Dilemmas

There are a myriad of dilemmas to Principalship.  A principal inheriting a well-run machine has a divergent set of dilemmas than the principal who has been assigned the insurmountable task of turning a "failing" or underachieving school around.  In any case, I believe the principal needs to establish and stay focused on the long- and short-term goals.  To do this effectively, the school leader additionally needs to assess the culture of the school, the needs of the students, and the talents and capacities of the faculty.  Although the initial plan of action may be modified over time, it should never change its core goals.  Regardless of the size and complexity of the institution, the faculty and staff should be included in crafting the plan and communicating it with the parent population as well as with other stakeholders. 


Oftentimes, the principal's assignment purpose is a directly related to how long the principal will remain in that assignment.  The one who is in charge during the initial or early phases of drastic change and who must make controversial decisions endures a brief tenure.  Even though the program may go on and thrive, the leader will inevitably move on, or be ushered out, and thrive in a different setting.


The complexity of principals' work is often characterized in terms of dilemmas. In School Restructuring and the Dilemmas of Principals' Work by Helen Wildy (h.wildy@cowan.edu.au) three dilemmas are identified. The autonomy dilemma concerns providing strong and shared leadership. The efficiency dilemma concerns leading collaborative decision-making that is efficient. The accountability dilemma concerns empowering local decision-making while complying with external requirements. These dilemmas are explored using data from a standards framework for school principals in a large restructuring system. Judgments on what matters in principals’ work reveal the skills, knowledge and dispositions required for principals in restructuring schools, and judgments about levels of performance are shown by how well particular examples of principals work are rated using a Rasch analysis. This study found what matters is that principals care for and involve others, are strong, fair and open to alternatives, articulate long-term views and balance these conflicting qualities. But, when faced with the dilemmas of restructuring, principals favor strong leadership over shared leadership, efficiency rather than collaboration, and accountability to central requirements over shared local decision-making.


I've perused several bodies of research on principals' dilemmas.  No matter the underlying issues and reasons for the assignment, each work's overview was that  the principal should keenly and tightly focus on the goals, support the teachers and staff in their work with the students, and establish an open forum of communication with the school community with patient, professional urgency.


If you'd like to read more on the dilemmas of principals' work, go to http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=14276877 to read SCHOOL 
ADMINISTRATION: Persistent Dilemmas in Preparation and Practice online in its entirety.