Explicación del modelo de tasa mínima de rendimiento de la inversión

I am currently in my fifth year as assistant principal at a large suburban elementary school. I came to my position as a newcomer to the school and to school administration. As stated in Chapter One, my experiences with my own transition to administration became the impetus for this study. I completed by administration degree and began applying for assistant principal positions in the spring of 2009. Like the

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participants of group one, I thought staying at my current school where I knew the culture, faculty, and administration would be perfect. I was apprehensive at the idea of moving as an authority figure to a building of strangers when I did not yet know how to be an assistant principal. Unfortunately, I was not given the opportunity to become an assistant principal in this school.

The next Spring I was offered my current role at an elementary school. As I interviewed Nicole and Monica, members of Group Two, I found I could relate to their stories. As I did, they came to their roles as new assistants in a new school and had to learn the ropes of a new organization. However, in interviewing David, Lynn, Susan, and Jennifer I was able to empathize with the challenges they faced by assuming a role of authority among their peers.

Comments from Group One suggest that overcoming social issues with colleagues, especially those one holds power over, becomes the responsibility of that person as well as one’s colleagues. Jennifer shared that she felt she was picked by her peers to be one of the school leaders. This approval by her peers was a boost to her efficacy and showed their confidence in her. Lynn stated, “If you were one of the hell- raisers, one of the gossipers, one of the naysayers, the negative nannies that were working in that school as a teacher, and then you become an assistant principal, they don't forget that; just like, I think, they don't forget the positives about you.” The point being, the type of person Lynn is describing does not become an administrator in the same building.

Does the age of the administrator matter? Susan noted that her older teacher colleagues had no problem keeping the line between teacher and administrator clear, but

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teachers her age and younger became angry with her when she tried to keep their relationships professional. She explained:

I seemed to have a closer group of core friends when the ladies are older than myself. The younger ones, it always loops back around about a student in the building or a meeting that we’ve had or something like that. So, I unfortunately have had to distance and stop a lot of outside communication with some of them. This is unfortunate but may be a generational effect and the product of the less formal relationships between those of the same age group. In my current role, my relationships with teachers of my generation are different from my relationships with older teachers. I sympathize with Susan’s statement and have found it more difficult to keep a

professional distance with friends. The more experienced teachers in my building seem to understand the limits of professional conversation and respect the process. Younger teachers appear to regard fewer topics as taboo and will inquire innocently about details that I cannot share. Despite age, it is and should be possible to maintain a professional working relationship.

Jennifer, David and Susan all related their apprehension at observing and evaluating their former teacher colleagues. Jennifer avoided visited her former teaching partner for the entire year even though she knew of issues that needed to be addressed. David was reluctant to move a teacher friend to a new grade level even though it was best for the school. He also tried to avoid making any negative comments on formal teacher observations, preferring to speak in private with the teacher. Susan purposely checked teacher schedules to avoid sitting at the teacher’s desk and struggled with giving or not giving teachers warning of her visits, even though they were to be impromptu

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observations. The entanglements of professional responsibility versus friendships are difficult to navigate.

In my own experience, I find it more difficult to reprimand and evaluate teachers who, I feel, are my friends. When I conduct a formal observation of a teacher with whom I have a friendly or informal relationship, I do feel pressure to address only the positive aspects. Does this mean I allow poor teaching to exist to save feelings and friendships? No; the implication here is that, we all struggle with social and professional

entanglements. Recognizing bias and partiality in our relationships, as we do in conducting qualitative research, is a safeguard against the negative influences those biases may exert on our lives.

How is this entanglement prevented? If we all aspire to do our jobs in the best manner possible, promote student achievement, and keep the school focused on our students, the problem disappears. Professional educators should be single minded when it comes to student achievement. The administrative team should promote a school culture that is participatory, collegial, and dedicated to student success. Sergiovanni (2007) asserted schools should be communities of learners and the principal a steward of servant leadership. The concept of servant leadership places the principal and assistant principals on equal footing with teachers, all working toward common goals. Sergiovanni stated, “When one places leadership practice in service to ideas, and to others who also seek to serve these ideas, issues of leadership role and of leadership style become far less important” (p. 53). Admittedly, this process has become easier with time and I found I could relate to David’s statement during our last interview. He said, “But the more I get into it the more I don’t care as much, I just got to do what’s right.”

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During the eighteen interviews with the six participants, I was struck by the quantity of assigned duties they each reported. They were all busy with supervising students in the mornings, at lunch and dismissal, during extracurricular activities and with parent meetings, discipline referrals, bus issues, and special education meetings. As an elementary assistant principal, I have many duties that fill my days and reach into my evenings. Though my days are not planned, there is always a task to complete. I found comfort in the stories the participants told and felt connected to them. We are busy people, and I could relate.

Missing from their descriptions of their daily routine was time for instructional leadership. Here, my own experiences as assistant principal are worth noting. As a first year administrator, I had learned from coursework that instructional leadership was important, but I had no idea what instructional leadership was supposed to look like in action. Once in the position there seemed to be little time for instructional matters in my day. David lamented, “I don’t want to just be a manager, I want to be able to do

curriculum.” He knew curriculum and instruction were important, but did not have the opportunities to develop his skills. Monica mentioned curriculum once in three

interviews. She stated, “We really sometimes forget about being instructional leaders in the classroom or in the building and really promoting and pushing for academic

achievement”. Here again, she knows it is important but wonders where the time is to learn. Lynn, Susan, Jennifer, and Nicole mentioned curriculum and instruction only briefly amidst their long litanies of assigned duties. Instructional leadership was an idea for which they to aspired, but there was not time in their days to pursue it. If principals are to be strong instructional leaders and the assistant principal post is a stepping stone to

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the principalship (Goodson, 2000) time should be made for instructional leadership. The experiences of the six participants in this study align with Marshall’s (1992a) contention that assistant principals do not have the time to learn instructional leadership. Likewise, Iannaccone (1985) completely disagreed that the assistant principal position is

preparation for the principalship, due to the lack of instructional leadership opportunities. Here we have not an indictment of the assistant principal role but an opportunity to address a system currently focused on management and less on leadership.

When I became an assistant principal, I believed my current situation, where I worked and the people with whom I worked, to be ideal. This was the only reality I knew, and I was content. At the time, I had worked for five different principals with varying leadership styles and abilities; however, until I entered school administration I had given little thought to my own leadership preferences or leadership style. I now understand that there are benefits to working under multiple leadership styles.

Monica noted the differing leadership styles she had experienced and found herself developing her own style. Having worked for a strict and demanding principal and now being under a current relaxed leadership style, Monica found herself on a continuum between the two extremes. Lynn seemed confident in her ability and recognized the difference between managing people and leading people. She came to the role with prior leadership experience and molded this experience to her needs in education. Nicole and Jennifer described their leadership styles as hands-on and participatory. As first year assistants, it will be interesting to see if their leadership views change with experience. If, as Crotty (1998) assumed, meaning is derived from social interaction, a new environment producing new social interactions may create new views on leadership. Following this

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assumption, all the participants’ views on leadership are subject to change as their social environments change.