anticipated ahead…...
There were several concerns and issues that surfaced from the dialogues that I have had with friends who double as educators. Mulling over them deeply enabled me to realize that most of the concerns tapered down to just a few trivia that needed to be addressed. I told myself that I would impersonate a Principal in this situation and react to these concerns, which I have tried to pen down in this piece. So here goes my Top 5 list of what I can do as principal to make a difference in the coming year---
My topmost priority area would be my teachers and their motivation levels. On the first day that they come to school I would take them out for a surprise lunch/party to a very good place. Express my gratitude to them for their support in making my job enjoyable and fruitful. I would share with them the fact that I want them all to look forward to a great year ahead and put their hearts into their profession. This would unabashedly go as a sincere request from my end. I will try my best to be supportive yet firm in dealing with my teachers throughout the year.
I love happy children with loads of energy, who are interested in learning. Achieving this is a collective goal for me and my teachers. In the coming year I would make the best use of every opportunity I get to speak or interact with my children. I would never go unprepared to any class or occasion and constantly ask myself this question – For what purpose am I speaking to my children today? What are they learning through me? These questions will be my guides to ensure that my interactions with my children are meaningful.
I realize that I spend a lot of time doing things that could very easily be done by my staff. I would review my work and prioritize things by asking a simple question – ‘Am I the only one who can do this task?’ If I get the answer as NO then I would find a suitable person from my team who can support me with that task. I would focus my energy on tasks and issues that only ‘I Can’ and ‘I Need’ to do. This simple self evaluation process should create valuable time to do things for my schools improvement.
Software and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) are not just new age industries; they are a different perspective of looking at work. There are several functions in the school which can be outsourced. I would relook at areas of services provided by my school like – canteen, transportation, house keeping, gardening, computer maintenance and find suitable outsource partners. Several systems of the school like scheduling, time tabling, marks cards, fee etc. can be done more effectively by the use of relevant software. Upgrading my school in that direction should be my aim. These simple steps would enable me to focus on my core competency - creating a learning environment.
Now that is an interesting list of things for me to do if I were a principal….
Mentor is now a year old and the new school year promises a lot of excitement and challenges for my team. June 2008 onwards Mentor will reach 7500 schools across India. We will have educationists from different parts of the world contributing to add to the rich content that we boast of. We will continue to strive to build bridges between educationists with a common goal – Create Better Learning Centers.
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