Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
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In Partial Fulfillment
Advanced Certificate
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By
Sarah Saladino
Waterloo, IA
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Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to look at the principal as a leader of learning and the role that they
do on a daily basis. This paper will cover different skills, knowledge and dispositions
professional growth and development. The information will be centered on the ISSL standards as
a Leader of Learning. I will address each question that is required and connect these with
Introduction
more than they have had to do in the past. The responsibilities in this role somedays feel endless
and almost undoable to most from the outside. The principal wears many different hats when in a
building in order to make it be successful and some of these roles include the following: teacher,
mentor, facilitator, manager, and even in some cases a parent to either their own children or the
other children in their building who may be lacking that stability at home. Its amazing to watch
a person in such a strong leadership role and have the ability to balance everything that this role
brings along. When a principal decides to take on this role they are the commander in chief
and are directly responsible for everything that goes on in the building. This role that they
As a principal their role is to build a mission statement in a way that will be suitable for a
whole building and also one that is achievable. Along with establishing a mission statement the
principal needs to create a vision for the building then everyone knows where we are going and
the plan of how to get there. Through this vision, learning is created through knowledge and
skills to move forward in improving what needs to be improved upon and creating a climate that
has a safe environment. In establishing the things listed above the principal can envision
successes, create a plan for the success and everyone can understand that Success Is the ONLY
option.
The Principals Role of Leader and Learning
What does the research and professional literature suggest related to the principals role as
a Leader of Learning?
In looking at the research and the professional literature there are different information in
regards to the principals role and how it is related to a Leader of Learning. First, lets look at
what the definition of a Leader of Learning is. As the school principal has a role to fulfill there
are responsibilities that go along with this role that connect with being a leader and also learning.
According to an article title: Five Key Responsibilities- the school principal as a leader:
Guiding schools to Better Teaching and Learning, states there are five major responsibilities
that a principal has to undertake and they include the following: shaping a vision of academic
success for all students, creating a climate hospitable to education, cultivating leadership in
The first key responsibility that principals are in charge of is establishing schoolwide
vision with commitment to high standards and success of all students. Then next responsibility to
make principals effective is to ensure their schools allow both adults and children to put learning
at center of the day. Most effective principals focus on building sense of school community
especially building their own school community and working on making sure that every staff
environment. Another responsibility depends on others to accomplish groups purpose and need
to encourage the development of leadership across the organization. The fourth responsibility is
to work on improving instruction, help define and promote high expectations and encourage
continual professional learning in order to help staff continue expanding their knowledge.
The last responsibility is to manage people, data and process while also making good use
of the resources that are at hand. The principal can facilitate this and begin to put a plan in place
of how to work on getting the staff to read data, collect data on students and then to work
processing the data later to work towards a plan to improve (Porter, Murphy, Goldring).
After looking at this research and connecting it with the principal as a leader. This
research explains what the principal does in their role and how they can work to support the staff.
These responsibilities lay out a great outline of the foundation to build as a leader and what areas
What skills, knowledge, and dispositions are required of principals who seek to
facilitate their own professional growth and development as well as that of teachers and
students?
In looking at the skills that a principal needs in order to be successful there are a few that
are very important in beginning this role. One of the skills that a principal should have is the
ability to synthesis readings in order to communicate what they have learned through the current
literature. Communication is a huge piece of being in a leadership role and being able to build
relationships with staff through communicating. Another skill that the leader needs to have is the
ability to buy into the process. If they do that others will buy into the process more as well. The
must be a two-way for collaboration to exist. When communication flows freely both ways, then
trust takes hold and culture of collaboration is created ( pg. 32 Sorenson, Milton Goldsmith,
Mendez, Maxwell)
Another skill is the ability to build relationships with the staff in the building as this is a
huge piece of what makes a principal successful as it makes the staff feel that they can go to their
administration and talk to them as they have previously established a relationship. In one of the
books we read for class it discusses in chapter two about building relationships and the ability to
establish relationships. It is only when we know one another that trust can be established. By
trust we mean that one anothers promises, statements, or words can be relied on, (pg. 40
Sorenson, Goldsmith, Mendez, Maxwell). These are just two of the skills that are needed in the
principal role in order to run a smooth operation. Along with a specific skill set in this role the
The principal should have knowledge of the current curriculum for each of the grades and
the subjects. Also knowing the building and community that they are working on in order to give
them the background knowledge to help support the cliental that they are working with. In this
role most importantly the knowledge base on curriculum, the Iowa Core Standards, and the Early
Learning Standards. Lastly, along with having a skill set, and knowledge a principal needs to
leader, but also ways to be successful. These dispositions include the following: strong work
ethic, dedication, motivator, communicator, relationship builder, caring, negotiator and mediator.
These are the ones that are most important in this leadership role. As a stated above building a
relationship and making sure communication is open between everyone in the building. These
dispositions all encompass a leader who will be successful, show the skills that in fact make
them a strong powerful leader and one that will have the ability to turn a building around if
needed.
The ISSL standards have a lot of requirements that are demanded of principals in their
leadership role. The six standards focus around the following and each and every one of these is
promoted by the principal and carried out in the educational field. They include the following:
promoting success of all students by facilitating development and the vision of success,
promoting success of all students by nurturing and sustaining a school culture, promote success
of all students by ensuring management of all organizations, promoting success of all students by
collaborating with all families and community members, promotes success of all students by
acting with integrity, fairness in an ethical matter, promotes success of all students by
understanding the profile of the community and responding to it. The ISSL standards require the
principal to have a knowledge based on each standard and to see what sub standards fall under
each standard. It gives the principal the examples and responsibilities that they are required to do
Its very important to know what it looks like to represent each standard. The leader also
needs to have a knowledge based on each standard because other stakeholders from outside are
going to come and visit the building. During these visits they will most likely be looking at the
standards and trying to connect where they see these standards and sub-standards being met. This
goes to show the improvement that the building needs to do if any in that point.
The Principals Role of Leader and Learning
I have taken on more leadership roles that have helped me to become more comfortable
as a person in charge. I am currently the team leader and this role has definitely challenged me to
think outside of the box and try to figure out what are the expectations as a leader. I also have
had a lot more conversations with both of the administrators in my building and talked about the
process of being a principal, the daily ins and outs of this job and what advice they would give
someone going into leadership. I enjoy having conversations with them as I learn from the
knowledge they have and what they share with me. In looking at building on these actions I
know that I have thought long and hard about ways to improve my skills. My thought process is
that I want to continue to emerge myself in different books that discuss leadership, going to
different opportunities that discuss about leadership, talking to different leaders that are
practicing.
Another important piece of being a successful leader is to make sure that students are
engaged in learning and are enjoying learning. As a leader its my responsibility to be in and out
of classrooms observing and seeing on what levels students are engaged in learning and how
well they are learning. From Marzanos book in the third chapter it talks about different ways for
students to be in engaged in learning and through different activities. In having students working
One of the biggest things I feel that is important as a leader is establishing goals and
making a working plan of how to accomplish these goals in a timely manner. These set
accountability for myself as a leader and outlines a timeline of how long it will take me to reach
these goals. This establishes a clear vision and also makes myself as a leader continue to set high
expectations and work to reach these goals. It also shows the staff in the building that I am
Research Laboratory
3. Andrew C. Porter, Joseph Murphy, Ellen Goldring, Stephen N. Elliott, Morgan S.