Principal as a Transformational Leader
I once worked at a school where the boss, otherwise known as
the Principal, is what I would consider a transformational leader. The reason I
say this is because of four reasons: she worked to build the schools vision and
establish goals; she created a productive school culture; she provided
intellectual stimulation; and she offered individualized support.
When Claire first got to the elementary school that I worked
at, she stepped into the shoes of a previous laissez-faire leader who was
highly ineffective at establishing a common goal for the whole school to work
towards and who did not communicate with the staff and teachers. He operated on
the premise of “their room, their way” and he let things go at that. Claire
rewrote the school’s policy, procedures and revamped the school’s curriculum
instructional design. She did this by holding daily meetings with all teachers
and getting feedback on what they thought needed to change. She gave them her
ideas and allowed them to come up with their own as to how they could
incorporate them.
After the new vision and goals were established, she continued
to hold weekly meetings to create a productive school culture. She made sure
that the leader of the classroom (teachers) were teaching to their highest
quality standard and had improved student learning. She fostered an environment
of group thinkers who maintained communication with each section and all shared
one common goal.
In one of the meetings they had, some of the teachers
mentioned that being able to connect their computers to their televisions so
that they could show certain educational websites to the whole classroom at
once would be beneficial and would help tremendously in the classroom. Claire
provided that intellectual stimulation to them by using some of the school’s budget
to invest in Apple TV.
But the best example of how Claire was a transformational
leader was how she gave each teacher and staff member individualized support to
help them do whatever needed to be done in order to stay on track with the school’s
vision. The elementary school’s vision is, “Students are engaged individuals
who shape their own successful future”. Claire not only helps teacher and staff
stay on track with this vision but she does it with the students as well.
As for me, watching her stay authentic to the mission while
dealing with so many different personalities has shown me that it can be done
and done well. When I speak with the teachers, or listen to them in the lounge
trying to come up with new and exciting ways to get kids involved, I can tell
that they feel empowered. And then when I see those same teachers go to Claire
and present their idea to her and she helps them realize their own plan of
action by simply providing support, it changes how I myself go about my own
work. It makes me want to be a better team player.
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