Teachers' Advice to Principals
While the previous section focuses on how to retain effective principals, we should also look briefly at the principal practices that will help retain good teachers. As we have discussed throughout this booklet, effective principals support teachers and partner with them in creating a high-performing learning community. To understand how principals can best support teachers, we sat down with four teachers from an Oregon school and asked them to share their thoughts.
What can principals do to be most effective?
- Recognize, utilize, and develop talents of staff and parents. Give teachers the opportunity to be a part of faculty meetings and provide other opportunities to develop leadership skills.
- Trust teachers to be professionals and that they will keep up with their craft.
- Get to know the community to understand its needs and to create a more welcoming culture. For example, a principal who helps out with bus duty can get to know parents and children and open doors for families to come to the school. This is more valuable than merely sending out a note. One teacher remarked, "It may not sound like much, but it sets the tone."
- Provide continuous professional development related to school improvement goals. An effective principal will look for grants to make this possible. For example, when a school recognized that ELL students were not doing as well as other students, the principal had the staff focus on differentiated instruction and provided workshops on the SIOP model throughout the year. "This principal brought in grants to make these opportunities possible," said one teacher.
- Support teachers if there are parent-teacher conflicts and have faith and confidence in your staff. "During a parent-teacher-principal meeting, a parent told me I was incompetent and I was trying hard to bite my tongue," one teacher elaborated. "My principal stepped in and changed the direction of the conversation to be more constructive. She realized I needed a little defending."
What advice do you have for principals?
- Be very visible and available to teachers. Merely saying "I have an open door policy" is not enough. You need to have a "drop-in policy" where you invite people to visit. Try putting out a bowl of candy to encourage staff to drop in and get communication started. u Ask teachers what you should look for during classroom visits so as to provide meaningful feedback.
- Set the standard for continuous learning by assigning book readings and having discussion groups that are connected with specific expectations and goals.
- Allow teachers to choose what they want to do during planning time and with whom they plan. Sometimes planning times are structured and dictated by the principal, or the topic of discussion is not related to teachers' needs.
- Provide more opportunities for staff to meet with staff in other schools, so that there can be a coordinated effort districtwide and opportunities for teachers to learn from each other.
