Email contactphyllisfagell gmail. All names and schools will remain confidential. No identifying information will be included in the published questions and answers. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Phyllis L. Teacher wants to work better with students she dislikes.
Joshua P. Becoming Obi-Wan. Chad Aldeman. The scarcity mindset that plagues education news. Robert Kim. Sign up for our daily email. Your Email. Contributors Become a Contributor. All Rights Reserved. One day, the phone rang, and I discovered that I was the new principal of a Pre-K through eighth-grade school. I thought of all the fantastic and amazing things that were going to happen while I was the principal.
My dreams and hopes for the students, staff, and families outweighed the realities that laid in waiting. In reality, all principals have a difficult and challenging job. It is a hour gig. There is no downtime, either physically or emotionally. Whether a principal is in an urban, suburban, or rural district, the job is tough. The never-ending demands are based on demographics, socio-economics, politics, and more. Soon, the weight becomes too heavy, and a decision must be made.
Should I stay or go? Statistics show many decide to leave. A national survey of public school principals found that, overall, approximately 18 percent of principals had left their position since the year before. In high-poverty schools, the turnover rate was 21 percent. When I became a principal, I had no idea that I would become a part of the turnover statistics. As a principal, I can genuinely say that I was not prepared for all of the social-emotional issues of my students.
Educators train to teach not to be psychologists or social workers. However, I had to adapt and learn quickly. Despite adapting, the weight of dealing with social ills that enter into the school classrooms becomes too much to handle at times.
Eventually, I began to suffer from secondary trauma and a few health issues. I always joke that I did not have gray hair until I became a principal.
Whether a school is in a rural, urban, or suburban area, issues of violence, drugs, homelessness, joblessness, and mental health issues make teaching and learning more difficult. When my teachers and students were stressed, I had stress also.
I wanted to alleviate the difficulties or problems that they experienced. Sometimes, it was possible to make their lives easier, but often that was not the case. It is a harsh reality, but I could not fix everything nor save them all.
A second reason principals leave is the lack of funding and resources. Unfortunately, many schools do not receive adequate funding from local, state, and federal government agencies. I was a principal for seven years.
I had to close teaching and aide positions, including shutting down the school library. The loss of funds caused major damage to our growth, personnel numbers, and programming. When funding is minimal, a principal cannot purchase sufficient amounts of materials, technology hardware, or software or provide extracurricular activities.
Yet, the expectations of raising test scores remained despite not being able to give the students necessary programs and resources. I felt like I was continually robbing Peter to pay Paul. Teachers and I scraped to make ends meet and persistently looked for grants and other means of funding. Occasionally a few helpful colleagues shared or donated used materials or resources.
Next, I did not expect the amount of politics and pressure from outside sources. Some days I felt like there were too many demands to answer.
Pressure came from the district, politicians, and micromanagers. Central office administrators wanted to see data every quarter for attendance, on-track grades, behavior, and suspension numbers. Then, the same people wanted to make unannounced or announced visits to complete walk-throughs and observations. Additionally, we need coaching and support to do this.
Culturally responsive leaders also need back up from our superiors and the patience that mindset work is a prerequisite for changing practices. Understand that it takes years to change outcomes for students. You will need a multi-year approach to racial equity work, that is both responsive and strategically planned. Good luck! Skip to content. February 2, February 3, joetruss.
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