باسمه تعالی
Introduction
At whatever level you consider it, school heads/principals have a major role to
play. At the level of an individual school, few would deny that students learning
depends upon good school leadership.
In terms of large-scale education reform, school principals also have a key
role to play (Fullan, 2002).
Despite the acknowledged importance of school principals and their leadership
role there is far from consensus on the goals of principals and leadership
styles. Some recent conceptions involve performance outcomes,
instructional leadership, moral leadership, managerial leadership and transformational
leadership. A number of these approaches are considered below.
Expectations about the Role of Principal
The position of school principal is certainly an exciting one to uphold. So many
different groups and individuals have expectations about what the school
principal should do and should achieve:
Parents and community members expect a public-minded, highly principled
person who is open to outside initiatives and who will communicate
information regularly to them.
Teachers expect their school principal to be an instructional leader and
a supporter of curriculum initiatives and to be very visible and active
around the school buildings.
Students expect a sympathetic counsellor and the final arbiter on matters
of justice, discipline and penalties, but above all, an inspirational,
charismatic figurehead.
State department officials and senior regional officers expect school
principals to be thorough, reliable and efficient and capable of implementing
and monitoring departmental policies and not to be overly
influenced by vocal minority groups.
The expectations in total are overwhelming and, in most cases, quite
unrealistic (Grace, 1995). Copland (2001) contends that expectations for the
principalship in the USA have steadily expanded, always adding to and never
subtracting from the job description. Because of these additional expectations,
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Curriculum and instruction
. reviewing or revising an existing subject
. influencing specific teaching methods
. introducing new subjects/units
Academic performance of students
. influencing achievement standards in all subjects
. encouraging high attainments by students in accordance with their abilities
. monitoring tests and examinations in specific subjects
Non-academic development of students
. managing or controlling student behaviour
. influencing student welfare/attitudes
. influencing students’ extracurricular activities
Professional/personal performance of staff
. influencing the performance of teachers
. influencing the performance of administrators
. influencing induction of newly graduated teachers
. influencing the performance of student teachers
. supporting teacher welfare and their personal development
Administration/organization
. influencing schedule of teaching
. influencing student enrolment priorities
. influencing student decisions
. influencing operational efficiency
School facilities
. managing use of buildings, grounds and furnishings
. initiating changes to improve instruction
. initiating changes to improve aesthetics
External relations
. maintaining regular communication with school board members
. maintaining regular communication with regional and state education department officials
. providing positive public relations with the local community
