Opinion
Teaching Profession Opinion

Another Year, Another Principal: How to Manage Your Relationship with a New Principal for the Good of Your School

August 22, 2016 4 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

By Alex Kajitani

If you teach in a school that’s had the same principal for the past five years, you needn’t read any further.

Still reading?

Of course you are.

With so much focus on the national teacher shortage and high teacher turnover rates, it’s easy to overlook that principals are moving in and out of schools at an alarming rate as well. According to School Leaders Network (SLN), 50 percent of principals are not retained beyond their third year, with principals in high poverty districts doubly as likely to leave within six years.

The Impact of Turnover

When a teacher leaves a school, the teaching team is affected deeply-- from class coverage to changed roles, to the frustration of waiting for the school or district to find and train a new teacher. Once chosen, the team will need to transition their new colleague into the existing culture and planning, which takes time and energy.

When a principal leaves, the impact on the school and community can be even more profound. Everyone feels it: student achievement falls (according to SLN), faculty morale nosedives (it takes an average of five years to build a solid staff culture, SLN says), and school-wide and district-wide policies and programs get put on a back burner. A principal leaves, and an entire school staff is left waiting anxiously to see what their future looks like.

Enter the school’s new principal; His or her leadership style is about to profoundly impact the success (or failure) of the entire school.

How to Manage a New Principal (Again)

As teachers, we can’t control how a new principal chooses to enter our school, but we can manage how we respond. When we proactively welcome a new principal, while continuing to moving the work of the school and community forward, the transition eases, and the entire school benefits.

This month, I offer three strategies you can use to manage a principal change that will give you the best shot at your boosting staff morale, maintaining productivity, and setting student achievement back on track as soon as possible:

1. Introduce Yourself. Every one of you. While this may seem simple or obvious, a staff of teachers who introduce themselves to the new principal sends a much different message than a group who sits in their classrooms and waits. When introducing yourself, use this opportunity to ask about the new principal’s background, leadership style, and what matters most to them in a school community.

While it can be expected that a select group of Teacher Leaders at any site will introduce themselves, when an entire staff does this, it sends a clear message to the new principal: we are a united group of teachers who cares deeply about the culture of this school--and we’re happy you are here. This small act can make a huge impact.

2. Advocate. I have had the great opportunity to travel the country and collaborate with Teacher Leaders on how to effectively lead and coach at their school sites. I can’t tell you the number of times a Teacher Leader has told me about the amazing program that they have spent countless hours building, only to have the new principal come in and dismantle it. While it often feels out of our hands, we can have more power in these situations than we may realize--again, if we’re proactive.

Just as a new teacher forms their impressions about students and teaching based on their first few years in the classroom, a principal is forming their initial impressions of the school based on what they see and hear in their first few months. So, I repeat, don’t sit back and wait for the principal to figure out what you’re working on. Use this critical time to tell her about the important work you’ve done, the success you’ve had, and your vision for the future of this important work. You don’t want your work to end up as just another line item in a principal’s budget. Advocate proactively for your work, so the principal has a name, a face, and a few conversations under their belt when they are deciding which programs to support.

3. Empathize. Remember how nervous you were prior to starting your first day as a teacher? While not every principal who is new to your school is a new principal, I’ve rarely met a principal who didn’t want to be a well-respected, effective leader (and yes, raise test scores--as their jobs often depend on it, to no fault of their own).

Most principals begin as teachers, having developed an expertise in curriculum and instruction. Leadership is not a course most of us took in our credential, or even master’s, programs. For most principals, leadership is something they learn along the way. Keep in mind that the leader they are today is not necessarily the leader they are becoming and understand that, like every great teacher, they will struggle and not always handle every decision with perfect execution and grace. Help them thrive by showing them compassion, and being a progressive leader yourself. Presuming positive intent is something that we’ve hopefully learned as teachers to do with our students and peers, and it goes a long way with supporting our leaders as well.

Here’s hoping your school year is a great one--where students grow, and teachers and principals thrive.

Alex Kajitani is the 2009 California Teacher of the Year, a member of the National Network of StateTeachers of the Year (NNSTOY), and the author of the acclaimed book, Owning It, which was named “Recommended Reading” by the U.S. Department of Education. Visit www.AlexKajitani.com for more.

The opinions expressed in Teacher-Leader Voices are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.

Events

Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Privacy & Security Webinar
Navigating Cybersecurity: Securing District Documents and Data
Learn how K-12 districts are addressing the challenges of maintaining a secure tech environment, managing documents and data, automating critical processes, and doing it all with limited resources.
Content provided by Softdocs

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Teaching Profession 'Here’s a Room. Here’s a Book. Good Luck': Veteran Teachers Reflect on How Their Careers Began
A little bit of support in the first year of teaching can go a long way, and older teachers are willing to mentor their new colleagues.
5 min read
Two female teachers in a school hallway having a discussion.
E+
Teaching Profession The State of Teaching It's 'a Passion, It’s Not Just a Paycheck': Teachers' Advice on Joining the Profession
If you go into the job with open eyes, it's worth it, say five teachers featured in EdWeek's The State of Teaching project.
Fourth grade students have fun interacting in a math class taught by Helen Chan at South Loop Elementary School on Nov. 15, 2023, in Chicago, Ill.
Fourth grade students have fun interacting in a math class taught by Helen Chan at South Loop Elementary School on Nov. 15, 2023, in Chicago.
Jamie Kelter Davis for Education Week
Teaching Profession The Finalists for National Teacher of the Year Have Ideas for Boosting Teacher Morale
The four award-winning teachers also met with U.S. lawmakers to advocate for their education causes of choice.
5 min read
Illustration of hands holding speech bubbles.
iStock / Getty Images Plus
Teaching Profession From Our Research Center Forget the Free Food and Gift Cards. Here's the Kind of Recognition Teachers Really Want
New survey results reveal what teachers and administrators find to be the most meaningful type of acknowledgment from a supervisor.
4 min read
Thank you card inside a brown envelope left on desk
iStock / Getty Images Plus