Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Jacob Tucker
management, operations, allocation of resources, and so on. As a teacher I have had multiple
different principles who have approached this responsibility in different ways. I’ve had the
principal who is in their office for most, if not all, of each day managing operational and student
management issues. In my experience this was not effective in the slightest. While operational
issues were “handled,” employees felt unheard and under-utilized which led to an unhealthy
culture. The most effective managers, in my opinion, were the principals that prioritized
relationships with the people they managed and used those relationships to complete
down to two key points. The most important being to promote and protect the safety and
welfare of the staff and students, with the second being to ensure the time and resources are
being allocated in order to support quality instruction and improve student learning.
As the building principal, the most paramount role I have is to ensure that staff and
students feel safe, respected, and valued. At the heart of this understanding is the importance
of relationships. People, as a human instinct, are drawn to other people and are more effective
workers for people they have relationships with. Rath & Conchie (2008) puts it this way,
“leaders are only as strong as the connections they make with each person in their constituency
(pg.79).” With this in mind, know that any operational or allocation decisions made will be
guided by first asking if this decision is in the best interest of our students and staff, and how
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will this impact the relationships that have been built? Part of my commitment to relationships
includes balancing a school and home-life balance. This is important for myself, for the staff,
While relationships will be the main influencer of managerial decisions, the second guiding
question will be does this decision support quality instruction and improve student learning.
While ensuring the safety and welfare of students and staff is our most important
responsibility, our goal as a school is to support and guide student learning. In my opinion the
If it’s true that the culture of an enterprise plays a dominant role in exemplary performance
(Deal & Peterson, 2009), then the impact of organizational culture should be the driving priority
in all decision making. In conclusion, while effective management includes so many things.
Know that management decisions will be made with the priority of providing a safe and
respectful culture for all students and staff and the goal of improving instructional practices and
student learning.
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References
Deal, T., & Peterson, K. (2009). Shaping school culture: pitfalls, paradoxes, and promises. John
Murphy, J. (2017). Professional standards for educational leaders. Corwin Publishing Company.
Rath, T., & Conchie, B. (2009). Strengths based leadership: Great leaders, teams, and why
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