level of competencies of elementary school heads
Chapter 1
THE PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE
Introduction
A school head is the most senior teacher and leader of a school, responsible for education of all pupils, management of staff and all policy- making. School heads are the most senior teachers and leaders of primary and secondary schools. The head teacher is the one who is in direct charge of all that goes on within the school and is in the best position to do something about the various things which occur on a daily basis. Although these are usually teachers with many years of experience, the emphasis of their role is to provide educational vision and direction rather than teaching in classrooms. School heads lead, motivate and manage staff by delegating responsibility, setting expectations and targets and evaluating staff performance against them. It is a job that requires a strong presence around a school and in some cases in the local community, as well as a certain amount of desk work.
Most of the recent literature on the school head has focused on the role of the school head as instructional leader (Glickman, 2010). But management is important in addition to instructional leadership (Jones, 2010; Kruse & Louis, 2009). We know that when school improvements occur, principals play a central role in (a) ensuring that resources – money, time, and professional development – align with instructional goals, (b) supporting the professional growth of teachers in a variety of interconnected ways, (c) including teachers in the information loop, (d) cultivating the relationship between the school and community, and (e) managing the day-to-day tasks of running a school. Each of these is viewed as a management task in the sense that it involves daily or weekly attention to problem solving within the school and between the school and its immediate environment. A school head should also have good problem-solving skills as they will need to solve many problems during their role as head teachers. These problems may range
THE PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE
Introduction
A school head is the most senior teacher and leader of a school, responsible for education of all pupils, management of staff and all policy- making. School heads are the most senior teachers and leaders of primary and secondary schools. The head teacher is the one who is in direct charge of all that goes on within the school and is in the best position to do something about the various things which occur on a daily basis. Although these are usually teachers with many years of experience, the emphasis of their role is to provide educational vision and direction rather than teaching in classrooms. School heads lead, motivate and manage staff by delegating responsibility, setting expectations and targets and evaluating staff performance against them. It is a job that requires a strong presence around a school and in some cases in the local community, as well as a certain amount of desk work.
Most of the recent literature on the school head has focused on the role of the school head as instructional leader (Glickman, 2010). But management is important in addition to instructional leadership (Jones, 2010; Kruse & Louis, 2009). We know that when school improvements occur, principals play a central role in (a) ensuring that resources – money, time, and professional development – align with instructional goals, (b) supporting the professional growth of teachers in a variety of interconnected ways, (c) including teachers in the information loop, (d) cultivating the relationship between the school and community, and (e) managing the day-to-day tasks of running a school. Each of these is viewed as a management task in the sense that it involves daily or weekly attention to problem solving within the school and between the school and its immediate environment. A school head should also have good problem-solving skills as they will need to solve many problems during their role as head teachers. These problems may range