Introduction

Background
South Australian Retired Secondary Principals meet twice a year, usually to hear an educational speaker, stay in touch with each other and keep up with educational developments. At one of these meetings it was suggested that we should collect and publish some reflections on our experiences as school principals, with a view to both sharing our learning and contributing to the history of education in the State.

Members of the group volunteered - as interviewees, interviewers and editors. We conducted interviews using agreed standardised questions, wrote them up in the third person, sent them back to the interviewee for correction then gave them to two editors who applied grammatical and ethical standards. They were then returned to the interviewee for final sign-off.

We are conscious that there is always more than one version of a story. Others will remember some of the events in these stories quite differently. Another project could tell multiple versions. Our purpose here has been to record how individual school principals, now retired, look back on their development as school leaders and relate some of the learning and conclusions they draw from it.

The individual stories follow in subsequent posts. While the stories are, like the schools and the individuals who lead them, very different, there have identifiable commonalities. Some of these are outlined below.

We hope the stories, and our reflections are of interest and use to the education profession.



Commonalities

No Blueprint

The first thing noticeable about the Principal’s stories, when read together, is that the circumstances and needs of each school to which individuals were appointed were very different. Some schools were new - in the process of being established; some were merging, or experiencing a significant change of intake; others were adding a secondary component to an established primary school.

The second thing we noticed was that the pathway of each individual to the principalship was also different. Some had had years of formal leadership experience before becoming principal, others very little. Some were promoted within the same school, bringing deep insider knowledge of the school and needed to make a shift in role, others came in with systemic or comparative knowledge and had to learn the nuance of the particular school. Each context and background brought with it different challenges. There is no manual that could be constructed or followed.

There were, however, underlying themes or agreements.

Themes

Change

Every retired principal interviewed had, from their first appointment to their last, led schools through change. Schools are not fixed institutions. In a few circumstances, perhaps in small country towns, enrolments, community expectations and student profiles may remain stable for a number of years. Change, however, has been the norm, probably since the end of WWII. The demand for a more, and a more deeply and widely skilled workforce has been unrelenting, as has population growth and spread. Demographics have led to more schools, additions of classrooms, specialist spaces, curriculum change and demands – sometimes conflicting – from students, parents, employers and government. Principals have been pivotal in delivering a service that meets and manages these demands in very particular places on a daily basis, steering as best they can to an emerging future. “Innovation” was a frequently used word in relation to what was needed.

Education for all

Several of those interviewed spoke of growing into the awareness and challenge of providing an education for all. It was sometimes only when faced with a new location that principals became aware of a group, or groups, of students (for example, those not destined for university as employers began demanding post-compulsory schooling, or newly arrived migrants with little English) for whom the school did not cater. The period in which our retired interviewees were secondary school principals was a period in which the school leaving age, along with the bar in community expectations was raised. No interviewee complained about these expectations. Each one carried a conviction that every child had a right to a quality secondary education, and was capable of achieving. “Making a difference for young people” was repeatedly articulated as the purpose and reward of the job.

It’s a people job

Those interviewed all realized very quickly that the key skill set they needed hinged around understanding, managing and getting along with people. Some commented on the basic need to know people’s names. In the process of managing change it was important to understand what motivated staff, to support them and to ensure their needs were being addressed. Some were initially surprised to find this to be the key quality they needed. None were in any doubt that this was fundamental to the job – if you don’t enjoy working with, managing and leading a wide range of people, the message from our interviewees is that this is not the job for you.

Communication

Linked to managing people, interviewees understood the necessity of being a good communicator. All of them worked hard to communicate a need and a direction in terms that satisfied the value systems of all involved. Building a common vision and making links across cultural, social and expert groups was an essential part of a successful education service in any local area and the Principal had to lead this process by example.

The power of the role

There was an awareness that the role of principal is a powerful one – but that the power is based in the knowledge, structure and responsibility of the role, rather than in its authority.  Those interviewed were successful principals and as such understood that their job was to lead teams, to coordinate, persuade, analyse, consult, inspire, support – and to generate action based on best practice and future need. They were influential in as far as they could shape and steer a dynamic institution to deliver increasingly sophisticated services to an increasingly demanding community.

Structures, policies, documentation

Most interviewees mentioned the importance of a ‘vision’ to which a community could commit. They were, however, insistent on the necessity of creating the conditions and structures in which a vision could be realized and recognized. They talked about the need to develop, document, gain agreement to and implement policies and structures that supported those.  This was how the vision turned from lip-service to actuality, how it went from a slogan to an organizational culture for improved learning.

Support

There were no formal mentoring programs when those interviewed began as Principals. Some drew on informal networks of friends, most relied heavily on their families. Most identified their need for a ‘non-judgmental‘ colleague with whom they could talk things over, and identified their District Superintendent as that colleague. These were times when District Superintendent roles were less seen in terms of line-management and more in terms of the well-being of the District education provision. Typically, the District Superintendent was the only point of support in difficult times.  None of those interviewed saw their local principals’ group as a support structure. For many, it was competitive, rather than a collegial. The question of support was one interviewees found hardest to answer.