by an inspector for inclusion on a promotion list for higher level positions. Appointments were made strictly from the top of the list but ultimately this process was replaced by merit selection and Doug was successful in winning a principal appointment in a small country school.
There was a progressive growth in experience, understanding and interest in the role of senior leadership through his various positions and roles over a period of 22 years prior to his first principalship. During this period Doug realised that he should grasp (or volunteer for) opportunities as they arose as these provided the experiences and skill development that enabled successful merit selection opportunities.
Growing in the job
Doug quickly found that as a senior he had to be involved in more than faculty management. The teachers in his faculty looked to him for leadership and guidance. This challenged him to develop the knowledge and skills to be an effective leader. As a result he participated in curriculum development and teaching excellence professional development at a state and national level. This, and his acting deputy experiences, helped him learn how to work with others, to successfully delegate, to guide other staff and ultimately understand that he was only successful if he could help others to achieve their potential. He realised that change and improvements would only work and be sustained if he could help other staff understand the value of and the strategies and skills required to successfully implement improvement strategies. It was important to listen to the nay- sayers, to consider their point of view, to modify one’s own viewpoint if appropriate and to support the person through the change process in order to minimise any resistance.
Excitement!
The most exciting, yet challenging, aspect of the role of principal was to lead and participate in the change process. Doug had learnt through experiences that change for the sake of change or “jumping on the bandwagon” was generally unsuccessful. There had to be clearly identified benefits, goals had to be achievable and the process clear. Identifying those challenges, planning, identifying strategies, clarifying outcomes and success measures, consolidating improvements and working with others in the process were the things that energised, excited and challenged him. When successful these gave him the greatest degree of satisfaction and achievement.
Greatest Achievement
In a group of small country schools that each had less than two hundred secondary students there was a very limited senior school curriculum to offer students. The schools wanted to be able to offer a broader curriculum and make better use of their staff. Rather than multiple schools teaching the same subject to very small classes they planned to use a local delivery method where one school would present the lessons face to face while others linked in using distance technology. Doug became the chairperson of the planning committee and worked with principals from other schools to make and implement decisions.
Challenges involved overcoming technological difficulties. In those very early days this was a real challenge. Perhaps the biggest challenge was to try to get the schools to agree to a common timetable and common bell times. Once it was in place the model was very effective and the evidence showed that students were just as successful as those who had face-to-face teaching. The success of this program started him on the track to schools cooperating so they could achieve more than each school working individually. This was a steep learning curve but was ultimately successful and cited as a model for other small schools to follow. He carried that experience through to other appointments in metropolitan schools, particularly in relation to Vocational Education and Training, as it gradually became a significant area of interest in schools.
After Doug’s initial appointment as a teacher in a large country school, he was transferred to a small country school where every staff member had some form of leadership role, particularly those who had some teaching experience. Promotion to the position of senior master (now coordinator) was almost automatic after four years of teaching. As a curriculum leader he became involved in both state and national projects and spent several years as a statewide subject consultant. After returning to a school, he had a number of periods as an acting deputy principal. In those days seniors were assessed by an inspector for inclusion on a promotion list for higher level positions. Appointments were made strictly from the top of the list but ultimately this process was replaced by merit selection and Doug was successful in winning a principal appointment in a small country school.
There was a progressive growth in experience, understanding and interest in the role of senior leadership through his various positions and roles over a period of 22 years prior to his first principalship. During this period Doug realised that he should grasp (or volunteer for) opportunities as they arose as these provided the experiences and skill development that enabled successful merit selection opportunities.
Growing in the job
Doug quickly found that as a senior he had to be involved in more than faculty management. The teachers in his faculty looked to him for leadership and guidance. This challenged him to develop the knowledge and skills to be an effective leader. As a result he participated in curriculum development and teaching excellence professional development at a state and national level. This, and his acting deputy experiences, helped him learn how to work with others, to successfully delegate, to guide other staff and ultimately understand that he was only successful if he could help others to achieve their potential. He realised that change and improvements would only work and be sustained if he could help other staff understand the value of and the strategies and skills required to successfully implement improvement strategies. It was important to listen to the nay- sayers, to consider their point of view, to modify one’s own viewpoint if appropriate and to support the person through the change process in order to minimise any resistance.
Excitement!
The most exciting, yet challenging, aspect of the role of principal was to lead and participate in the change process. Doug had learnt through experiences that change for the sake of change or “jumping on the bandwagon” was generally unsuccessful. There had to be clearly identified benefits, goals had to be achievable and the process clear. Identifying those challenges, planning, identifying strategies, clarifying outcomes and success measures, consolidating improvements and working with others in the process were the things that energised, excited and challenged him. When successful these gave him the greatest degree of satisfaction and achievement.
Greatest Achievement
In a group of small country schools that each had less than two hundred secondary students there was a very limited senior school curriculum to offer students. The schools wanted to be able to offer a broader curriculum and make better use of their staff. Rather than multiple schools teaching the same subject to very small classes they planned to use a local delivery method where one school would present the lessons face to face while others linked in using distance technology. Doug became the chairperson of the planning committee and worked with principals from other schools to make and implement decisions.
Challenges involved overcoming technological difficulties. In those very early days this was a real challenge. Perhaps the biggest challenge was to try to get the schools to agree to a common timetable and common bell times. Once it was in place the model was very effective and the evidence showed that students were just as successful as those who had face-to-face teaching. The success of this program started him on the track to schools cooperating so they could achieve more than each school working individually. This was a steep learning curve but was ultimately successful and cited as a model for other small schools to follow. He carried that experience through to other appointments in metropolitan schools, particularly in relation to Vocational Education and Training, as it gradually became a significant area of interest in schools.
A second achievement related to his belief that as part of performance management
planning, providing staff with feedback on their performance was important. He felt that
students were in an ideal position to provide feedback regarding their teacher’s
performance, so he introduced a process where they were able to provide feedback in a
short questionnaire. Once a year every staff member had feedback from each of their
students. Feedback was collated and provided to teachers and line managers and led to
some good conversations about their strengths and areas for improvement.
Challenging Times
During one acting deputy principal period circumstances led Doug to becoming the acting principal. On the first day in this role he was told that one of their teachers who had organised an exchange with a teacher from another country had got cold feet and didn’t want to go. The teacher met the exchange teacher at the airport and asked her to take his ticket to return to her country, but she declined. The following day the local teacher committed suicide.
As acting principal this was the first thing Doug had to deal with on that Monday morning. The local teacher was a very popular teacher not just in his subject area, but across the school and with staff as well. As principal he faced the difficulty of having to inform staff of what had happened, and deal with phone calls from people who the teacher was meant to meet up with at various airports on the way to his destination overseas. He also had to deal with the students and tell them that the teacher had died; but he didn’t tell them he had taken his own life. Students and staff eventually found out it was suicide. He had asked staff not to disclose this but word got out.
He held a staff meeting and staff indicated they wanted to go to the funeral. It was in school time and because of the number of staff who said they wanted to go, and the number of students, it was going to be difficult to keep the school open. He rang the District Office and spoke to the superintendent and was told, “No, you can’t close the school. You have to keep it open.” He went back to staff and told them that only a few of them could go to the funeral. Their response was basically “Too bad, we’re going.” So he had to contact the Department and say again to the District Office that he was going to close the school and he needed to inform parents. They didn’t like it, but he told them he was sorry, but he was doing it.
Despite the regulations it was an exercise in common sense. He suspects now the system is much more attuned to dealing with such circumstances. That was a very difficult and stressful situation.
A further example of a significant difficulty occurred during his first appointment as a principal in a small country school. The part-time student counsellor came to him and said that she thought one of the students was being abused. They had only just had a training and development day about reporting abuse, so he said they needed to report it. Word got out in the town about the report. They believed that it was Family and Youth Services who let it out and he was annoyed about it. FAYS spoke to him and said they didn’t think it should be a mandatory notification because the child was over sixteen, so it should be reported to the police. The girl was adopted from a developing country and had an intellectual disability. She had the mental age of a twelve year old. The girl did not have the capacity to report it, but FAYS said there was nothing they could do about it. The mother of the student came to see him and was quite abusive towards the school and the counsellor.
Subsequently he had visits or phone conversations with the local doctor, the local MP, the local dentist and eventually a letter from a doctor from the Women’s and Children’s Hospital. All of them were absolutely adamant that this was “a fine upstanding family and the suggestion that the mother had abused the child was ridiculous.” Each of them was highly critical of the school, the counsellor and himself for making a mandatory report. In each case he pointed out that he could neither confirm nor deny that they had made the report as such issues were confidential but that as mandated notifiers they had a legal obligation to report any suspected abuse and there were significant penalties if they did not do so. He pointed out to each that, in their position, they should be well aware of the requirements for mandatory notification as they too were mandated notifiers. He also wrote to the head doctor at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital enclosing a copy of the letter from the doctor who wrote to him. He asked if it was normal practice or appropriate for a doctor to do such a thing. The response he received indicated that the doctor had been “counselled” and that it would not happen again. He pointed out that this caused the counsellor in particular to be ostracised in the community, which was very difficult for her, and she moved on fairly quickly after that. They didn’t think much of him at the time either!
About twelve months later the mother came to see him and admitted to it. She said she was really sorry but “she got so frustrated with the child sometimes because the child just doesn’t understand and just seems so stupid.” He advised her to tell others the truth, including the doctor, dentist and the local MP. He didn’t know if she did but it was very tough for a long period of time.
Challenging Times
During one acting deputy principal period circumstances led Doug to becoming the acting principal. On the first day in this role he was told that one of their teachers who had organised an exchange with a teacher from another country had got cold feet and didn’t want to go. The teacher met the exchange teacher at the airport and asked her to take his ticket to return to her country, but she declined. The following day the local teacher committed suicide.
As acting principal this was the first thing Doug had to deal with on that Monday morning. The local teacher was a very popular teacher not just in his subject area, but across the school and with staff as well. As principal he faced the difficulty of having to inform staff of what had happened, and deal with phone calls from people who the teacher was meant to meet up with at various airports on the way to his destination overseas. He also had to deal with the students and tell them that the teacher had died; but he didn’t tell them he had taken his own life. Students and staff eventually found out it was suicide. He had asked staff not to disclose this but word got out.
He held a staff meeting and staff indicated they wanted to go to the funeral. It was in school time and because of the number of staff who said they wanted to go, and the number of students, it was going to be difficult to keep the school open. He rang the District Office and spoke to the superintendent and was told, “No, you can’t close the school. You have to keep it open.” He went back to staff and told them that only a few of them could go to the funeral. Their response was basically “Too bad, we’re going.” So he had to contact the Department and say again to the District Office that he was going to close the school and he needed to inform parents. They didn’t like it, but he told them he was sorry, but he was doing it.
Despite the regulations it was an exercise in common sense. He suspects now the system is much more attuned to dealing with such circumstances. That was a very difficult and stressful situation.
A further example of a significant difficulty occurred during his first appointment as a principal in a small country school. The part-time student counsellor came to him and said that she thought one of the students was being abused. They had only just had a training and development day about reporting abuse, so he said they needed to report it. Word got out in the town about the report. They believed that it was Family and Youth Services who let it out and he was annoyed about it. FAYS spoke to him and said they didn’t think it should be a mandatory notification because the child was over sixteen, so it should be reported to the police. The girl was adopted from a developing country and had an intellectual disability. She had the mental age of a twelve year old. The girl did not have the capacity to report it, but FAYS said there was nothing they could do about it. The mother of the student came to see him and was quite abusive towards the school and the counsellor.
Subsequently he had visits or phone conversations with the local doctor, the local MP, the local dentist and eventually a letter from a doctor from the Women’s and Children’s Hospital. All of them were absolutely adamant that this was “a fine upstanding family and the suggestion that the mother had abused the child was ridiculous.” Each of them was highly critical of the school, the counsellor and himself for making a mandatory report. In each case he pointed out that he could neither confirm nor deny that they had made the report as such issues were confidential but that as mandated notifiers they had a legal obligation to report any suspected abuse and there were significant penalties if they did not do so. He pointed out to each that, in their position, they should be well aware of the requirements for mandatory notification as they too were mandated notifiers. He also wrote to the head doctor at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital enclosing a copy of the letter from the doctor who wrote to him. He asked if it was normal practice or appropriate for a doctor to do such a thing. The response he received indicated that the doctor had been “counselled” and that it would not happen again. He pointed out that this caused the counsellor in particular to be ostracised in the community, which was very difficult for her, and she moved on fairly quickly after that. They didn’t think much of him at the time either!
About twelve months later the mother came to see him and admitted to it. She said she was really sorry but “she got so frustrated with the child sometimes because the child just doesn’t understand and just seems so stupid.” He advised her to tell others the truth, including the doctor, dentist and the local MP. He didn’t know if she did but it was very tough for a long period of time.
Support
In some cases there was no support at all other than from family, as with the teacher who committed suicide – there was no-one to help then. In other situations like the group of schools working together, the district superintendent was very supportive. He found that to be the case with most superintendents, but in particular he had two in his career who he had enormous respect for when they went to bat for him whenever necessary. A good regional director is great value – someone who is prepared to look at your point of view, not just the Department’s, and support you against them if necessary. In some situations colleagues were very supportive eg other principals and also staff members.
Advice and Comments
Listen to others; be prepared to take into account what they have to say, but still be true to and stand by your own beliefs.
When applying for positions ensure you have actual “runs on the board” so you can clearly identify your skills, knowledge and experiences. But if you can’t accept not winning, don’t bother applying because there is always only one winner and it may not be you!
In some cases there was no support at all other than from family, as with the teacher who committed suicide – there was no-one to help then. In other situations like the group of schools working together, the district superintendent was very supportive. He found that to be the case with most superintendents, but in particular he had two in his career who he had enormous respect for when they went to bat for him whenever necessary. A good regional director is great value – someone who is prepared to look at your point of view, not just the Department’s, and support you against them if necessary. In some situations colleagues were very supportive eg other principals and also staff members.
Advice and Comments
Listen to others; be prepared to take into account what they have to say, but still be true to and stand by your own beliefs.
When applying for positions ensure you have actual “runs on the board” so you can clearly identify your skills, knowledge and experiences. But if you can’t accept not winning, don’t bother applying because there is always only one winner and it may not be you!
No comments:
Post a Comment