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BEING A PRINCIPAL
by : Domitila L. Mapa,Ph.D
Education means an all-round development of human potential and personality – physical, mental, moral and spiritual. Education, paves the path to knowledge and knowledge leads to wisdom. Merit and excellence should be our watchwords and service to humanity our motto.
Each passing year is a learning experience; it is an endless journey which opens up new vistas of development, where there is neither scope nor room for pettiness, disharmony, jealousy, hatred enmity or complacency. Hence, we must all rise above the rhetoric and endeavor to make the world a better place.
Being a principal is a very stressful job. Principals put in long days, including evening and weekend hours. They are responsible for the well being of hundreds of students, each of whom has special abilities and needs. New mandates are frequently imposed on already high expectations. Add to that a mountain of paperwork and meetings, queries and complaints from parents, playground and lunchtime duties, and you have the potential for a huge amount of stress.
For seventeen years, as principal in six different schools.Every school experiences had its share of challenges, but an invisible were-all-in-this-together spirit can go a long way toward carrying a school community through the highs and lows of a year.
LISTENING AND R-E-S-P-E-C-T ARE KEY to better working relationship.The ability to stop and listen is an important part of my job because it can result in a happier, more positive environment."Mutual respect fosters an excellent working relationship. When the time comes that there is a difference of opinion, it is not taken personally, and progress can be made.It encourages people to continue to work hard and give 110 percent because they want to live up to the expectations of someone who understands and admires their work.
There are times that the work is demanding, and at times it can be overwhelming for teachers.I make every effort to remain positive and calm at all times, especially as I respond to potential crisis situations. The teachers -- and pupils-- seem to appreciate that and respond to that approach.I truly believe that no matter what challenges are placed in our paths, we have the power, through positive thinking, to transform negative energy and thoughts.
Teachers appreciate when they see that you try to cultivate traits that improve communication, demonstrate respect, and inspire vision. They say the key to whether those traits take hold school-wide lies in their modeling of them.
Even problems are exciting,, "because they give us an opportunity to think creatively and to learn something new about our abilities to make it successfully through tough times."A smile can set out to be positive each day, and it works. Visiting classrooms -- not the formal, scheduled teacher observations, but the drop-in visits -- keeps me connected to whats happening throughout my programs and allows me to maintain a pulse on the school. Through visibility and participation, I stay connected to my students and teachers, which goes a long way toward fostering a positive school environment.
But since stress comes with the territory, principals are also masters of dealing with it. They get pretty creative when it comes to finding ways to battle the stress that is "just part of the job.
Some "15 Ways to Fight Stress."
1.Make time to laugh. "I laugh a lot,"
2. Listen to music. "I keep a few of my favorite Cd's in my office,
3.Keep a "praise file." Meditate. Plan special outside activities to look forward to.
4.Surf the Net.Communicate directly about stress
5.Spend time with pupils.Spend time with friends. "Having a best friend who is a good listener is a great way to relieve stress,"
6.Expand your horizons.Always keep a positive attitude
7.Don't take stress home with you. "To me, the best way to fight stress is to leave it at work," said Les Potter.
8.Enjoy nature. "When I encounter stressful situation, I go for a walk and enjoy nature.
9.Plan to cook a meal. "I love to cook for my family, but there are often evenings when I cannot cook due to sporting events, meetings, and presentations,."
10.Work in the garden. Exercise."When our bodies feel right, our minds work right!"Go for a run.
11.Plan/manage time efficiently. Good planning can help eliminate stress,
12.Do things with colleagues outside of school. "To reduce stress, I talk -- or network -- with other principals,
13.Plan a work-at-home day. "My greatest stress probably comes from overload
14.Inspirational tapes.
15.Take the weekend off! Enjoy it! serve as a role model for taking care of yourself."
"Administrators always have to put aside their own issues and do what is best for pupils and staff in a caring and sensitive way. We try not to say no to teachers, and we always treat them as adults."
"Developing a positive school climate is critical to an effective school," "Morale is a very tentative issue. You can do 99 things right and make one mistake that will shoot morale forever.We work hard at making things less difficult and complicated. We try to cut down the amount of paperwork our teachers must do, limit the number of staff meetings, streamline procedures.."
Lastly, always have the ABC Book of the Principal's Job .
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