Building Management: An Endangered
Resource?
By Dr. Ryan Donlan
Department of Educational Leadership
Bayh College of Education
Indiana State University
I would like to see legislation requiring all State Policymakers
or Legislators to spend a week as a School Principal prior to sponsoring mandates
that would earmark a certain amount of a School Leader’s time and attention for
Instructional Leadership. Just where has
the awareness of the importance of Building Management gone?
Take for instance recent changes regarding the evaluation of
teachers. In some cases, state action
has been helpful, such as the creation of statewide rubrics that assist
Principals in doing their jobs. The ones I have reviewed are very thoughtfully
constructed, and the technical assistance and training is of high quality. It seems to me that most helpful efforts in
top-down educational decision making pertain to “The What,” of what needs to
take place in school re-imagination. Policy making
and “The What” complement each other well.
Yet, in other cases, statewide action has not been helpful,
even with the best of intentions. One
example would be new mandates that pertain to the “How and Under What
Conditions” of classroom observations or timelines in teacher evaluation. The carrying out of these professional
responsibilities should be left to the discretion of Principals, working under
locally developed Administrative Regulations in line with Board Policy. Policy making and “The How” do not complement
each other well.
Mandating how often and under what conditions school leaders
must perform their instructional leadership responsibilities can result in
collateral damage. In this case, the “What” – i.e. a system of evaluation that can potentially uplift professional
performance while allowing for a more expedient and effective dismissal
mechanism of bad teachers -- is quite helpful, indeed (and some may say
overdue), yet methodological standardization to reach this end is not a best
fit for anyone. I’ll grant that legislation
typically offers provisions allowing for leeway in who actually carries out “How”
mandates, such as through privatization or with outside consultants, yet with
the realities of current economic conditions in schools, will this really
help? With finite budgets, the Principal
will end-up doing most of the job.
Where am I going with all of this?
Efforts to improve Instructional Leadership in our nation’s
schools are valiant and should be applauded, yet only if they are measured
within the context of our protecting and embracing a Principal’s duty of
Building Management. Student learning does not occur when Management takes a
back seat. A pendulum may be swinging
too far toward an in-vogue notion that Instructional Leadership is “all that,” while
at the same time providing “Building Management” a bad rap.
A tacit assumption seems to pervade conversation that leaders
who spend too much time with Building Management are oftentimes those who rose
to positions of leadership through a path well trodden by good-ole boys or
lackluster academic pedigrees. Another
is that those who earmark smaller amounts of time to Instructional Leadership
are bad leaders. In reality, however, it may be that some schools simply are in
need of more Management, even with the best leaders in place. Local context decides. The old adage, “Walk a mile in one’s shoes,”
applies.
Yet trends in policy and legislation provide worry for me that
with newly prescribed requirements for Instructional Leadership, an unintentional
micromanagement of a leader’s job may adversely affect his/her ability to
soundly Manage a building – all this while kids are not coming any easier to
educate. Am I alone here?
Let’s consider SODA in the context of our discussion. Policymakers
and Legislators with an eye on the ball of truly improving Leadership in our
nation’s schools would ensure a focus on the Safety, Order, Discipline, and Attendance
(SODA) in a school building. Quality teaching and learning demand that SODA is provided
before instruction can have value.
The litany of variables and circumstances that can affect
SODA on a daily basis would run for pages, all of which necessitate an
attention to Building Management for Principals and similarly make Instructional
Leadership at times difficult. I will present a few of the many at this time. These
are presented not to indicate that Instructional Leadership is unimportant; they
are shared to awaken interest, once again, on the importance of Building
Management and how much TIME it takes.
The following are examples of Building Management priorities
that present themselves and take even the best Principals’ TIME:
A Principal’s TIME spent greeting students each morning and
following-up with parents who arrive at the door, those with concern over issues
of student welfare or simply needing a leader’s time. Rushing into Instructional Leadership may not
be the most prudent course of action each morning. Building Management is
needed so that teachers can teach, parents can parent, and so that children can
learn.
A Principal’s TIME investigating the veracity of reports that
cyber-bullying has occurred outside of school hours and that in-school
retaliation may result. The list of
involved students often numbers “more than a handful,” some who take liberties
with the truth when questioned, resulting in even more time spent. Proactive safety investigations take time,
and failing to act prudently can hamper a school’s security and negatively
impact learning. Building Management is needed to head things off at the pass
and to protect those who are vulnerable.
A Principal’s TIME maintaining an open door to his/her office
during instructional periods, as teachers who coach after school may need to
use their preparation hours for conversations with the leader. With the demands
on faculty members for student achievement, frequent access to the building
leader is a must and should be a sound part of any Principal’s Management plan.
A Principal’s TIME in coordinating and overseeing building security
issues of varying magnitudes when events in community go awry. A principal
oftentimes has a delicate balancing act in keeping a finger on the pulse of
external events while focusing on internal tasks at hand. Building management
is needed to maintain readiness and the proper state of alert.
A Principal’s TIME in keen observation of the
macro-environment during instructional time, with vigilance in maintaining a
presence in the hallways, commons areas, and study nooks. This is especially important when students
are traveling back and forth between the academics in classrooms and the
research in computer laboratories or when moving to and fro from study areas
for those engaged in pullout programs. I
would argue that a Principal too-often focused on the micro-activities of scripting
lessons in direct observation misses much of the larger picture. Building Management is arguably a much-needed
form of instructional stewardship.
A Principal’s TIME dealing with an angry community member in
the front office; you know, “That Person” demanding to speak with “Whoever is
in charge, OR the TV News will be called.”
Any prudent Principal will tend to the urgencies of reputation
management, as an air of public opinion gone south can certainly derail an
institution’s ability to educate. Building Management is needed to manage the
message.
A Principal’s TIME handling a situation where a teacher
reports that two students have come back from lunch smelling of marijuana. Time
is of the essence; as oftentimes, once the trail gets cold it is harder to
ensure a viable chain of evidence and prevent distribution from occurring
beyond what has already taken place. Building Management is needed as we “say
no” to drugs.
A Principal’s TIME addressing a non-custodial parent on school
property attempting to sign-out a child from school. This is a delicate legal
situation, as always. Building Management is needed to feel one’s pain while
possibly telling him/her “No.”
A Principals’ TIME cleaning and sanitizing the restroom or
hallway after a “deposit” made by a sick child, as in this era of finite
budgets and caps on services, we cannot rely on custodians to be on duty during
the school day. The same could be said
for the intermittent plunging of toilets. We’ll not have the secretaries doing
this! Building Management is needed as Universal Precautions are taken.
A Principal’s TIME handling “all other duties as assigned” by
the Superintendent, as that is what smart leaders do who pay their own mortgages
and feed their own children. Building
Management, as well as the idiosyncrasies of one’s boss, is needed to keep a
job and to make school a great place for kids and staff.
Given the myriad variables that influence a school leader’s
TIME, is it really inappropriate to ask that Policymakers and Legislators allow
Principals to carry out the “What” of Instructional Leadership under their own
“How and Under What Conditions”? With
greater autonomy, Principals could, for example, choose to spend more time
holding faculty members accountable who are underperforming, or conversely to
spend more time witnessing and sharing the expertise of the truly
exemplary.
Currently, the trend seems to support mandates that hyper-standardize
the “How and Under What Conditions” of a Principal’s Instructional Leadership, not
only to the expense of Building Management but also much to the chagrin of
those who might have a more efficient and effective plan for managing their
time. Let us give Principals the highest of performance expectations and stay
out of their way.
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