 |
NASSP President John Lewis sees himself as a "farmer," sowing and nurturing seeds of change in the schools he leads.Oregon native John Lewis brings three decades of school leadership to his new position as President of the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP). His nearly 30 years as a secondary principal and assistant principal in rural and suburban Oregon haven't dampened his enthusiasm for what he calls "the best job in the world." Now in his first year at the helm of Woodland Middle School north of Vancouver, Washington, Lewis recently talked with Northwest Education Editor Lee Sherman about the challenges and rewards of the principalship. NORTHWEST EDUCATION: How did you find your way into the principalship? John Lewis: I taught at the middle school in Estacada, Oregon, in the early '70s, and decided that I wanted to get into school administration. Never knowing when or where that opportunity might come about, I started taking classes to get certified. After six years in the middle school, I was going to move to the high school to teach health, and I had ordered some materials. One day, I walked into the high school principal's office and asked, "Did my books come in?" And he said, "By the way, one of the assistant principals just resigned and there's an opening. You ought to think about applying." I said, "OK, I will." I was an assistant principal there for two years, then an assistant principal at Oregon's Hillsboro High School for four years, and then became principal. NW: Why did you want to move out of the classroom and into administration? Lewis: While I was teaching, I was also coaching. I have always felt that there is a strong correlation between the coach's role and the principal's role. It used to be that all principals were ex-coaches. I think there is a reason for that. A lot of things that successful coaches do, successful administrators do. You're organized, you work with a diverse group of people. You have to have a focus and be able to withstand a little bit of pressure. I think there are a lot of skills that are transferable. As a teacher, I would always look at things that were going on in schools and say, "If I were the person doing that, would I do it the same way? What would I change within the program?" I was given a lot of opportunity by the principals I worked with to experiment and try to put programs together. I really liked it. I still consider myself a teacher. You're just doing it a little differently. NW: What kinds of courses did you take to prepare for the principal's role? Lewis: There is a whole administrative preparation program. You have about 35 hours of classes dealing with curriculum, finance, law, personnel. NW: Principal training programs have taken heavy criticism from both practitioners and researchers. Critics say most preparation programs are not very practical — that the coursework doesn't translate very well into real life. Do you agree? Lewis: The training I received fit well with the way schools were configured at that time and with the needs of students then. I think the criticism has come about because schools have changed significantly, and needs have changed significantly, but training programs have not changed significantly.
| ||||
|
The New Principal Special Report:
| |||||
|
This document's URL is: Home | Up & Coming | Programs & Projects: Northwest Education | People | Products & Publications | Topics © 2001 Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory
Date of Last Update: 9/28/01 
|
