In New Zealand, the term ‘principal’ is now an umbrella term for a multiplicity of separate roles spanning governance, leadership, management and teaching.
In New Zealand, the term principal is not consistent across our history. If you took a principal from the 1970s or early 1980s and put them into the role today, they would be flabbergasted at what is expected.
In New Zealand, the term principal is not consistent with the term used elsewhere on our planet. If you took a principal from another country and placed them in New Zealand, it would take some adjustment to learn to manage our significant deviation from principalship.
In New Zealand, we live today in an environment created by an initiative launched out of the wide-ranging review of education in the late 1980s called Administering for Excellence, colloquially known as the Picot Report. Out of that came the government response called Tomorrow’s Schools through which the whole landscape of education was reformed. The Ministry of Education was established, removing the Department of Education. Every school became a separate Crown entity with its own set of elected parent trustees. Budgeting, employment, property, policies and procedures were all devolved down to the point where day-by-day decisions occurred. Competition was introduced between schools for children that directly impacted each school’s staffing and funding.
Today’s New Zealand education system, Tomorrow’s Schools, after 35 years in action, continues to be one of the most highly devolved education systems on the planet. This devolution works well for schools with over 175 students. In such schools, there are enough resources to survive and to begin to look towards thriving. However, in smaller schools, which many New Zealand schools are, the situation is experienced differently. For principals of New Zealand’s smaller schools, often the place where principalship starts, the Tomorrow’s Schools system is a hefty weight and fraught with challenges, stress and pressure.
When applying for their first position in New Zealand’s small schools, aspiring principals are not fully aware of what they are getting into. They think becoming a principal in a small school is a promotion that builds naturally on their training and successful classroom experience, but that is not the case; much of what dominates the time of a New Zealand principal has nothing to do with the skills acquired on the trajectory taken to get there. They think they are going into a system that supports and enables them to be successful, but unfortunately, that is not the case. The education system lurches wildly, it is addicted to the sugar hit of change and riddled with quick-fix initiatives. Aspiring principals thought they would be leaders of learning, but principalship in small New Zealand schools requires the need to become a quasi-school-based bureaucrat navigating a complex and confusing web of constricting compliance.
When applying for a position as a New Zealand small school principal, what started as a good idea to make a difference on a broader front in a small school, quickly turns into confusion and disillusionment. As a result, good, able, and talented people are being buried by the frenetic pace of small school principalship. They give it a try for two, three, or maybe four years and then quietly step out so as not to make a fuss.
Hence, the question of sustainability of and in the role requires weighty thought. Thankfully, the system realises there is a severe problem that needs attention for our small school principals. This will take time as we are three-plus decades deep into Tomorrow’s Schools and only learning now one of the unintended consequences was to set up small school principals for failure. So it is now up to us, the small school principals at the grassroots, to reshape it positively so we can gain a small semblance of stability and control in turbid, troubled waters.
Here are six starting strategies to consider for sustainability in small school principalship.
- Employ the polite and respectful ‘No thanks’: Expectations are not getting any less. What government, ministries, school Boards, councils, staff and parents expect of a principal is rising and becoming untenable. We cannot know it all, be it all, say it all, or do it all. There are places that we can push back simply by not saying ‘Yes’ or ‘Maybe’ but by saying a polite and respectful ‘Thank you for thinking of me with this idea, but due to the many other things expected of me, I cannot take this on.’
The word ‘No’ is an important word that we must include in our vocabulary, especially if we have a predisposition to be people-pleasers or magpies who are attracted to new and shiny things.
- Train those around you: Without training, people will interact with you on their grounds and terms – that is dangerous as everyone has a different idea about who you are and what your role should be. Training is required of others in two main areas:
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Problems: Staff and parents need to be trained to deal with problems. Too often, it is problem-dumping rather than problem-solving. Too often, they make their problems into our problems, taking them out of their backpack and putting them into ours. Training is required.
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What have you done to solve this problem so far?
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What can you do next?
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Where else can you get support from?
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How can you contribute to bringing about a resolution to this issue?
When people take responsibility and initiative for the problems in their domain, we become more free to do the many things in our role.
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Interruptibility: Principals have work, legitimate work, and essential work that has to be done. Very few people understand this. They think their work is ours and will happily add to the pile without a care in the world about how big that pile is. This needs to be respectfully managed on both sides – theirs and ours.
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Book a time: An open door does not mean an open slather on the principal. If it is going to take time and is important, then book a time to give it the proper attention.
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Close the door: There are times when our work takes priority, and we need to close the door to get it done. This should occur a portion of every day, as we should not have to take work home to finish it because someone else decided that their work was more important for us to do.
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Communication tools: Modern tools enable us to be contacted 24/7. This is wrong and unsustainable. It needs to stop.
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Emails: Digital communication can give the feeling of instantaneity. However, instantly responding sets up a digital bounce that can roll and roll. Use the schedule response function to send and receive email communication between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday to Friday. We should not be responding to emails from staff or parents at 9 p.m. at night! This is an unsustainable practice that needs to stop.
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Cell phones: We call them cell phones, but effectively they are mini-computers with a lot of great tools, but their ability to erode into our ‘off time’ is detrimental. We need to turn them off and put them away. If we don’t, we won’t get any ‘off time’ ourselves as they turn us back on to work at all hours of the day and night. Cell phone work addiction is an unsustainable practice that needs to stop.
- Practise the power of patience: The problems are big, and we want to solve them yesterday. Yet, such problems were years in the making and will take years to solve. Step the solutions out slowly, steadily, year on year, without trying to solve everything in the now-moment. This gives you space to think, plan, resource and take people with you. People love vision. Get yours and run it through the long term. Being personally patient ensures that you manage your energy levels and that of those around you. ‘We’ll do that next year. We have enough on our plate this year.’
- Diligently, daily delegate: Whatever can be delegated, delegate it. We cannot do everything, and nor should we, it weakens the school and makes it about us when it is not. To do the job sustainably, there needs to be a clearly defined structure of delegation supported by the school Board, remunerated and resourced with time – if all that is possible. This can be across multiple functions, including caretakers, office managers, teachers and middle management. Wherever another person can ably and capably do the job, and that job can legitimately sit in their sphere of work, get them to do it, however small, it grows them, and it helps to free you up.
- Keep constantly connected: Schools can be all-encompassing and take over every moment of our lives: evenings, weekends, and holidays. There is always another meeting, event, or workstream. When things are good, we can think we don’t need others, and when things are bad, we can withdraw as a stress reaction. Resist both temptations. They cause isolation, which is never good for growth and mental health. Connect, connect, connect.
- Connect with others of like mind: Principals need to connect with other principals as only other principals truly know the role’s magnitude. Teachers don’t. Deputy Principals don’t. Even Presiding Members don’t. They only have their portion of the picture. It is only other principals who know the role. Connect and stay connected. Build relationships in the good times so that in the tough times, there are shoulders of others to lean on, advice to be garnered, and support to be received. The Tomorrow’s School system created lonely, isolated islands. We need to turn those islands into thriving archipelagos.
- Connect beyond school: It is important to have connections outside of school. These should be completely different from anything related to school. In these places, you can be you without the expectation of being ‘in role’ and ‘on duty’. We are more than our role as principals and so need to be embedded into places that help us live that out.
- Secure a sabbatical: The base word of sabbatical is sabbat, which means rest, literally stopping doing work. Unplugging and having a sabbat is essential for sustainability. Rest enables the body and mind to reset and energy levels to recharge.
A sustained sabbat is essential and should be taken without any sense of guilt. Few fully understand that, for most of the year, the holidays are for children and staff, not the principal. A principal’s work ploughs on with regulatory compliance, staff appointments, planning and preparation, and property projects, requiring significant holiday time investment while the children and most other staff are away. A sabbatical is earned, and I look forward to the day it is provided every five years without needing to apply to a limited, highly contested pool. Until then, apply, apply and apply.
It will take time to bring a systemic sustainable model for small school principalship, so we must start making the changes we can for ourselves. Each small and determined step counts. Initially, it is for our own survival, but with enough micro-movements, the door opens to thriving.
Let me encourage you to start making changes today so you can still be in your role tomorrow, next week, next term, and year after year. It is time that we begin to look after ourselves so that we can look after others.