Principal as psychologist

To be an effective school Principal requires skilful behavioural management of staff.

The main focus of this is related to recognising effort and success related to the learning of the students that is the core business of the school.

This key focus sits in a context of staff members who have personal lives and personal needs.  They thankfully bring a lot of differences one from the other with some needing more overt recognition for what they do than others.

Workloads and the related physical and mental health of staff figure in the behavioural management.

The Principal needs a sensitive antenna to sense when a staff member is in need of help.  Relatively minor items come through one's door for example when managing a rural school where staff often board with one another you can find yourself dealing with complaints like he is eating all my food or she has her boyfriend in to sleep over and I don't like it.  These matters are usually easily resolved.

Then we move to the more serious events like a staff member in distress because their marriage is breaking up or they have lost a close family member or they have been diagnosed with a serious illness. The Principal needs to support, counsel and generally assist and in some cases bringing in expert help.  I have been thrust into counselling on marriage breakdowns and on one occasion even having left that posting the concerned partner chased me up in my new posting.  I had no magic bullet but one does the best one can.  I recall standing by the bed of one of my staff who had just lost a baby in child birth and holding her hand and trying to channel my strength to her to enable her to cope.  Who did I think I was : God, but you just have to do the best you can.

In terms of the core business of the school noted above one of the most difficult situations is to have a teacher who is performing poorly. You can't let it go on as the students are suffering in one form or another.  There are tried and tested processes for managing this based on natural justice and due process but one has to be ready for the worst case whereby the only option becomes dismissal.  During this often lengthy process the tension across the school is electric.


May the Force be with you!

GD