Reclaiming the Principalship

Foreword by Christopher Lehman ix

Acknowledgments xii

Introduction Reclaim the Principalship xiv

Chapter 1

Get Smarter with a Professional Network 1

Build a professional network with other principals to share

knowledge and support

Chapter 2

Coach Teachers to Improve Student Learning 27

Coach teachers sustainably, with a plan to improve instruction

across the school

Chapter 3

Manage Your School with Learning in Mind 51

Put learning before management in leadership decisions by

researching issues and working collaboratively

Chapter 4

Evaluate to Support Teachers’ and Students’ Learning 83

Evaluate teachers honestly, constructively, and supportively

to encourage both teacher engagement and student learning

Chapter 5

Unite and Lead the School Community with Learning Themes 112

Lead the school community with a unified vision of your school

community’s goals

Chapter 6

Nurture the Learner Within 133

Strengthen yourself by honoring your own personal learning

References 149

We can begin to take on the role of “head learner” and reclaiming the principalship by establishing a learning mindset. This book offers suggestions for how to do that. Each Chapter explores a different way of keeping in touch with learning by connecting with others.

Chapter 1 gives options for connecting with other principals and learning beside them.

Chapter 2 explores ways to connect with teachers in the classroom, teaching alongside them by taking on instructional coaching.

Chapter 3 addresses the connection between learning and the many managerial decisions principals must make.

Chapter 4 connects the professional development and evaluative aspects of the principal’s job to get the most out of observation and evaluation.

Chapter 5 discusses how to connect teachers, students, and community members through the use of learning themes and teaching metaphors. 

Chapter 6 offers practical ways in which you can connect with and nurture your own learning life. 

This book is an effort to make us keep the teacher in us alive. Schools need leaders who make their teachers feel like there’s a teacher in the principal’s office, with just as much love for teaching and learning as they had when they started their careers. Make the word principal an adjective again. Join me, Head Learner, on the journey of reclaiming the principalship in the name of learning! 

— Introduction