The Principal as the School Culture Creator

I coach and give workshops to teachers of K -12th grades in numerous schools across the country, and it has become abundantly clear to me how important a principal’s job really is in creating the proper atmosphere of learning and warmth. But it is not just anecdotal evidence.  Shelly Habegger, in her article The Principal’s Role in Successful Schools: Creating a Positive School Culture in Principal Magazine, 2008, studied three successful schools, all located in sociologically disadvantaged areas. After intense scrutiny she came to the conclusion that “these principals know school culture is the heart of improvement and growth.”

“School culture is not another thing on the plate; it is the plate,” I once heard on a podcast from ASCD, and it has stuck with me ever since. Baruti K. Kafele, a highly regarded author and urban public school educator in New Jersey for nearly 30 years, answering people who asked him how he turned his school around said, “that as a principal you must think, ‘I am a leader, I am a provider. I am a nurturer. I am an encourager…. I am the number one determinant to the success or failure of my school.’”

It is a challenging role; there are children, and often faculty members, who need guidance in resolving their conflicts. There are board expectations and community expectations. This leads to the principal who is constantly in crisis mode. But running a school by emergency does not lend itself to creating a positive school culture.

Howard Pitler, an educational consultant and speaker, offers a few concrete tips for principals in an ASCD in-service article, 7 Tips for New and Aspiring Building Principals (2017) on creating a positive school culture:

1. Be in the classrooms often.
2. Listen more than you talk.
3. Be a mediator.
4. Learn what kinds of recognition your staff wants.
5. Do the hard stuff.
6. Know your stuff.
7. Delegate, delegate, delegate.

These are hardly surprising tips. The challenge is keeping to them.

Let’s take a closer look at each of his suggestions:

1. Be in the classrooms often.

Many principals I deal with make sure to actually teach a class at least one period a week. One principal with whom I spoke makes sure to visit each class once a week to teach social skills in her grades 1-4 department; a grades 1-8 principal gathers each grade together once a week to teach a Parsha thought. A high school principal I spoke with fills in for unique electives (one year it was AP psychology – and that meant that she spent her summer preparing the course).  These principals are staying current. The teachers on staff know that the principal is still teaching, and the advice they give is from the trenches of the classroom, and not an ivory tower.

Mariama Carson is a principal in Indiana who took over a failing school, recreating it in the process, and turned it around in two years. In an interview for Chalkbeat.com by Dylan Peers Mccoy on October 25, 2017, she attributes her success to actually teaching. “I think a lot of principals get comfortable in offices and doing paperwork,” she said. “But you got to [sic] know the grind of a classroom, and you have to feel that tension between managing the kids and also teaching the skills (Chalkbeat, 2017).”

But not everyone can fit teaching into their busy day.

Malachi Pancoast, director of The Breakthrough Coach, spoke to principals at the Consortium of Jewish Day Schools in 2017 and 2018. He implored principals to actually schedule in times on their calendars when they will be walking into classrooms and doing quick observations. If walk-throughs are scheduled, he explained, no other appointments will be scheduled for that time.

All agree that walk-throughs are integral to understanding what is really going on in schools. It is the best way to keep tabs on students and teachers and get a feel for what is happening. Some principals are uncomfortable instituting such walk-throughs as they are not what the teachers and students are accustomed to. Principals who began walk-throughs for the first time say that the beginning is a little uncomfortable, but teachers and students adjust quickly, and come to really appreciate the fact that the principal is showing his or her face. The more often a principal conducts a walk-through, the sooner the culture changes and the teachers and students look forward to such involvement. Parents hear a more authentic report, and overall, principals have more confidence in what they have to say, whether it is to board members, parents, teachers, or students.

1. Listen more than you talk.

While the principal often sees the broader picture, sometimes teachers feel ignored. Being able to listen often accomplishes what the person needed in the first place – a validating or listening ear. Sometimes that is enough to generate understanding and compliance, even when the principal is unable to alter the decision being debated.

Often the listening principal will be told information that the more aloof principal will never hear, allowing for better decision making.

Listening more than talking is proven to build respect; and respect builds school culture. Bryant McGill, prolific author and influencer famously says, “One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say.” And don’t just listen. Jot notes for yourself so you can remember to mention it a few days later to show the matter was not forgotten, even if nothing can be done about it.

3.     Be a mediator.

It is so easy to side with one party or the other, but a principal’s actions have larger consequences.  The principal should try to listen and hear both sides. Often the parties involved will concede to waiting a day as you “think it over”. Rushing to judgment or taking sides creates a negative force; the opposite of the culture we want to infuse in our school. Often there are root causes that lurk beneath the surface, and really listening might uncover what rash rush to judgment often does not. Teachers want the principal to support them by punishing errant children and defending them against irate parents. In the heat of the moment they cannot understand that there might be more to gain if the situation is handled a different way. A mediator who is really listening, together with the offer of a bit of time, can make a difference and help the situation be handled more professionally and in a manner that is more helpful to all.

4.     Learn what kinds of recognition your staff wants

We all crave recognition, so make sure to offer some! Different people need different forms of recognition, though. The same Five Languages of Love made famous by Gary Chapman in 1995 are important for leaders to keep in mind in 2018. Words of Affirmation, Gifts, Acts of Service, Quality Time, and Touch are ways to reach out, and each staff member receives them differently. Great principals attuned to school culture take it a step further by giving recognition in the way teachers want it.

Bulletin boards can seem unimportant to the principal, but the teacher worked hard and a comment would be nice. Sheets that teachers created should be complimented as well - Affirmation in action. Teacher Appreciation Day is nice but try not to let it become just another calendar event. Each time there should be something that makes it a little bit different. 

While presenting flowers to a staff member who put on a play for the school might be expected- an example of Gifts, a wise administrator also arranged that two pies of pizza were delivered to her home that night, recognizing that the staff member might also be an exhausted parent, which showed care through Acts of Service. Another principal arranged a discount for all teachers in his school with participating vendors; this was recognition of gratitude for their work at that Yeshiva and helped generate school pride among the teachers, which was Gifts and Acts of Service. One principal I know sends around an inspiring article or poem with a treat for the teacher every month, and another principal does the same when the school holds parent-teacher conferences.

The faulty premise that “If I praise them I have to raise them” is just that: faulty. It is precisely because teachers are paid less than they are worth that the principal should make sure to at least acknowledge their mesiras nefesh; the unbelievable devotion they bring to the school each day. This is the Quality Time piece that so many staff crave from their principal and end up frustrated when they don’t get it.

5.     Do the hard stuff.

Be visible and present during the hard times, like recess and lunch; pick up litter in the hall; memorize children’s names and get to know them.

Being visible during hard times matters. Some principals actually run the lunchroom while others just act as support staff, but both are appreciated by the staff and students and make the principal approachable and visible, without diminishing the principal role.

We want the school to be free of litter. When children (and staff) see that the principal picks up fallen debris, they will be sure to take the message of keeping clean more seriously.

Memorizing children’s names takes time, but the positive school feeling the principal creates with his familiarity is palpable. There are principals in schools I have visited who hang each class picture on their wall, and they change it yearly. The principal says that the girls like seeing themselves, but even more importantly, she can remind herself of children’s names, the make-up of the class… Another principal keeps a loose-leaf binder with every child’s name and relevant information. She adds data as needed. She refers to it often.

6.     Know your stuff.

A principal should be knowledgeable. Collect good resources. Pick a hot-topic educational book and make sure to read it. Try 2-3 per year. Take notes. Discuss with a colleague. Feel free to disagree with a premise. Use the knowledge to widen your own understanding; not to overwhelm your staff with new initiatives. Most importantly, try to keep abreast of what is being taught in the classrooms under your leadership.

Network with other principals. Whatever problem you are grappling with, you can be sure other principals struggle with the same or similar issues and might not mind sharing what they do. Make use of the resources available to principals (such as the CoJDS has a Principal Training Institute and Principal mentoring program.)

7.     Delegate, delegate, delegate.

There are talented people working for you. Tap into their gifts. If you want a decorated hallway or music played at an event, see what talents your staff has to offer. It is surprising and exciting to find out that your staff and their assistants have hidden talents that they are willing to share! If you want to be the kind of principal who gives gifts and distributes poems but it “isn’t your thing,” see if a staff member would enjoy doing that for you. Sometimes you might have to pay a small stipend for the extra work, but the overall positive feelings generated might be very worth the cost.

School culture is the way all the pieces fall together to make a school feel like the home away from home we are trying to create; a place where everyone contributes to making the experience a helpful and happy one for all. These 7 suggestions can go far in helping the principal form that positive place.

References:

Chapman, G. 1995 The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate

Habeggar, S., 2008. The Principal’s Role in Successful Schools: Creating a Positive School Culture. Principal Magazine

McCoy, DL., 2017. Want to be a good principal? Teach, an innovation school leader says. www.chalkbeat.com

Pancoast, M., The Breakthrough Coach, www.the-breakthrough-coach.com

Pitler, H., 2017. 7 Tips for New and Aspiring Building Principals. Principal Magazine