The Role of Principal
When we discuss about a school , the picture that we imagine is of a building, playgrounds,happy children,teachers, the curious parents and administrative staff.Children are the focus of all and rightly so.The teachers role is of paramount importance, who shape the destiny of the country in the form of well informed and holistically developed individuals who can contribute in the best possible manner.The lone person who is usually missing in that sight is the head of the school, popularly known as the principal.This one person is at the epicenter of the whole scenario and is expected to be handling everything and everybody in the best possible manner.There have been discussions in the past and the role of the principal is discussed today also.What is the most important role of a principal?Is the principal a manager or the administrator or the teacher or the CEO of the school as the term has been introduced very recently?
In the past the principal was considered to be the one who has spent long years in teaching and was thought qualified for this assignment at the fag end of the career so that he/she could make proper use of the rich experience during those years as the teacher.But in the last few decades things have changed.There are principals of the age as young as twenty five to thirty years which was not the case earlier.Some very reputed schools have the principals who never had the experience of being the teacher in the school or the college but worked in the corporate world before taking over as principals and have been quite successful as well.May be this is one of the reasons that the principals are being named as the CEO.While reading a book on instructional supervision, I came across a very important question.Should the instructional supervision be carried by the principals or not? Instructional supervision is a very important activity in the school because it helps the teachers and the principal to analyse and understand the quality of the teaching learning taking place in the school.Based on the feedback, the teachers can make the required modifications in their approach towards the teaching learning process.Even if there is a separate team for the purpose of supervision should the principal not have a fair idea about what instructional supervision is?Is learning of the students and also the staff not the prime objective in a school or the college?But if the principals are so much involved in supervision and the curriculum development then what happens to the administration and the finances etc.If the principal is involved in these two aspects then what happens to the interaction with the parents and other important people who seek help and advise from him?And the most important being the interaction with the students who look up to the principals for the solution of most difficult problems they might be facing.More you think about the school and role of the principal,more questions come to the mind.
People have different opinion about all the questions which have been asked above. Some argue that the role of the principal is that of the manager, others feel that he/she is more of an administrator.But large number of the people consider the role of the principal to be basically of a teacher and then play other roles also equally well.After reading the views of many educationists and the people involved in the field of education and my own experience as a teacher and the principal ,I think the principal has to play all the role mentioned above but education and the teaching should be at the center.Understanding the problems of the children and their psychology is very important.The principal should act as a leader but not always as he/she should be a part of the team and not above or away from the team.The principal must know the administration,finances and should have managerial skills also.Because the people in the organisation will look for the solutions of their problem from the principal only.The principal can not do everything self but getting it done is also very important.And that can be possible only when the principal knows everything about all the role to be played by him/her.Nowadays some schools have the responsibility divided in a manner that the principals are looking after one area only.But this has not proved to be very effective because the school cannot be divided in units since we are dealing with human beings and not the machines.Though it is not easy for one person to be an expert in so many areas but if observed critically then the focus should be on effective learning and interaction with the parents of the children.The finances and the administration is important but that task should not hamper the learning of the people in the school.The principals are the role models for all and the maximum responsibility comes on their shoulders.So those who want to share this responsibility should be very well prepared and determined to learn every moment and that learning should result in the better learning experience for all the people in the schools and also for the parents.The time should be utilised in such a manner that no aspect of the school remain unseen by the principal.This does not mean that the principals have to be physically present everywhere but have his eyes on every facet and come into the picture when it is really required.Being head of the schools is a demanding job and the people taking up this should be well aware of that.And also to see a school growing and reaching a formidable height is a challenging task but certainly by maintaining a balanced approach along with experience,exposition,exposure and expertise,it is possible.
In the past the principal was considered to be the one who has spent long years in teaching and was thought qualified for this assignment at the fag end of the career so that he/she could make proper use of the rich experience during those years as the teacher.But in the last few decades things have changed.There are principals of the age as young as twenty five to thirty years which was not the case earlier.Some very reputed schools have the principals who never had the experience of being the teacher in the school or the college but worked in the corporate world before taking over as principals and have been quite successful as well.May be this is one of the reasons that the principals are being named as the CEO.While reading a book on instructional supervision, I came across a very important question.Should the instructional supervision be carried by the principals or not? Instructional supervision is a very important activity in the school because it helps the teachers and the principal to analyse and understand the quality of the teaching learning taking place in the school.Based on the feedback, the teachers can make the required modifications in their approach towards the teaching learning process.Even if there is a separate team for the purpose of supervision should the principal not have a fair idea about what instructional supervision is?Is learning of the students and also the staff not the prime objective in a school or the college?But if the principals are so much involved in supervision and the curriculum development then what happens to the administration and the finances etc.If the principal is involved in these two aspects then what happens to the interaction with the parents and other important people who seek help and advise from him?And the most important being the interaction with the students who look up to the principals for the solution of most difficult problems they might be facing.More you think about the school and role of the principal,more questions come to the mind.
People have different opinion about all the questions which have been asked above. Some argue that the role of the principal is that of the manager, others feel that he/she is more of an administrator.But large number of the people consider the role of the principal to be basically of a teacher and then play other roles also equally well.After reading the views of many educationists and the people involved in the field of education and my own experience as a teacher and the principal ,I think the principal has to play all the role mentioned above but education and the teaching should be at the center.Understanding the problems of the children and their psychology is very important.The principal should act as a leader but not always as he/she should be a part of the team and not above or away from the team.The principal must know the administration,finances and should have managerial skills also.Because the people in the organisation will look for the solutions of their problem from the principal only.The principal can not do everything self but getting it done is also very important.And that can be possible only when the principal knows everything about all the role to be played by him/her.Nowadays some schools have the responsibility divided in a manner that the principals are looking after one area only.But this has not proved to be very effective because the school cannot be divided in units since we are dealing with human beings and not the machines.Though it is not easy for one person to be an expert in so many areas but if observed critically then the focus should be on effective learning and interaction with the parents of the children.The finances and the administration is important but that task should not hamper the learning of the people in the school.The principals are the role models for all and the maximum responsibility comes on their shoulders.So those who want to share this responsibility should be very well prepared and determined to learn every moment and that learning should result in the better learning experience for all the people in the schools and also for the parents.The time should be utilised in such a manner that no aspect of the school remain unseen by the principal.This does not mean that the principals have to be physically present everywhere but have his eyes on every facet and come into the picture when it is really required.Being head of the schools is a demanding job and the people taking up this should be well aware of that.And also to see a school growing and reaching a formidable height is a challenging task but certainly by maintaining a balanced approach along with experience,exposition,exposure and expertise,it is possible.
Respected Sir
ReplyDeleteSo rightly said .A principal has to a good administrator , a good manager and above all he is a leader with a vision and dreams for the institution. The problem today is leaders in most of the institutions are either selected on basis of academic excellence or seniority but are not trained to deal with all the responsibilities effectively .It is good that you have highlighted so many areas which a principal has to look into. Its a very responsible post and right people with determination and required skills are required for it.