Article continues here
I’ve loved my work as a school administrator, and I’m asked from time to time about the factors that led me from the classroom to the administrative ranks. Leaving the classroom was not easy. Sure, there have been difficult and trying times along the way, but I have never regretted my decision. If you’re a teacher thinking of moving up, you have to consider a lot of factors. Among them:
Your exponential rise in influence has a trade-off
One of the most enriching parts of school administration is playing a role in large-scale, systemwide change. As a teacher your influence and ability to improve your entire school stops (for the most part) at your classroom door. As a school or district administrator, you become able to foster broad and effective change — but this comes at a price.
The first trade-off is that you’ll rarely be able to connect with students the way you did as a teacher. The second is that effective change, especially across systems, takes much longer than it would in a classroom. In a mid-sized district, you need 18 to 24 months to make long-lasting change to take root. Change that is quick to happen is also quick to disappear.
You’ll no longer be adored
One wonderful fringe benefit of being an effective teacher is that students and their families genuinely appreciate your hard work (most of the time anyway). It’s possible for teachers to consistently feel positive about their work and respected by their community.
One of the biggest shocks when moving to the principal’s office is that you lose the opportunity to please everyone all the time. You’ll quickly learn that many situations are complex and nuanced, and that they don’t lend themselves to easy solutions. Of course, being unable to make everyone happy in a given situation means there will sometimes be hard feelings.
It’s more important to focus on the respect that comes by being fair than to be liked by all. Being able to fairly mediate complex situations also lowers the temperature and lets you move onto more important matters.
You think you’re busy now?
There is no doubt that teachers work hard at their craft. I’ve always believed that, and I also believe that school administrators work just as hard. The key difference is in the type of and intensity of the work. As a classroom teacher, your primary responsibility is lesson creation, delivery and assessment. Along the way you’ll work with the children by helping them improve their understanding of the subject and succeed on your class assessments.
As a building administrator, your work will become much more complex as you dive into the realm of teacher assessment, curriculum revision, building management and parent communication. The workload may stay roughly the same, but the depth and breadth of the tasks are much more complex.
Building managers have become instructional leaders
Traditionally, a building principal was seen as akin to a sports coach rallying the team. Building management, working with the teachers and connecting with the community were all requirements of being an effective building principal. Success was all about getting the kids to behave, supervising the teachers and making sure everything flowed smoothly.
Over the last 10 to 15 years, that dynamic has evolved away from building management and more toward instructional leadership. Rather than leaving the teachers to their craft, principals today have to help support and drive an increase in teacher quality through data review, instructional practices and 21st-century skills. This is a complex task, and that requires a deeper understanding of educational leadership than simply supervising a building.
Building and district leadership roles are complex, rewarding and challenging for all new administrators. Moving from one realm of education to another is a great way to hone your practice, have a positive influence in the lives of more children and help districts to improve. It’s not an easy move, but ultimately it’s full of incredible rewards and growth.