Deane Rohrlach's Story

The path to principal

Deane had been teaching for six years when he was appointed to Alyangula Area School on Groote Eylandt in the Gulf of Carpentaria.  When the position was offered, he had no idea where it was. At the time Northern Territory (NT) schools were administered from South Australia (SA). His previous appointments were in country South Australia.

When Deane arrived at Alyangula, the school had just been reclassified from a rural school with three teachers and 90 primary students to an Area School. There were now 12 secondary students in years 8 to 10 and he was the only secondary teacher, responsible, along with his principal duties, for teaching all their subjects (including geography which he had not studied since he was in Year 7).  He had one lesson non-contact time when the secondary students joined the year 6/7s for PE.

He had thought to bring with him one text book in each of the secondary school subjects. These were the only texts he and the students had when he arrived. A promised new school had yet to be built. The school buildings were two classrooms with a non-sound proof partition between them, the mining company house next door and a windowless but air-conditioned room in the adjoining bulk food store. He taught his class in a bedroom of the mining company house. The high teaching load, lack of any administrative support and oppressive heat in the early part of the year made this an extremely challenging, but ultimately rewarding time.

He was influenced by a gift from an uncle when he was 17 – a copy of Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People. Deane took its messages to heart and it guided much of his practice as a principal. It emphasised the importance of admitting and learning from mistakes, as well as respecting and empowering other people. His early experience, and his reading, helped him realise that sound and productive relationships were a necessary part of successful leadership.  They were not sufficient to do the job well, but they were an essential foundation.

Following the transfer of responsibility of NT schools from SA to the Commonwealth Government, Deane was promoted to the position of principal of an Area School in the Eyre Peninsula.

Growing in the job

At Alyangula Deane learned to be creative; to think outside the square. By the time he left, the school had grown to 140 students and he was still teaching more than half time. He learned to delegate wisely – to use people’s strengths, and once you are sure they can, trust them to deliver.  

The new school was larger – reaching 400 by the time he left ten years later. A previous principal told Deane he had made the mistake of going in and changing a lot of things too quickly, meeting strong resistance from the community and staff. Deane learned that he needed to respect what was already in a school; it was there for a reason. If the principal charged off into the distance no one followed. While at this school, he involved parents, students and teachers in a process to set goals for the school.  He further refined this when he went to his next school, a country high school, where, on his arrival, he set up a parent/teacher/student planning group. This group planned and held a meeting attended by about 160 parents, staff and students.  The meeting involved speakers to broaden horizons and workshop activities. It resulted in a five-year plan agreed by the community. Achievements from this included building a community school gymnasium, major senior curriculum expansion and other significant changes.  He kept the group going for his 18 years at the school, using it to monitor progress toward goals and plan similar activities.

He learned it was not hard to get agreement when he looked for common ground, respected people and treated them decently. If you don’t do this, you set yourself up to fail.

In each new school, Deane made getting to know School Councillors and the Parents & Friends Committee an early priority to develop and maintain open and respectful relationships, and to understand local concerns. He placed great importance on being open and transparent, involving them in all key decisions of interest to them, and making sure that communications to them were in plain English and not educational jargon.  This often required him to summarise departmental missives in plain English (which was also of benefit to staff). They found the School Administrative System (EDSAS) monthly financial report for School Councils incomprehensible, so he supplemented it with a simple, easily understood translation.

Excitement and achievements

Deane’s greatest satisfaction came from making a positive difference in students’ lives. This still motivates him today in his role as a local government Councillor. His love of learning and an intellectual challenge is evident. He believes that both a principal and a local Councillor must quickly master information in areas they are not necessarily expert in, identifying the key components and being well enough informed to make wise decisions.

He cites the example of being both excited and affirmed when the Education Review Unit reviewed his school. Much of the feedback received from parents, staff and students affirmed what he believed in and he had been able to translate that into practice.  The report resulted in only two very minor recommendations for change, suggesting that the school had identified and implemented what people expected. As principal he often wondered if he was doing as well as he thought he was, and it was affirming to get rigorous feedback.

He still loves to see what students achieve after they leave school, and finds it really satisfying to see students succeeding in their careers, knowing he contributed.

Challenging times

At his last school about 70% of staff generally supported the Australian Education Union (AEU) position on issues. When Partnerships 21 (P21), an Education Department program offering greater local management was introduced, it was opposed by the AEU. A member of staff who was on the AEU Executive strongly opposed the program, providing all the AEU literature and arguments to staff. Deane, also an AEU member, proposed the school embrace P21 if a majority of staff and a majority of School Council members supported the change. He then thoroughly researched what it would mean for the school, setting out the advantages and disadvantages in a series of papers to staff and School Council. These showed the school would be at least $100,000 better off annually, and he identified the benefit to staff and students arising from this. When the vote was held 100% of School Council and 75% of school staff supported it. This reinforced his belief that to accomplish change you need to do your homework. This will either convince people of the change or show you the change is not worth doing.

Another challenge came when the Area Director asked Deane to step in for two terms as principal in a school where the incumbent principal had taken stress leave and did not want to go back, because of conflict between militant unionists on the staff and the school administration. Deane visited the school on the principal’s second to last day and witnessed a toxic staff meeting, held in the library, which had low bookshelves dividing the room. One faction sat on one side of the barrier, and the opposing faction sat on the other, and they shouted at each other across it - about the school’s decision-making policy.  He wondered what he was letting himself in for. 

He didn’t, however, pull out but went home and wrote a letter to all staff, that gave some of his background, outlined the values he intended to operate under and how he intended to operate. He put this letter in all staff pigeonholes before school on the day he started, and received a lot of positive feedback from both factions on the content of the letter. He also wrote a couple of subsequent letters. He saw his task as being to work effectively with people of both factions and find common ground. He moved the staff meeting to a venue without the symbolism of division. He was able to establish respectful and effective relationships with both groups, and ease the tensions while a selection process was conducted for a new principal. The school continued to be a stressful place for principals, eventually resulting in the relocation of several staff.

Support

Deane recalls phrases and ideas from his obviously extensive and continuous professional reading. One is “You can’t run on empty” from an article highlighting the importance of principals taking time for themselves. No matter how much he did, there was always more to be done.  He had to learn to take time out. What he hadn’t done was rarely a problem. His wife was a great help in monitoring this and telling him when to ease off.

A book he found very useful was Leader Effectiveness Training (L.E.T) by Thomas Gordon, who also wrote a similar book for parents and one for teachers. Deane found applying Gordon’s principles and skills of effective relationships was very helpful in developing and maintaining a productive and supportive work environment.

He used trusted school colleagues to talk over sensitive issues. There were a few principals and departmental officers who acted as mentors and inspiration. In his remote first principal appointment, visits from superintendents and departmental advisers were particularly important and helpful.

Advice

•  No matter how hard it seems at the time, there is always light at the end of the tunnel. Things will get better.  Identify what will make things better and work towards that.

•   A principal doesn't have to do it all, but must make sure it all gets done. Be aware of your own strengths and weaknesses and identify those in others. Don't be afraid to delegate, and use others’ strengths to advantage.

•   Admit your mistakes and when you don’t know. You don’t have to know it all and being a learner is the only way to improve. Schools are learning institutions, so lead by example. Admitting errors, apologising and fixing them are powerful ways to gain respect. Denying or covering up mistakes destroys respect instantly.

•   Teach. Deane taught at least one class each of the 31 years he was a principal – and did it well. Spending time teaching students and having fun together kept him grounded, helping his sanity when dealing with difficult behaviour or other issues. It ensured he did not forget how hard teaching was and kept his feet firmly on the ground when discussing educational innovations. It helped give him credibility as a leader of a school.

•   Value all the people you deal with, treat them decently, non-judgmentally and with respect. If you don’t do this, even your best innovations will be lame ducks, and people will be happy to see you fail. Praise people for what they have done – keeping the focus on the task rather than the person and let their work speak for itself. 

•  Give credit publicly where it is due.  Never take credit for what someone else has done.  This will destroy motivation and produce resentment quicker than almost anything. Even as principal, you can’t demand respect - you must earn it. Showing respect to others is an essential ingredient in receiving respect.

•  Harness the power of many brains – encourage others to contribute ideas and build on these.  Even if an idea seems unusable, don’t squash or ridicule it as this will dry up the flow of ideas. The amount of energy available in a school to achieve educational outcomes for students is not fixed. It is dependent on the enthusiasm, confidence, morale and commitment of everyone in the school. It is exciting and rewarding to learn how to release and harness this enormous store of energy.  The extent to which a leader can do this is the greatest determiner of leadership success.

•   Enable people to work together to achieve agreed outcomes. Principal, staff, parents and students all have a common purpose. It is worth articulating this purpose, sharing it and promoting working together as one team. This means respectful relationships with parent bodies, involving them in all key decisions and making sure that communications are in plain English. 

•    Keep to the moral high ground and never respond in anger. Learn to step back, listen, identify the problem, and allocate it where it belongs.

•    Treasure the humorists on your staff. Humour increases enjoyment, reduces tension and improves productivity.

•    In a new school, respect what has gone before and understand it before making changes. However, it is important to quickly establish what is non-negotiable for you and what your values are.

•    Utilise a time management system that provides time for important but not urgent tasks - the workload of a principal is so high that it is easy to get bogged down in the everyday demands of the job and not have enough time for thinking about the big picture and strategic issues.

•  To maximise success, bear down hard on the task, while respecting and meeting the needs of those involved in its achievement.